How Does Shakespeare Use Imagery In My Mistress Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun

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"Sonnet 130" Imagine Romeo telling Juliet that her breath smells horrible and she had stringy hair. It certainly does not seem very romantic or at all polite but this is exactly what William Shakespeare does in Sonnet 130, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” While Shakespeare’s satirical intent is present, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” is a sonnet that emphasizes the importance of finding beauty in the imperfect, or more literally, finding beauty in the human form. Shakespeare uses extremely potent visual imagery when describing his mistress in “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” in order to emphasize her imperfections. He uses a vast array of images to paint a portrait of his mistress, which begins with…show more content…
Shakespeare also employs this technique as he portrays the sense of smell when describing his mistress. Shakespeare writes, “And in some perfumes is there more delight/ Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks” (7-8). Here, he once again compares his mistress’s breath to an icon of perfection, perfume. His choice of the word “reeks” also, at first glance, presents a negative idea of her smell. In addition, Shakespeare utilizes one’s sense of sound in the sonnet. The poem reads, “I love to hear her speak, yet well I know/ That music hath far more pleasing sound ” (9-10). As seen before, he compares his lover’s voice to an image of unattainable perfection. If taken at an extremely literal level, Shakespeare’s powerful use of these three human senses describes a rather ugly, smelly, annoying…show more content…
He writes, “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/ As any she belied with false compare” (13-14). This final couplet brings the reader to a realization: he truly loves his mistress. Shakespeare is suggesting that comparing her to something she is not would be an injustice to her and her personal beauty. The poem does not literally mean that his mistress’s hairs are black wires or that her breasts are dull and drab; this exaggeration is used to show that she is not flawless. Shakespeare does not put the mistress up on a pedestal like a “goddess”; she is not perfect because she is, in fact, human. In lines 9 and 10 the speaker claims that although his mistress’s voice is not pleasurable to one’s ears he still prefers it over beautiful music because it is the voice of his lover. Although she may not be the most beautiful woman, the main point of the sonnet is that the speaker is praising her beauty found in her
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