Can you please give me ideas on how to go about this?

Question

Both Donne’s and Milton’s sonnets concern a male speaker’s dream of a beloved woman. Compare and contrast the two. Focus on two of the following: idealization of the feminine, the representation of the woman as subject or object, and the contrast between ideal and actual states.

Answer 1

read both... while reading, pick out special bits concerning the woman herself.....does he speak of her as "morning light' or does he say she's lovely?... does he say her eyes are like diamonds or does he say they're blue ..... does he compare her to 'a summer's eve' or to a quiet lake?.... does he think she's perfect or perfect for him?..... make the list for each poem and then the contrast and comparisons will become evident...

Answer 2

you don't say which sonnets you mean. this is actually quite strange since while donne wrote many poems addressed to women, very few of them are sonnets.

but the usual difference is that donne usually talks directly to the woman he is addressing (the technique is termed 'apostrophe') where milton is more likely to talk about the relationship he had with the woman.

donne talks to the woman; milton talks about himself. that about sums the difference between the two men.