Essay on Sonnet 130

Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 is a parody of the common sonnet of Shakespeare's time. Although one can interpret the poem as a mockery of the romance in the traditional sonnet, it actually is revealing how superficial the normal sonnet is. Shakespeare uses metaphors against themselves in order to produce a more practical description of the love that he feels. By utilizing apparently insulting contrasts, the author shows the reality of the perfect sonnet's high standards, and displays how they view mediocre…...

If one were talking about a beloved, one would go out of one's way to praise her and point out all of the ways that she is the best. However, in William Shakespeare'sSonnet 130, Shakespeare spends the poem comparing his mistress's appearance to other things, and tells the reader how she doesn't measure up to the comparisons. While using the standard Shakespearean iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of AB-AB/CD-CD/EF-EF/GG, he goes through a laundry list, giving us details about…...

Iambic Pentameter: The poem uses an iambic pentameter, a rhythmic scheme used in sonnets. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDEFEF GG, and is split into three quatrains and a rhyming couplet. It contains 10 syllables per line, with syllables alternating between unstressed and stressed when spoken aloud. This gives the sonnet the effect of sounding like a regular love poem, but upon closer examination of the words used we can tell that the poem and its intentions are completely different. The…...

“Change what you see by changing how you see” (Huie). This quote relates to “Sonnet 130,” by William Shakespeare and “Ars Poetica,” by Archibald Mac Leish. Sonnet 130 is about the faults of his mistress, but realizes by the end of the poem, that his love is all that matters. This man did not see his mistress as an ugly woman, but instead saw her as someone whom he loves dearly. In a different way, Ars Poetica states that “a…...

Compare and contrast the way in which love is presented in the poems 'valentine' by Carol Ann Duffy and 'sonnet 130' by William Shakespeare. In this essay I am going to compare and contrast the way in which love is presented in the poems 'valentine' by Carol Ann Duffy and 'sonnet 130' by William Shakespeare. I will be drawing links of comparison and will explain the similarities and differences between them. The first poem 'valentine' was written by Carol Ann…...