Textuality » 4LSCA Interacting

EKoci- Shakspeare, Sonnet 130
by EKoci - (2020-10-26)
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MY MISTRESS EYES (SONNET 130)

 

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips' red:

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

 

I have seen roses damasked, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

And in some perfumes is there more delight

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

 

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound.

I grant I never saw a goddess go:

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.

 

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

As any she belied with false compare.

 

 

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

This sonnet follows the rules of the Elizabethan model: it is organised into three quatrain and a rhyming couplet. The tile is part of the first line of the sonnet, this makes the reader understand the sonnet belongs to a collection. The speaker addresses to the dark lady, so Sheakspeare is not going to follow th typical convention of courtly love poetry that usually underlines characteristic of an angelical woman.

The first stanza stanza starts with a simile: my mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun, it means that the sun shines more than her eyes.

So the function of this first stanza is to present a different kind of woman. Sheakspeare is taking distance from typical convention of Elizabethan sonnet.

He talks about eyes,hair,way of walking but he transform them. The woman introduced in this sonnet is someone you can meet in real life, she is a realistic figure and not an angel. The speaking voice uses sense of impression:he appeals to sight, hearing, smell and this adds meaning. The speaking voice focuses the attention on her skin. In courtly love poetry rich woman had pale skin and also alludes to the anelical figure. Instead the dark lady has a dun skin. Going on he describes her hair that aren’t light but black.

Moreover the poet says he has seen roses damasked but he seees no roses on her cheeks. After that at the end of the second stanza is used the sense of impression “smell”. He saays that lots of parfumes are more deligt than herh mastress breath. At line nine, there is a compliment, the speaker loves when she speaks. he knows  that music has a more pleasing sound. So even if there are more pleasing sounds the speaker loves her despite of everything.

In this sonnet Sheakspeare wants the reader to understand that he loves this woman even if she isn’t an angel but a common person with strenghts and weaknesses. Appearence is not the only aspect that matters.