Critque of William Shakespeare Sonnet 130

Towards the end of the sixteenth century, sonnets were the most popular form of circulating poetry, and thus William Shakespeare (1564-1616) composes his own lengthy sonnet cycle, concentrating only on a handful of themes. With the traditional, or Italian, style dominating the poetic forum, Shakespeare composes Sonnet 130 a completely novel sonnet, altering the Italian form. Moreover in Sonnet 130, “My mistresses eyes are nothing like the sun”, Shakespeare mocks the traditional expression of love, yet successfully …

…but love with a twist. He writes not of the lost love that passed one by, or of his lover’s eyes compared to the swirls on the surface of Venus. Shakespeare describes his “mistress,” not “lover,” to items of more natural beauty, only to make false comparisons. In his mockery of the traditional blazon, however, he concludes the poem with his love more rare than any false comparisons to women unworthy of such praise.