Synopsis

This sonnet compares the Poet’s mistress to a number of natural beauties; each time
making a point of his mistress’ obvious inadequacy in such comparisons; she cannot hope
to stand up to the beauties of the natural world. The first five couplets compare the
speaker’s mistress to aspects of nature, such as snow or coral; each comparison ending
unflatteringly for the mistress. In the final couplet, the speaker claims his love for his
mistress by claiming that while he makes no strive to create false comparison; he loves
his mistress as much as any man could love a woman.

[edit] Poetic Form

The poetic forum uses standard Shakespearean iambic pentameter, following the AB-
AB/CD-CD/EF-EF/GG Rhyme Scheme.

[edit] In Modern Speech

My mistress's eyes are not like the sun. Coral is much redder than her lips. Next to snow,
her skin appears tainted. Poets may claim their women to have hair of beaten gold, but
my mistress has black unkempt wires on her head. Her cheeks are not the color of roses,
and perfumes will smell far sweeter than my mistress’ breath. I love to hear her voice, yet
I know that music is a far more pleasing sound. I admit that I have never seen a goddess
walk, but when my mistress walks, her feet touch the ground. And yet, by Heaven, I think
that my love for her is just as special as that for any woman that the poets speak
exaggerations about.

[edit] Analysis
Sonnet 130 as a Satire
“This sonnet plays with poetic conventions in which, for example, the mistress’s eyes are
compared with the sun, her lips with coral, and her cheeks with roses. His mistress, says
the poet, is nothing like this conventional image, but is as lovely as any woman” [1]. Here
Barbara Mowat offers her opinion of the meaning behind Sonnet 130; this work simply
breaks down the mold in which Sonnets had come to conform too. Shakespeare
composed a sonnet which seems to parody a great many sonnets of the time. Poets like
Thomas Watson, Michael Drayton, and Barnabe Barnes were all part of this sonnet craze
and each wrote sonnets proclaiming love for an almost unimaginable figure [2]; Patrick
Crutwell posits that Sonnet 130 could actually be a satire of the Thomas Watson poem
“Passionate Century of Love”, pointing out that the Watson poem contains all but one of
the platitudes that Shakespeare is making fun of in Sonnet 130.[3] However, E.G. Rogers
points out the similarities between Watson’s “Passionate Century of Love,” Sonnet 130,
and Richard Linche’s Poem collection entitled “Diella.”[4] There is a great deal of
similarity between sections of the Diella poem collection and Shakespeare’s “Sonnet
130”, for example in “130” we see, “If hairs be wires, the black wires grow on her head,”
where in “Diella” we see “Her hayre exceeds fold forced in the smallest wire.” (Rogers)
Each work uses a comparison of hairs to wires; while in modern sense this may seem
unflattering one could argue that Linche’s work draws upon the beauty of weaving gold
and that Shakespeare mocks this with harsh comparison. This along with other
similarities in textual content lead, as E.G. Rodgers points out, the critic to believe that
Diella may have been the source of inspiration for both homage, by Watson’s “Passionate
Century of Love,” and satire by Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130.” The idea of Satire is further
enforced by final couplet of “130” in which the speaker delivers his most expositional
line: “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare, as any she belied with false compare.”
This line projects the message behind this work; demeaning the false comparisons made
by many Poets of the time.[5]
Sonnet 130: Complimentary/Derisive Nature
According to Carl Atkins, many early editors took the sonnet at it’s face value and
believed that it was simply a disparagement of the writer’s mistress.[6] However, William
Flesch believes that the poem is actually quite the opposite, and acts as a compliment. He
points out that many poems of the day seem to compliment the object of the poem for
qualities that they really don’t have, such as snow white skin or golden hair.[7] He states
that people really don’t want to be complimented on a quality they don’t have, e.g. an old
person doesn’t want to be told they are physically young, they want to be told they are
youthful, in behavior or in looks. Flesch notes that while the Shakespeare writes of can
seem derisive, he is in reality complimenting qualities the mistress truly exhibits, and he
ends the poem with his confession of love.

