Sonnet 130 is one out of Shakespeare 's sequence of love poems, 127-154. The sequence of poems has a subject centered around a woman named the"dark lady." In Sonnet 130 Shakespeare uses imagery, tone, vocabulary and the use of metaphors, to show that the traditional way of expressing love can cover up the real perception of love.
To begin, Shakespeare was the third child out of six children. It took culture to determine Shakespeare 's date of birth although it is not concrete it is the most reliable way of determining his date of birth. In the sixteenth century it was normal to get baptized three days after birth, and Shakespeare was baptized on April 26th, 1564. With that date confirmed, it can be inferred that Shakespeare was born on April …show more content…
The traditional way of evaluating beauty could hinder a person from perceiving the essential value of love. The theme is shown in the couplet at the end of the sonnet."And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/As any she belied with false compare"(ln. 13-14). That couplet demonstrates that his love for her is beyond her physical imperfections he describes in the lines above. In a way, Shakespeare is mocking society 's definition of beauty. Her eyes must shine like the sun, her cheeks should be bright red like roses, and her hair should be blonde with white skin but Shakespeare 's mistress has none of those requirements of beauty. Though she doesn’t live up to the standards of what beauty is according to society, Shakespeare still sees her true beauty and loves her regardless of her lack. The fact that the speaker makes no value judgment about the mistress 's looks, and the fact that she is referred to as "my love" (l. 13) reinforces the speaker 's opinion that she is "rare" and unusual, though in a very special way, in her difference from the standard run of "beauties."(Sauer). This poem is especially exceptional because of the way he goes about showing his love for …show more content…
After reading the sonnet in its entirety, the tone can be set as mocking and sarcastic to other poets illustration and perception of love in poems. Instead of going with the norm of how one is supposed to view a woman, he intentionally goes against the cliché to focus on her as an individual."Certainly, the speaker is mocking the employment of a typical Petrarchan conceit, in which women’s eyes were compared to the sun, stars, and other heavenly bodies; such expressions lose their subtlety of meaning with overuse and become cliches" (Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski and Mary Ruby). This mocking tone is simply interpreted as love looses meaning when the same comparison compliments become a habit. Many readers might come to the conclusion that Shakespeare was insulting and belittling his mistress but not until one gets to the last two lines of the sonnet does the tone
To begin, Shakespeare was the third child out of six children. It took culture to determine Shakespeare 's date of birth although it is not concrete it is the most reliable way of determining his date of birth. In the sixteenth century it was normal to get baptized three days after birth, and Shakespeare was baptized on April 26th, 1564. With that date confirmed, it can be inferred that Shakespeare was born on April …show more content…
The traditional way of evaluating beauty could hinder a person from perceiving the essential value of love. The theme is shown in the couplet at the end of the sonnet."And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/As any she belied with false compare"(ln. 13-14). That couplet demonstrates that his love for her is beyond her physical imperfections he describes in the lines above. In a way, Shakespeare is mocking society 's definition of beauty. Her eyes must shine like the sun, her cheeks should be bright red like roses, and her hair should be blonde with white skin but Shakespeare 's mistress has none of those requirements of beauty. Though she doesn’t live up to the standards of what beauty is according to society, Shakespeare still sees her true beauty and loves her regardless of her lack. The fact that the speaker makes no value judgment about the mistress 's looks, and the fact that she is referred to as "my love" (l. 13) reinforces the speaker 's opinion that she is "rare" and unusual, though in a very special way, in her difference from the standard run of "beauties."(Sauer). This poem is especially exceptional because of the way he goes about showing his love for …show more content…
After reading the sonnet in its entirety, the tone can be set as mocking and sarcastic to other poets illustration and perception of love in poems. Instead of going with the norm of how one is supposed to view a woman, he intentionally goes against the cliché to focus on her as an individual."Certainly, the speaker is mocking the employment of a typical Petrarchan conceit, in which women’s eyes were compared to the sun, stars, and other heavenly bodies; such expressions lose their subtlety of meaning with overuse and become cliches" (Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski and Mary Ruby). This mocking tone is simply interpreted as love looses meaning when the same comparison compliments become a habit. Many readers might come to the conclusion that Shakespeare was insulting and belittling his mistress but not until one gets to the last two lines of the sonnet does the tone