Analysis Of My MistressEyes Are Nothing Like The Sun

A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines that rhyme in a particular pattern. William Shakespeare’s sonnets were the only non-dramatic poetry that he wrote. Shakespeare used sonnets within some of his plays, but his sonnets are best known as a series of one hundred and fifty-four poems. The series of one hundred and fifty-four poems tell a story about a young aristocrat and a mysterious mistress. Many people have analyzed and contemplated about the significance of these “lovers”. After analysis of the content of both the “young man” sonnets and the “dark lady sonnets”, it is clear that the poet, Shakespeare, has a great love for the young man and only lusts after his mistress.

Unlike Sonnet 18, Shakespeare utterly abandons the poetic convention of Petrarchan conceit in Sonnet 130. In this poem, Shakespeare denies his mistress all of the praises Renaissance poets customarily attributed to their lovers. The first quatrain is filled exclusively with the Shakespeare's seeming insults of his mistress. While Sir Thomas Wyatt authors a poem entitled "Avising the Bright Beams of These Fair Eyes," in the first line of Sonnet 130, Shakespeare affirms that his "mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun." John Wootton, in a poem published in England's Helicon, boasts that his love has "lips like scarlet of the finest dye," but in Sonnet 130 , Shakespeare is sure that his beloved's lips are not nearly quite as red as coral (11; 2). Michael Drayton, in his poem, To His Coy Love, begs his lover, "Show me no more those snowy

“Sonnet 130”. This poem first starts off with a man or possibly a woman, talking about their mistress in a negative way. Starting off with saying “My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” (Shakespeare 1.) This man or woman than starts talking more about how his mistress’s lips,

While the speaker compares his mistress to several beautiful things which are never in favor of the mistress, the speaker shows how the sonnet makes a complete mockery of Petrarchan conventions. The speaker constantly compares his mistress to beautiful and valuable objects. The speaker notes that “[He has] seen roses damasked, red and white”, to show how he has seen a variety of different color changes in roses; However, he acts surprised by the fact that he has never been able to see that marvelous color change in his mistress’s cheeks which show how . In the first few lines of the poem, the speaker points out what his mistress’s physical appearance is lacking. The speaker thinks his “mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun.” Instead of making

The next factor would be to look at the theme and the relation of the author and who he is talking about; this sonnet is clearly a love poem of its own uniqueness, in the sense that it is not the normal appraisal way in which love poems are addressed but nonetheless at the end bring out the love part of it in the couplet unit of the sonnet. Shakespeare in this poem is addressing his mistress, whom using conceits (metaphorically) has compared the beauty of his lover to other beauties although never in the lover’s favor for instance; ‘her eyes are nothing like the sun, her lips are less red than coral,’ pg647 (Mays, 2014). This sonnet is rather confusing in the quatrains but in the couplet unit Shakespeare clarify any doubts by stating that she is however of rare beauty and is valuable.’ And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare, as any she belied with false compare.’ Pg 647 (Mays, 2014)

The setup of this sonnet is applicable and conveys a simple yes/but argument. The fact that semicolons are used in the quatrains indicates that the speaker tries to create an image of his mistress without taking a breath. The images all relate to each other in how they convey her looks and emphasize how Shakespeare feels about her. Also by continuously trying to create this image of her he creates a “yes” argument: yes, her hair is wiry, yes, her cheeks are wan, and yes, her eyes are dull, among other comparisons. The couplet ties the argument together by resolving the argument set up in the quatrains. It creates the “but” argument. He thinks, “my love as rare as any she belied with false compare” (13-14). Essentially, Shakespeare is saying,

Shakespeare is making himself look like a bad guy when really he is trying to explain how the world is wrong for judging women on a basic “scale”. He says, “My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun” (line 1). He states that his mistress’ eyes are not bright and stunning. By worldly standards, a perfect woman’s eyes are glowing bright and beautiful like the sun when in reality that is impossible. He also says, “ As any she belied with false compare” (line 14). Shakespeare is trying to insinuate that all women are compared to unrealistic standards. He says this to show that everything he said previous in the poem is not to be taken as hurtful but to prove a

William Shakespeare conveys the speaker's negative feelings toward his mistress through this anti-love poem by using comparisons. The first example of these comparisons is seen in the opening sentence of the poem through the simile within “My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun.” This simile sets the tone of mockery seen throughout the passage. Shakespeare also uses sensual descriptions to describe the unsightly way the speaker views his mistress. This can be seen as the speaker describes his mistress as having pale lips, dingy colored flesh, wiry hair, pale cheeks, rotten breath, and an off-putting voice.

