William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, “My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun,” written in typical Shakespearian meter and form, is considered the “…center of gravity…” (Frye 51) of Shakespeare’s dark lady sonnets. Written in reference to an unnamed love, the speaker compares his mistress’ various attributes to things that are unlike her. The speaker then defines his love and gives the reader insight into why his love is rare. Sonnet 130 uses imagery as a contradiction to, rather than a description of, the speaker’s mistress and initially sets a tone of dissatisfaction that turns into a complimentary description of his mistress (Parker 337).
In lines one through eight, the speaker uses imagery in hyperboles to compare his love to things not resembling his mistress, unlike most sonnets that strive to overstate the subject (Ramsey 37). Shakespeare’s unusual use of imagery teases poets for using hyperboles rather than reveling in the ordinary. In lines nine through twelve, the similes remain contradictive; however, the focus is on the mistress rather than the similes, thus suggesting reality is preferred to fantasy. Because the speaker sees the truth rather than using false comparisons to qualify his mistress, the imagery in lines thirteen and fourteen change from contradictive to directly stating that the speaker’s love is rare (Parker 336.)
The initial comparisons in Sonnet 130, lines one through eight, set a tone of discontent toward the speaker’s mistress, belittling her by suggesting that she is ordinary. The tone changes dramatically in line nine when Shakespeare writes that the mistress’ voice is not like the beauty of music, but the persona loves to hear her speak. He then continues to describe, in lines thirteen and fourteen, how down to earth she is and how the speaker’s love is rare (Parker 337). The dramatic change in line nine provides the speaker with the opportunity to explain the first eight lines for what they are, descriptions of his mistress’ truths rather than fantasies (Ramsey 37). The change in tone indicates to the reader that in fact the first eight lines are not discontentment but truth (Frye 51).
Though the poem provides an undeniable refreshing style through imagery and tone, opinions vary widely as to Shakespeare’s intended purpose. In contrast to Northrop Frye’s opinion that the speaker is drawn to his mistress out of lust rather than love or respect (Frye 52), David Parker believes Sonnet 130 breaks from the traditional “hyperbolic rhetoric…
the woman by denying adequacy to do her justice (Parker 337).” Despite the varied opinions, Shakespeare’s contradictive imagery and changing tone allows the speaker to remain within reality while still complimenting his mistress (Parker 337).
Works Cited
Frye, Northrop. “How True a Twain.” The Riddles of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. William Shakespeare. Basic Books Pub Co Inc. 1962: 23-53.
Parker, David. Verbal Mood in Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO Pub. Sep. 1969: 331-340. 24 Jun. 2003
Ramsey, Paul. The Fickle Glass: A Study of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. New York: AMS Press. 1979.
Shakespeare, William. “My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun.” Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 4th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 1991: 684-5.
More abstracts about the Sonnet 130