Critical Appreciation Of Sonnet 130

962 Words2 Pages

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 …show more content…

He revolves around her cheeks and mouth, as he has not “seen roses damasked, red and white, / but no such see I in her cheeks” (Shakespeare 5-6). The picture the speaker is painting is one of his mistress having a dull complexion with an undesirable texture. His vivid use of imagery further aids in his satirical mocking of the conventional sonnets falsely comparing women to grand things, which in this case to a soft red rose. In the second quatrain, the speakers tone starts to change as the langue he uses to describe his mistress differs. His language in the second and third quatrain’s is more euphonious when he describes his mistress, indicating that he feels for her, and the flaws that he lists are only skin deep. Following the depiction of her cheeks the speaker goes on listing her flaws, one after the other; he comments how the “breath” (Shakespeare 8) of his “mistress reeks,” (Shakespeare 8) to her her “dun” (Shakespeare 3) breast and her displeasing “damasked” (Shakespeare 5) skin. It seems that the speaker is doing the exact opposite of a conventional love poem as he’s not placing the beauty of a mistress on a pedestal, rather he lowers her in beauty in the eye of reader by describing, in detail, her lack of beauty, aiding in his ridiculing of the conventional love …show more content…

He compares her voice to music as he, “loves to hear her speak, yet well [he] know / [t]hat music hath a far more pleasing sound” (Shakespeare 9-10), as no voice would be as pleasant as music, further ridiculing the conventional love poem. The tone of the speaker changes in the final quatrain, as he loves the way she speaks but, her sound is not as pleasant as music. The speaker’s appreciation of his mistress is made apparent, as his comparisons are not as harsh in the third quatrains when compared to the first two quatrains. The flaws he depicts almost begins to idealize his mistress. Work our way through the sonnet he begins to half-heartedly glamourizes her beauty and we come to know, to him her flaws are what makes her beautiful and his love for his mistress beings to reveal its self. From the way the speaker speaks in the final rhyming couplet we see the speaker acknowledging her true beauty as all her flaws are not enough to put him off, as he lists all her imperfections but does not complain, rather he seems to admire them as his “love as rare” (Shakespeare 13) as any “belied” (Shakespeare 13) false

Show More
Related

  • Close Reading of Shakespeare´s Sonnet 130

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sonnet 130 openly mocks the traditional love sonnets of the time. This is, perhaps, made most apparent through the use of subversive comparisons and exaggerated similes. The intention of a subversive comparison is to mimic a traditional comparison yet highlight the opposite purpose. Whereas his contemporaries would compare their love’s beauty to alabaster or pearls, Shakespeare notes, “If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun” (3), therefore intentionally downplaying the beauty of his mistress. Later he states, “...in some perfumes there is more delight / than in the breath that from my mistress reeks” (7-8). Both of these exemplify that Shakespeare ridicules the traditional love sonnet by employing the same imagery to convey opposite intentions.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Shakespeare's Sonnets

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Sonnet Eighteen” was one of the first of the Sonnets to become very well known. It “sets a fearful problem in turning it into prose”, because it is so straight forward and easy to comprehend (Rowse 39). Throughout this poem, the reader will acknowledge that Shakespeare “finds the human beauty “more lovely” and more lasting than nature’s” (Kastan 10). In the Sonnet, Shakespeare is comparing a woman to a summer’s day. He uses imagery to differentiate the harshness of summer and beauty of the woman. The audience can see the speaker’s perspective of youth and beauty throughout the lines in the

    Read More

  • Comparing and Contrasting Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 and Clause McKay's The Harlem Dancer

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130”, was published in the mid-1590, and published with the rest of Shakespeare’s sonnets in 1609. The sonnet has fourteen lines, and divided into three quatrains and one couplet at the end. The rhyme scheme is cross rhyme, with the last two lines being couplets that rhyme. The sonnet compares between nature and the poets’ lover or mistress. He shows a more realistic view of his lover. Needless to say his significant other wasn’t physically attractive, yet he loved her inside beauty. Today we may use the term, “It’s not all about looks, but what’s inside”.

