SONNET 130
William Shakespeare
Elizabethan Beauty Standards
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Daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn
She ruled over England for more than 50 years (1558–1603) and had a
profound influence on English society and culture – the so-called Golden
Age of England
Hair: reddish, elaborate (wigs!), curls with a high hairline
Complexion: pale, white and flawless with lightly rouged cheeks
Eyes: dark, brilliant/shining, dilated pupils with narrow,arched eyebrows
Lips: red
Contemporary Portraits of Elizabeth I
Modern Re-enactments of Elizabeth I
Death by Vanity (1)
HAIR
Hair coloured with saffron, cumin
seeds, celandine and oil
Hair bleached using urine
Hair pluck at the hairline
Heavy wigs (especially in red)
Death by Vanity (2)
FACE
Venetian Ceruse:
mixture of vinegar and lead which
creates a white powder for a
porcelain-white complexion
(lead is very poisonous and causes
hair loss, muscle paralysis, mental
changes)
Death by Vanity (3)
LIPS & EYES
Fucus was used on lips and cheeks to
rouge the face.
Belladonna drops to dilate pupils
(derived from Deadly Nightshade, a
plant used to create a poison)
Additionally it caused hallucinations,
heart palpitations and blindness.
SONNET 130 - quatrain 1
her appearance
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
litotes
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
analogy
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
Tone is non-chalant, direct
Observations are almost insulting in
their directness
simile
antithesis
metaphor
Shakespeare’s mistress does not
conform to the beauty standards of the
time.
A sonnet about ‘ugliness’ is unexpected.
SONNET 130 - quatrain 2
her beauty regimen
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
comparison
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
Comparisons highlight how different
his mistress is from the socially
acceptable beauty standard.
She also refuses to conform to
expectations of how to beautify
herself.
comparison
Note the severity of the diction.
Hyperbole is almost comical.
SONNET 130 - quatrain 3
her
behaviour/conduct
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
irony
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
alliteration
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
Her behaviour/conduct is
inappropriate in polite society. It is
ironic that the speaker still thinks
fondly of her in spite of her brutish
actions.
Note the implied comparison with a
goddess who is supposed to be
graceful/lightfooted/etc.
Significant diction: she is
not graceful; she
stomps/plods/makes a
noise → hyperbole
She might not be a
goddess, but at least
she is real (‘treads
on the ground’).
SONNET 130 - final couplet
Sudden change in thought
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
ambiguity: his emotion OR his lover
Note the tone. The speaker is filled with
awe/admiration/wonder.
The speaker subverts the reader’s
expectations.
He professes his love for this
completely unideal companion.
SONNETS
SONNETS
14 lines
break in content
question and answer
problem and solution
statement and analysis
3 quatrains + couplet
rhyme →
abab cdcd efef gg
Shakespearean OR
English OR
Elizabethan Sonnet
THEMES and IDEAS
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The main idea running through the poem is that people do not need to be
beautiful to be loved or to be in love.
Shakespeare compares his love to many different natural things (roses, coral,
etc.). Although she does not measure up to these ideals of beauty, he still
loves her.
Shakespeare parodies the conventional/traditional content of the sonnet to
expose its hyperbolic promises as unrealistic.
Shakespeare is also satirising the obsession with appearance and the
importance attached to it.