Shakespeare Figurative Language

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Through his countless sonnets and plays, William Shakespeare rarely, if ever, runs with a preconceived notion of some topic. The uniqueness of his work, seen throughout the vast array of subjects he touches upon, finds newfound ways of approaching items of daily life. One topic in which Shakespeare is all too familiar with is love. His sonnets especially deal with this subject, with sonnet 130 standing out as probably the largest betrayal of our normal expectations of love as any. Within 14 lines, Shakespeare manages to describe his love in a less than gleaming fashion, consequently tearing down the dreamy-eyed poems about love to which many are familiar. Moreover, through the utilization of figurative language, Shakespeare manages to create …show more content…

Shakespeare makes quick use of a hyperbole, saying “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,” to exaggerate her unattractiveness. Just as no person’s eyes could be as beautiful as the sun, it is impossible to have eyes that are nothing like the sun. This line and the consequent ones that follow, make excellent use of this same hyperbolic structure. “If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.” It is obvious that Shakespeare is defying the common expectation of love in this line, painting an almost grotesque picture of his mistress. It almost seems as if no person in their right mind would criticize the one who they hold dearest in this manner, yet here is such an example. This is where it becomes important to recognize the satire Shakespeare employed to create his own social expectation of love. It is obvious that his hyperbolic description of his mistress is extreme, but it draws attention to the fact that his lover is not perfect. So many other writers paint their love as perfect, existing without a single flaw, and without compare. However, by introducing the one he loves as far from perfect in every way, Shakespeare allows his readers to feel comfortable with not achieving the unrealistic expectation of love that has been ingrained within society. He calls out the far-fetched notion of beauty and love present in many other works, and by doing so, effectively creates his own social expectation that love does not have to be physically perfect to stand the test of

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