Sonnet 130 Tone

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As She Is
We live in a world where women are compared to items on what seems to be an endless list. These comparisons vary from things such as the shape of a bottle, to the radiance of the sun. In Sonnet 130 written by William Shakespeare, the typical cliched comparisons are taken into a different perspective than the one typically used today. Unlike the normal swooning nature of the cliches, the speaker in Sonnet 130 uses a critical and judgemental tone to discredit these typical romantic platitudes and show that although love is not picture perfect it can still be special and true.
After a first reading of the sonnet, the speaker seems to be using a sardonic tone to judge the imperfections of his mistress. For instance in the first line of the sonnet the speaker seems very critical as he explains, “my mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” (line 1). By using this commonly used cliche in a negative way an opposing feeling towards the speaker's mistress is detected. The …show more content…

The speaker spots the imperfections in his mistress like the fact that her breath “reeks” and does not smell like scented perfumes (7-8). As the speaker explains this, most people would find it as an insult, but the speaker is actually saying this is to be honest and truthful instead of saying that the mistress is constantly perfect. The speaker then proves that his condemnatory tone is not used to analyze his lover in the couplet of the sonnet. The couplet reads, “and yet by heaven I think my love as rare / as any she belied with false compare” (13-14). Here the speaker shows that although his mistress has her flaws, he does not recognize them as being her fault. He, the speaker, knows that the love that he and her share is rare and he cherishes it as he

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