[edit] Possible Influences

Petrarch
Shakespeare and other great writers would reference each other and each other’s works in
their own writing. According to Felicia Jean Steele in her article “Shakespeare’s Sonnet
130” Shakespeare uses Petrarchan imagery while actually undermining it at the same
time. [8] Stephen Booth would agree that Shakespeare references Petrarchan works
however, Booth says that Shakespeare “gently mocks the thoughtless mechanical
application of the standard Petrarchan metaphors.” [9] Felicia Steele and Stephen Booth
agree that there is some referencing going on, they vary slightly in the degree of
Shakespeare’s mockery. Steele feels much stronger about the degree in which
Shakespeare is discounting Petrarchan ideas by observing that in 14 lines of Sonnet 130,
“Shakespeare seems to undo, discount, or invalidate nearly every Petrarchan conceit
about feminine beauty employed by his fellow sonneteers.” The final couplet is designed
to undo the damage Shakespeare has done to his reader’s faith that he indeed loves his
“dusky mistress.” In Steele’s article, she offers Her readers Stephen Booth’s paraphrasing
of the couplet: “I think that my love is as rare as any woman belied by false compare.”
Helen Vendler, who is also referenced in Steele’s article states that the final couplet
would read; “In all, by heaven, I think my love as rare/ As any she conceived for
compare.” All three of these authors; Steele, Booth, and Vendler believe that in this
couplet, Shakespeare is responding to Petrarchan imagery because other sonneteers
actively misrepresent, or “belie” their mistress‘ beauty.

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

the Sun"
Summary: William Shakespeare turns romanticism on its ear with his
Sonnet 130, "My Mistress' Eyes are Nothing like the Sun." Instead of
extolling the beauty of the woman like most romantic poetry, he portays
it realistically, instead focusing on the woman's personality as the reason
she is wonderful.
At the time of its writing, Shakespeare's one hundred thirtieth sonnet, a
highly candid, simple work, introduced a new era of poems.
Shakespeare's expression of love was far different from traditional
sonnets in the early 1600s, in which poets highly praised their loved ones
with sweet words. Instead, Shakespeare satirizes the tradition of
comparing one's beloved to the beauties of the sun. From its opening
phrase "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun", shocks the audience
because it does not portray a soft, beautiful woman. 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.....

This is a sonnet. All sonnets consist of fourteen verses. Also, each verse has ten syllables.
The stress pattern is weak, strong, weak, strong. Each pattern of weak and strong
syllables gives us a foot, so we can say that each verse has five feet. This sonnet is
therefore in iambic pentameter.

The rhyme scheme of the sonnet is as follows: a, b, a, b, c, d, c, d, e, f, e, f, g, g. The last

two verses rhyme which is typical of the Shakespearean sonnet. The rhyme scheme of the
sonnet is highly regular as is the case with this one.

In this sonnet Shakespeare compares his mistress' eyes to the sun. He makes the case that
her eyes are very different from the sun. Though the sun is beautiful and glowing, it has
little in common with his mistress' eyes. Though they may be beautiful, reality is that
they can't be compared to the sun.

Likewise, other parts of nature are very different from parts of his mistress. For example,
coral has a very different shade of red from his mistress' lips and no roses are present in
his mistress' cheeks. This differs from the words of some men who claim that their
women have the light of the sun in their eyes, coral lips and rosy cheeks. Shakespeare
expresses that though men might make these comparisons, they aren't accurate, at least
not when he gazes upon his mistress. When he speaks of perfume, he notes that at times
her breath reeks. Many perfumes have a sweeter fragrance.

Shakespeare expresses the reality that one's breath isn't always perfect and one doesn't
always look spectacular. Over time the attraction that brings people too closer can wane.
In fact, physical attraction isn't constant nor stable. For this reason, a couple need much
more to remain together.

Though the sonnet may appear to be negative, it has positive words towards the end. It
clarifies that although reality can be quite different from our dreams and desires, or that
relationships have their ups and downs, he knows that his love for his mistress is intense.
He describes it as rare and makes it clear that he doesn't need to make false comparisons
about her to know that in his heart he has tremendous love for her. Some men may utter
false words, but he doesn't need to because he accepts her as she is and is truly in love
with her.

In Shakespeare's "My Mistress' Eyes are nothing like the Sun", he explains that he can't
make false comparisons about his mistress. He's been with her a long time and knows her
well. Though her eyes are nothing like the sun, it is of no consequence because he knows
that his love for her is rare. He prefers to show his love for her through his actions rather
than through false words.