The rhetorical structure of “Sonnet 130” sets up the effect of the punch line that Shakespeare was trying to create through the whole sonnet. In the first four lines, he spends each line comparing her to something that no human can compare to such as the sun, coral, snow, and wires. For the next 8 lines of the sonnet he delves further into descriptions of his lady two lines at a time. Examples are roses/cheeks, perfume/breath, music/voice, and goddess/mistress each receives a pair of unrhymed lines. This helps create a developing argument, and prevents the poem from slowing down and getting to boring. Throughout the sonnet Shakespeare has set it up where each quatrain has told a joke with the punch line coming in the couplet. In the couplet

People perceive “Sonnet 130”, by William Shakespeare, in many different ways. There are not many options but the two that are there are very controversial. Some can say that he is just talking crap to his girl by pointing out all of her flaws. Others say that he has a heart and is pointing all of these things out to show that she does not have to be perfect. He wants her flaws and nothing fake.

In his poem Shakespeare mocks cliches and writes the complete opposite of a stereotypical love poem. He describes the worst features she has but at the end he says how all other love is fake and his love is real because it's real love. This poem shows that people will still love you even if you don't fit into the category of having a perfect face and perfect body. Like Bruno Mars, Shakespeare exaggerates his comparisons to criticise the typical cliches. He uses "coral is far more red than the sun." Shakespeare does this to compare all the things that his mistress, that use is not. Typical love poetry does the opposite and compares her to all the things that make her beautiful, like Bruno Mar's song "Just The Way You Are." But in the rhyming couplets he says he loves her despite the thing is she is not. In the end of Bruno Mars's song he says he loves her because of all the things she is. Realistically after a while there would be something about her physical appearance that he dislike. Shakespeare's poem is

William Shakespeare's 18 Sonnet, more popularly known as the "Shall I Compare Thee" sonnet, is about a lover who is speaking to his beloved. Most sonnets serve this same function; to profess love from the sonneteer to some individual whom he loves. In these poems, the lover always uses the most amazing adjectives to describe the woman, or sometimes the man, that he loves. The poet describes every component of his beloved, such as her hair and her lips and her eyes. Although not a sonnet, Robert Burns' poem has the same function; it is a love poem from the unnamed narrator to the

The title of the poem “My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun” suggests that the speaker is not in love with his ‘mistress’. However, this is not the case. Shakespeare uses figurative language by using criticizing hyperboles to mock the traditional love sonnet. Thus, showing not only that the ideal woman is not always a ‘goddess’, but mocking the way others write about love. Shakespeare proves that love can be written about and accomplished without the artificial and exuberant. The speaker’s tone is ironic, sarcastic, and comical turning the traditional conceit around using satire. The traditional iambic pentameter rhyming scheme of the sonnet makes the diction fall into place as relaxed, truthful, and with elegance in the easy flowing verse. In turn, making this sonnet one of parody and real love.

To give imagery details of the women being described, one poet uses nature to compare his mistress, while the other plainly describes her stage presence and appearance. They are both detailed visual sonnets. Both poets see beauty in these women, and describe them in a unique and detailed way. Throughout Shakespeare’s sonnet he uses nature and to say his mistress is not as beautiful as. One imagery Shakespeare uses in the beginning of the sonnet, stating “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red” (Shakespeare). Furthermore, the imagery he uses makes us visualize how the woman may have looked. He gave us an idea; we can see how dull she looks. Imagine her pale skin, brittle hair, and pinkish colored lips. I imagine her breath reeking of cigarettes, seeing that he states that he has smelled perfumes smelling better than her. Shakespeare has different views of beauty upon his mistress’ looks. His mistress is

More precisely, the lady is described as black and thus obviously confronting the convention, but she is still regarded beautiful – even if only by the speaker and his friend, who nevertheless feel attracted to her because it is the “heart that loves” (Shakespeare 141), not the eyes. In other words, the dark attractiveness of the poet’s mistress can still be ‘enjoyed’ since both the poet and his male friend find the lady attractive enough to sleep with her (in both cases) and to write poetry about her (in the case of the poet). This non-conformity of the female image and the introduction of the male image into the sequence is, according to Craik, the indication of Shakespeare’s deviation from the convention (165). At the same time, Callaghan retorts as follows: “[T]he inamorata … confirms to the specifications of type precisely because she is like no other” (19). A paradox seems to emerge here – the darkness of the Lady goes beyond the convention, but her extraordinarity complies with it. However, the black attractiveness of the Lady does not feel as beauty: Although attracted to her, the speaker distictly sees imperfections in her appearance (Shakespeare 141). Moreover, “Sonnet 130” clearly reveals that being “black” is not the only