Theme of Love and Beauty in the Poem Sonnet 130.

William Shakespeares Sonnet 130, was written as a mockery of the traditional love poem. Most love poems portray a woman as the epitome of perfection. Women are made o t to !e divine an"el#like creat res who have no flaws or vices. Shakespeare ill minates the a!s rdity of deifyin" a h man !ein". $e nderstands that a perfect woman does not e%ist. &erfection is not somethin" he is interested in' it !ores him. $e makes it clear that the o!(ect of his affection does not have to !e the classic depiction of !ea ty, ! t that it matters more to him that there is a deep personal connection. We all want someone that nderstands s, and Shakespeare is no different. $e is after all, ( st a man lookin" for meanin"f l companionship. Shakespeare ses a variety of ne"atin" similes, ima"ery, theme, and str ct re to make his point. )his is Shakespeares way of speakin" a"ainst the se of clich*s of conventional !ea ty, which elo+ ently li!erates women from stereotypes of s perficial !ea ty, and draws attention to o r mind and inner splendor. Shakespeare ses honesty, not flattery, to speak of the woman he loves. ,ccordin" to lines one thro "h fo r of the sonnet, Shakespeares mistress eyes are not like the s n, her lips are not red, her !reasts are not snow white, and her hairs are !lack wires. -n lines si% thro "h twelve yo learn that her cheeks arent like roses, her !reath doesnt smell like perf me, her voice doesnt so nd like m sic, and she doesnt float "oddess like when she walks. So far, the mistress mi"ht !e ins lted. . cky for Shakespeare, there are two more lines. -n the final two lines, known as the t rn, Shakespeare says that even tho "h his love isnt what other people fictionali/e in their poems and sonnets, his love is rare and therefore ( st as important. $e ref ses to "lorify, ! t that doesnt mean he loves the woman any less. ,nd perhaps his honesty was more appreciated anyway. )he rhetorical str ct re of Sonnet 130 is important to its effect, and p nch line. -n the first + atrain, the speaker spends one line on each comparison !etween his mistress and somethin" else 0the s n, coral, snow, and wires##the one positive thin" in the whole poem some part of his mistress is like1. -n the second and third + atrains, he e%pands the descriptions to occ py two lines each, so that roses2cheeks, perf me2!reath, m sic2voice, and "oddess2mistress each receive a pair of nrhymed lines. )his creates the effect of an e%pandin" and developin" ar" ment, and neatly prevents the poem from !ecomin" !orin". ,fter all, the whole of the sonnet relies on a sin"le (oke for its first twelve lines. -n the last two lines of the sonnet the (oke is delivered, which ne"ates any kind of ne"ative feelin"s tho "ht to !e present at the nflatterin" view of Shakespeares mistress. )his delivers the whole point of followin" Shakespeare thro "h his !reakdown of his mistress avera"e looks, and yo see why the demeanin" manner he speaks of her is not ins ltin" or important, ! t honesty and tr th. )here is idealistic conflict, and then there is a resol te solvin" of any neasy feelin"s. Shakespeare contempt of the modern ideals of what a woman sho ld !e all des to the kind of man he was, and the kind of woman it was he adored. ,ltho "h he did write a!o t his love in a "lorifyin", traditional fashion, he takes this opport nity to shock people with the !rash tr th. $e does not seem to take kind to over# sed stereotypes. $e does not feel the need to descri!e the o!(ect of his affection sin" false clich*s, ! t wo ld

rather draw attention to the fact that she was not perfect, and he still loves her. Shakespeare does not feel the need to conform to convention. ,nd the woman he loved was s re to nderstand this, and not !e ins lted !y his reverence, ! t pleased at his honesty. 3lattery swells the heart and mind, ! t honesty wo ld "ive their love a definitive meanin". $e wants to shock his a dience with his deno ncement of his womans !ea ty, !eca se he knows there is m ch more to love then this s perficial detail. )hese two lovers were on the same wavelen"th, and nderstood each other. Shakespeare and his lover did not need the approval of society to share their connection with a smirk on their faces. -n Sonnet 130, Shakespeare ses ima"ery to call attention the clich*s of a womans !ea ty, and how his lover has none of these pict res+ e + alities. $e e%plains how coral is far more red then her lips red. 4y doin" so he drops conceit of his womans s pposed s !lime !ea ty. $is womans lips are not red like coral, ! t an avera"e color. $e ill strates that her !reasts are not snow#white, ! t d n, a d ll "rayish#!rown color. $e is slowly takin" her ima"e and makin" it o t to !e not what it sho ld !e, ! t what it act ally is. $e stresses that his lovers hair is made of !lack wires, and that there are no roses in her cheeks. $e is slowly deconstr ctin" the ima"e of an an"el, replacin" it with that of a plain woman. 5ot all woman have "olden wires for hair, some have simple !lack ones. ,nd his mistress does not have rose#red or rose#white tones in her cheeks. $e asserts that perf me has a m ch !etter smell than his mistress !reath that reeks. -t does not seem realistic to have !reath that smells sweet, most peoples !reath has a stench to it. $e knows m sic hath a far more pleasin" so nd then her voice. She cannot sin", and she does not so nd like shes sin"in" when she speaks. ,nd when his mistress walks, she walks on the "ro nd like any normal person, not like a "oddess in the clo ds. Shakespeare slowly makes it known that his mistress is a mortal woman, and there is nothin" divine a!o t her. Some mi"ht find this ima"ery shockin", or ins ltin", ! t this leads to the ! tt of his (oke on society. $e thinks his love as rare, !eca se he does not need to lie a!o t his mistress looks in order to validate his love for her. $e knows love "oes deeper then o tward appearance, and to lie a!o t her looks wo ld !e a discredit to their love. 6learly, Sonnet 130 has a theme of reality, and what love really is. Shakespeare coyly draws attention away from the physical !ea ty of a woman. )hese thin"s are not important. ,nd he addresses this theme !y deconstr ctin" the ima"es of ideal !ea ty that society pict res when they think of a woman. , woman does not need to !e a shinin" e%ample of what traditional !ea ty is for him to love her. ,"ain, he thinks his love as rare2,s any she !elied with false compare. )his is the reality of love for Shakespeare. $7 does not need to lie a!o t her looks. $is love is eno "h, and that makes her !ea tif l to him.