Theme Of Sonnet 130

In Shakespeare’s sonnet 130, the speaker ponders the beauty, or the lack thereof, of his lover. Throughout the sonnet, the speaker presents his lover as an unattractive mistress with displeasing features, but in fact, the speaker is ridiculing, through the use of vivid imagery, the conventions of love poems and the way woman are portrayed through the use of false comparisons. In the end, the speaker argues that his mistress may not be perfect, but in his eyes, her beauty is equal to any woman who is abundantly admired and put through the untrue comparison. The speaker paints a picture of his lovers’ uninspiring beauty. In the first quatrain by describing his, “mistress’ eyes” (Shakespeare 1) as they, “are nothing like the sun” (Shakespeare

Shakespeare's My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun Many authors compose sonnets about women whom they loved. Most of these authors embellish their women's physical characteristics by comparing them to natural wonders that we, as humans, find beautiful. Shakespeare's "My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun" contradicts this idea, by stating that his mistress lacks most of the qualities other men wrongly praise their women for possessing. Shakespeare presents to one that true love recognizes imperfections and feels devotion regardless of flaws, while satirically expressing his personal thoughts on Petrarchan sonnets. Through the use of comparisons, the English sonnet and an anti-Petrarchan approach, he creatively gets his point across.

Most readers would give it a second glance because it comes off as a list of things that he points out as ‘flaws’. Conversely he is actually claiming her quirks as things he finds beautiful and loves about her. The last few stanzas within the poem present this ideal. “I love to hear her speak, yet well I know / That music hath a far more pleasing sound” (Shakespeare 09 -10). Shakespeare is saying that he loves to hear her speak even though music has more of a pleasant tone than she.

However, in “Sonnet 130” the theme is more about appearances and how you can love someone, who might not be as beautiful. Throughout the poem, Shakespeare is trying to say the looks are not everything. The only thing he talks about is the way his lady looks; he does not mention her personality. For example, he says “I love to hear her speak, yet well I know that music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; my mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.” Another theme for “Sonnet 130” is writing and literature. The main reason for Shakespeare to make this poem was to make fun of other poems.

The Presentation of Women in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 and Griffin’s Sonnet 39 What attitude do their presentations of women reflect? Discuss in detail how the poets’ choice & use of language influences your reading of poems. It is evident in both Griffin’s poem and Shakespeare’s poem that their love for their beloved is matchless; however the presentations and the personal interpretations of the two poets give a totally different message to its readers. It is often in Shakespeare’s sonnet 130 that we realize he ridicules his mistress and praises her in a way that misleads its readers to believe that Shakespeare doesn’t love her. Whereas, in Griffin’s Sonnet 39, he puts his lady as the central motive of the poem and this is obvious as almost every line in his poem begins with the word “her.” Without a doubt, the first line in both poems portrays a direct contrast from each other.

When Shakespeare wrote “My Mistress’ Eyes are nothing like the sun” he was describing all the things that she is not. He was being sarcastic and essentially poking fun at other poets of his time. They often described the women they loved to an extreme. He knew these descriptions weren’t true and wrote something that was true to him. He makes his point clear by writing, “If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun” (3 Shakespeare, My mistress’).

This manner of speech contrasts with the way in which Romeo speaks about women, "She is too fair, too wise; wisely too fair, to merit bliss by making me despair." This builds up the audiences love for young Romeo and when the audience likes a character they are likely to feel sympathy for that character if something tragic happens as is did in this play. In the famous balcony scene Romeo and Juliet find themselves speaking in poetry and using a lot of similes and metaphors. Also the speech of Romeo and Juliet is very love orientated yet very innocent unlike some of the speech used by Mercutio. "O speak again bright angel for thou art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head, as a winged messenger from heaven."

Also, the nature of the poem confuses her idea that to men there is the good and bad woman this is because this poem is suggested to be aimed at shakespeares dark lady and at first glance you may assume that this means she would fall into the trope of the bad women. However the love the reader feels for the women is deep and true, going beyond physical appearance and this links closer to the trope of the good women. This suggests that the idea of the good and bad women is not as clear cut and Shakespeare plays with this idea. Through his description he paints an almost revolting image of the female, an example of this being "If her hair be wires, black wires grow on her head." This clever simile creates the impression that she is unkempt and we get almost hag like connotations from this description.

It is known that poems were circulated between poets and the poem attacks other poets who flatter their lovers with false comparisons and ridiculous promises, ‘as any she belied with false compare’. Shakespeare claims that that he loves his mistress so much that he can be truthful about her and not exaggerate a beauty that is not there, which conveys a more sincere and genuine tone than a flattering love poem. ‘And yet, by heaven I think my love as rare, As any she belied with false compare’ Shakespeare writes with huge emphasis on her less attractive features, ‘But no such roses see I in her cheeks;’ illustrating that in spite of all these flaws, he still loves her for her intelligence and her spirit ‘I love to hear her speak’ and that it is her imperfections that make her perfect for him. He also makes it very clear that he does not appreciate the artificial efforts women make to enhance their appearance ‘And in some perfumes is there more delight’. The phrase suggests that although perfume may have a delightful smell in comparison to his mistress’ breath ‘Than in the breath my mistress reeks’ it is insignificant to him as he is more intereste... ... middle of paper ... ...ed has betrayed and left him.

Despite the negative connotations of his mistress, Shakespeare speaks a true woman and true love. The sonnet is a "how-to" guide to love. This poem speaks of a love that is truer than denoting a woman's physical perfection or her "angelic voice." As those traits are all ones that will fade with time, Shakespeare exclaims his true love by revealing her personality traits that caused his love. Shakespeare suggests that the eyes of the woman he loves are not twinkling like the sun: "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" (1).