Shakespeare addresses a beautiful young man whose looks are all womanly, painted by nature herself. He calls him the “master mistress” of his passion—someone who has a woman’s gentle heart but without feminine inconstancy. His eyes are brighter and more sincere, captivating everyone. In every hue, he outdoes any woman, stealing men’s eyes and women’s souls. The speaker imagines that Nature originally intended him as a woman, but then fell in love with her own creation and, in a playful twist, added a penis—which frustrates the speaker’s erotic hopes. So Nature “prick’d him out” to please women. The final couplet moves toward a rueful compromise: the speaker claims the young man’s emotional love for himself, while girls can enjoy his physical “treasure.” The mood is playful, tender, and slightly melancholy—a mix of admiration, desire, and amused resignation to a desire that can’t be physically fulfilled.
Sonnet 20: A woman's face with nature's own hand painted — Summary
A woman's face with nature's own hand painted, Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion; A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted With shifting change, as is false women's fashion: An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling, Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth; A man in hue all 'hues' in his controlling, Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth. And for a woman wert thou first created; Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting, And by addition me of thee defeated, By adding one thing to my purpose nothing. But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure, Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure.