The Significance of Shakespeare’s Regards toward his Mistress in “ Sonnet 130” “ Sonnet 130” compares William Shakespeare’s mistress to typical, natural beauty; each time drawing attention to his mistress’ obvious imperfections. He addresses her as if she cannot compare to the ideal appearances women are expected to look like in that of the natural world. The comparisons Shakespeare addresses highlight aspects of nature, such as snow (3)or coral (2) yet; each comparison proves to be unflatteringly about his mistress.
However, in the final rhyming couplet, Shakespeare claims his love for his mistress by professing; that even though his mistresses has a great deal of flaws, he accepts them and loves her as much as any man could love a woman. In Shakespeare’s, “ Sonnet 130” he illustrates a true depiction of his mistress by emphasizing her flaws instead of her beauties, which provides emphasis on his sincere adoration and unconditional love for her through the line, “ And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare” (13).
Shakespeare cleverly shows the importance of a single line in “ Sonnet 130” by showing how a specific line can alter an entire poem. If the line, “ And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare” were to be absent from the sonnet it would change the overall meaning; instead of a love poem, a poem portraying his disgust. This would stray from Shakespeare’s overall intention. Shakespeare wrote this poem to show his adoration towards his mistress not his distaste.
This line emphasizes this, by simply stating how his love differs from a typical poem; allowing his readers to recognize that his love is rare. Shakespeare doesn’t need to state unnecessary flattery to show his love for his mistress. This becomes an evident theme by the end of the sonnet with the help of the line, “ And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare. ” The theme is expressed through this line because of the drastic switch where Shakespeare emphasizes his affection towards his mistress instead of her flaws.
Commonly found in Shakespearean poems is a literary device known as a volta. This is a moment in the poem where the theme or tone changes in a surprising way to the audience (Shmoop Editorial Team). In this sonnet Shakespeare uses a volta at the end of the sonnet to show the significance of his love for his mistress. The beginning of Shakespeare’s work focuses on her imperfections by using similes to compare her unconventional looks to the classic beauty she is expected to posses. This provides a strong contrast to the line, “ And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare. The sonnet plays with poetic conventions in which, his mistress’s eyes are compared with the sun (1), or her lips with coral, and her cheeks with roses (6) yet, instead of complimenting her with these comparisons he states how she is nothing like these descriptions. Using the volta switches the reader’s point of view from Shakespeare’s distaste towards his mistress to her being conveyed as lovely as any women. Shakespeare’s use of the volta is placed at the end of sonnet compared to being placed near the middle to add emphasis to the rhyming couplet.
By doing this, Shakespeare was able to add more unflattering comparisons, making his resulting view of his mistress much more shocking to the reader. This leads to a lasting effect on his readers and adds to the significance of the line. Having the line cleverly situated at the end of the poem makes for an interesting read for the reader. Like any typical book you read, a story usually follows the same format: introduction, rising action, climax, and falling action. Shakespeare’s sonnet follows this structure.
His introduction being him introducing his mistress, while the rising action is stated through his unflattering similes. The line, “ And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare” is acting as the climax. One could argue that the climax is the most important element of a story because it is known as the most intense or exciting part . This line shows excitement because of the sudden change in Shakespeare’s point of view. It acts as a decisive moment for Shakespeare in the eyes of the readers.
This becomes intriguing to the readers because the poem quickly shifts to a love poem and emphasizes a way of love that all women wish a man could provide. This love is shown by Shakespeare through the way he states how a women needs not to be told unseemly lies to be loved like a women should be loved. Many would enjoy reading this sonnet because of Shakespeare’s final declaration of love at the end of the poem. The line, “ And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare” reveals a sincere depiction of his mistress by emphasizing unflattering aspects about her, which adds importance to his high regard and unconditional love for her.
Yes, his mistress is not as beautiful as things found in nature, yet Shakespeare loves her nonetheless. In the closing couplet, he emphasizes the fact that she is as extraordinary as any other woman described with exaggerated or false comparisons. It is a blunt, but charming sincerity that make “ Sonnet 130” a very memorable poem. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. “ Sonnet 130. ” 1609. Shmoop Editorial Team. “ Sonnet 130 Rhyme, Form ; Meter” Shmoop. com. Shmoop University, Inc. , 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.
