"Sonnet 130"

Paper Summary:

This paper briefly examines how William Shakespeare does an excellent job in showing the human side of a lover in his sonnet, "My Mistress' Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun." It discusses how the irony helps show that the speaker really loves the subject, even all of her flaws and how Shakespeare's sonnet reveals the true meaning of the old saying, "love is blind."

From the Paper:

"However, Shakespeare uses the final couplet of the sonnet to explain to the reader that he is actually praising his mistress's imperfect, human attributes instead of insulting her imperfections. He writes, "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/ As any she belied with false compare" (13-14). This final couplet brings the reader to a realization: he truly loves his mistress. Shakespeare is suggesting that comparing her to something she is not would be an injustice to her and her personal beauty. The poem does not literally mean that his mistress's hairs are black wires or that her breasts are dull and drab; this exaggeration is used to show that she is not flawless. Shakespeare does not put the mistress up on a pedestal like a "goddess"; she is not perfect because she is, in fact, human. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Shakespeare, William. "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun." Literature:Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. By Robert DiYanni. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. 1187.

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