    Read More

  • Love in William Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Romeo and Juliet

    1263 Words  | 3 Pages

    This sonnet is exceptional since it portrays a different, a more comical view of the love towards a woman. At the time of Shakespeare, poets usually write about fair ladies with eyes are stars, roses cheeks and melodic voice etc. Here is am example of a typical poem praising the beauty of one’s love: My Lady's hair is threads of beaten gold; (contrast with “the wires grow on her head”) Her front the purest crystal eye hath seen; Her eyes the brightest stars the heavens hold; (contrast with “nothing like the sun”) Her cheeks, red roses, such as seld have been; (contrast with no such roses see I in her cheeks) Her pretty lips of red vermilion dye; (contrast with “coral is far more red than her lips”) Her hand of ivory the purest white; Her blush AURORA, or the morning sky.

    Read More

  • Essay on Lust and Love in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 and Campion’s There is a Garden

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    When a comparison is made between There is a Garden in Her Face by Thomas Campion and Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare, the difference between lustful adoration and true love becomes evident. Both poems involve descriptions of a beloved lady seen through the eyes of the speaker, but the speaker in Campion's poem discusses the woman's beautiful perfections, while the speaker in Shakespeare's poem shows that it is the woman's faults which make her beautiful.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    When he writes "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she, belied with false compare." (lines 13-14) in the final couplet, one responds with an enlightened appreciation, making them understand Shakespeare's message that true love consists of something deeper than physical beauty. Shakespeare expresses his ideas in a wonderful fashion. Not only does he express himself through direct interpretation of his sonnet, but also through the levels at which he styled and produced it. One cannot help but appreciate his message of true love over lust, along with his creative criticism of Petrarchan sonnets.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Sonnet, "My Mistress' Eyes are Nothing like the Sun"

    431 Words  | 1 Pages

    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). Her hair is compared to a wire: "If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head" (3). These negative comparisons may sound almost unloving, however, Shakespeare proves that the mistress outdistances any goddess. This shows that the poet appreciates her human beauties unlike a Petrarchan sonnet that stresses a woman's cheek as red a rose or her face white as snow. Straying away from the dazzling rhetoric, this Shakespearean poem projects a humane and friendly impression and elicits laughter while expressing a truer love. A Petrarchan sonnet states that love must never change; this poem offers a more genuine expression of love by describing a natural woman.

    Read More

  • Sonnets

    369 Words  | 1 Pages

    He continues in the same vain throughout quatrains two and three, claiming that the breath form his mistress "reeks" and that he doesn't see roses in her cheeks. The last verse, the couplet, takes a turn however and Shakespeare explains his love that she doesn't need false comparisons she is beautiful to him "… As any she belied with false compare. " In both sonnets Shakespeare makes references to beauty, whether comparing to a summer's day or talking about appearances of her cheeks

    Read More

  • Comparing the Sonnets of Petrarchan and Shakespearean in Style, Structure and Subject Approach

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare and Petrarch, two poets popular for their contributions on the issue of love, both tackle the subject of their work through sonnet, yet there are key contrasts in their style, structure, and in the way, each approaches their subjects. Moreover, it is clear that in "Sonnet 130," Shakespeare in fact parodies Petrarch's style and thoughts as his storyteller describes his mistress, whose "eyes are in no way as the sun" (Shakespeare 1918). Shakespeare seems, by all accounts, to mock the exaggerated descriptions expanded throughout Petrarch’s piece by giving an English poem portraying the speaker’s love in terms that are characteristic of a flawed woman not a goddess. On the other hand, Petrarch's work is full of symbolism. In reviewing "Sonnet 292" from the Canzoniere, through “Introduction to Literature and Arts,” Petrarch’s utilization of resemblance and the romanticizing of Petrarch's female subject are normal for the Petrarchan work. The leading major contrast between the two poems is the piece structure utilized (McLaughlin).

