My Mistress Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun Literary Analysis Essay

In William Shakespeare’s 130th sonnet, “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun,” Shakespeare takes a very uncommon route. Unlike most poets who look at women as being beautiful, Shakespeare turns the tables and describes this mystery woman as being unpleasing to the eye. In this fourteen line poem, William Shakespeare uses vivid imagery and exaggeration to describe the woman. He also convinces the reader that he thinks the woman is not beautiful, but the poem takes a sharp turn in the last lines where he reveals his true message.
In this traditional Shakespeare styled poem by William Shakespeare, “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun,” Shakespeare uses some very vivid imagery to describe the woman in the poem. In lines one through six, he describes the woman in very deep, intricate detail. In line two, He compares the woman’s lips to coral. He says,

Shakespeare describes the woman as being completely gruesome and nauseating. As I read I am persuaded that the sonnet is going to end very tragic, or even at a sudden stop, but this was not the case. In line 13 of this 14 line poem, there is a very drastic turn where William Shakespeare proclaims that he loves this woman. He says, “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare.” We think that he is disgusted with this woman’s appearance, but he actually loves her. I think that the whole point of this poem is to show that physical appearance does not matter. Shakespeare plainly describes her as being ugly, but he later says that how she looks should not matter. The lesson here is that we should not judge people purely off of appearance. If we do that, then we will miss out on what could become of the relationship. Love is an internal affair, not an external judgment, and this is the main purpose that Shakespeare is trying to get across to the