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 As A Parody Of Courtly Love

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare’s sonnet 130 is a sonnet much different than the normal love sonnets of that time. A well-known re-occurring them in Shakespeare’s sonnets is love. Shakespeare’s sonnet 130 can be interpreted many different ways. Sonnet 130 describes what love is to Shakespeare by making the poem a joke in order to mock other poets. In sonnet 130, Shakespeare spoke of a courtly love. Shakespeare goes against the usual style of courtly love writing in this sonnet. “In comparison to Petrarch’s Sonnet 90 and Shakespeare’s own Sonnets 18 and 20, Sonnet 130 is a parody of courtly love, favoring a pastoral love that is austere in its declaration, yet deep-rooted in sincerity” (Dr. Tilla Slabbert 1). Sonnet 130 mocks the men who use the traditional

    Read More

  • Comparison: Petrarchan and Shakespearean Sonnets

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through the form of sonnet, Shakespeare and Petrarch both address the subject of love, yet there are key contrasts in their style, structure, and in the manner, each approaches their subjects. Moreover, in "Sonnet 130," Shakespeare, in fact, parodies Petrarch's style and thoughts as his storyteller describes his mistress, whose "eyes are in no way as the sun" (Shakespeare 1918). Through his English poem, Shakespeare seems to mock the exaggerated descriptions expanded throughout Petrarch’s work by portraying the speaker’s love in terms that are characteristic of a flawed woman not a goddess. On the other hand, upon a review of "Sonnet 292" from the Canzoniere, through “Introduction to Literature and Arts,” one quickly perceives that Petrarch's work is full of symbolism. However, Petrarch’s utilization of resemblance and the romanticizing of Petrarch's female subject are normal for the Petrarchan style.

    Read More

  • Sonnet 18 Analysis

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poet then goes on to say that his beloved is 'more lovely and more temperate (moderate and self-restrained)' than a summer's day. Negative things are said about summer, to contrast it with his beloved. All this relates to the beauty of his beloved male friend. For instance, "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May" means winds destroy the beautiful buds of May; "And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date" means summer is too short; "Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines" means the sun is too hot at times; "And often is his gold complexion dimmed" means and often goes behind the clouds - like you are hiding your beauty. In the Elizabethan Era, fair skin was admired. This line talks about how you could lose this attribute due to ageing. "And every fair from fair sometime declines" means everything beautiful will eventually lose its beauty and "By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimm’d" means by old age or nature's planned course.

    Read More

  • Sonnet 18 And 130 Analysis

    630 Words  | 2 Pages

    The love that a person has for someone is not the same for other people. They can look at their love through nature or just by their beauty. Shakespeare has the ability to explain his love for someone by using nature as a reference. Looking at two of Shakespeare’s sonnets 18 and 130 explore the differences and similarities between one another. In Sonnet 18 and 130, both show Shakespeare’s knowledge in developing his love and respect.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Love To The Dark Lady Analysis

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    That means, the approaches of poet’s love remain the same. In one place, he portrays beauty as conveying a great responsibility in the sonnets addressed to the young man. The poet has experienced what he thinks of as "the marriage of true minds," also known as true love, that his love remains strong, and that he believes that it’s eternal. Nothing will stop their love, as in the symbols like all the ships, stars and stormy seas that fill the landscape of the poem and so on what can affect to their love. The poet is too much attracted with the young man’s beauty, though this indicates to something really bad behavior. But in another place, Shakespeare makes fun of the dark lady in sonnet 130. He explains that his lover, the dark lady, has wires for hair, bad breath, dull cleavage, a heavy step, pale lips and so on, but to him, real love is, the sonnet implies, begins when we accept our lovers for what they are as well as what they are not. But other critics may not agree with this and to them, beauty may define to something

    Read More

  • Sonnets: The Power of Love

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shakespeare's sonnets are a romantic and charming series of poems. His use of rhyme and passionate, eloquent language serve to illuminate his strong feelings. These techniques were probably the most fluent way for such a writer as him to express the immeasurable love that he obviously felt for his mysterious lady. Examining the numerous ways Shakespeare found to describe it, the reader believes that this love was undoubtedly lasting and authentic. He often made heart-felt comments about his emotions that could also suit lovers in the present day. Because of this, and the fact that people read them yet, Shakespeare's sonnets are timeless and universal, just like the concept of love itself.

    Read More

More about Critical Appreciation Of Sonnet 130

Open Document