Comparative Analysis: Introduction - Nneka

Sonnet 116 and sonnet 130 are similar in exploring the themes of romantic love and that they are written in the same form; that being the English sonnet that was innovated from the traditional Petrarchan sonnet by William Shakespeare but they still have many differences. Sonnet 116 describes a more idealistic love, a true one even; one that "alters not" with time and age whereas sonnet 130 is a more realistic love that can almost seem nonchalant, without passion and even lacking love itself but with closer inspection that interpretation can be changed.



Sonnet 116 is an idealistic love poem which uses personification illustrating that love is viewed as timeless and beautiful. The line 'Love's not Time's fool' portrays how love will continue on no matter how old the couple gets, it is endless and will forever be in existence. By capitalizing the abstract nouns 'Love' and 'Time' displays an importance and identity as if it is looked upon as godly because God is also capitalized and extremely important to those who believe in him. This portrays how Shakespeare perceives love as a truly important thing in life to have, but also describing it in such an idealistic way as it is timeless and can never end.


However, in Sonnet 130, Shakespeare takes a more realistic perspective on love as he criticizes his partner. He introduces his sonnet with 'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun', portraying that she isn't too special and he doesn't view her as 'rosy lipped' or goddess-like as he does in his other sonnets. This infers that he may have noticed that the idyllic love isn't realistic, so he desired to be different from other poets who wrote about the idealistic love such as Henry Howard.  -JESS


As well as using personification in Sonnet 116, Shakespeare uses the central extended metaphor of comparing love to a 'star'. The 'star' he refers to could probably be the North Star which never changes place, symbolising love's timelessness and everlasting strength which perfectly coincides with 116's entire theme of this idyllic love. The North Star was key to the navigator's of the Elizabethan era, the prime time of exploration, as that is what sailors would have searched for when calculating their location at sea. Thus, his description of love being a 'star to every wandering bark' takes on a whole new level of meaning; that for every 'wandering bark', representing man, there has to be his lover acting as a guide for him to identify himself and reassure him. The sonnet uses more nautical imagery to reiterate his perspective of love such as alluding to love being an 'ever-fixed mark', the North Star, and how it 'looks on tempests'. This creates the image of being on a ship at sea during a violent storm, but then continues to say how their love still 'is never shaken'.

On the other hand, Sonnet 130 takes a much more comedic stand on love by using more imagery as a whole in an attempt to mock his 'mistress' and constantly comparing between the two. An example of this being how his 'mistress'... breasts are dun' but 'snow be white', which on first look most would infer as being disrespectful. However on closer inspection of the sonnet, the text could be perceived as more endearing to the reader. Such as when he admits to his revelling more in 'some perfumes' than the 'breath that... my mistress reeks'; his use of sibilance in these short phrases soften the sound of the line and take the harsh first impression away. This comedic comparison makes the text more light-hearted and becomes less of an act of contempt. - Fran


In addition to nautical imagery being used to express the theme of timeless love in Sonnet 116, Shakespeare focuses on the significance of marriage and religion to convey his true love in its purest form. This idealistic concept of love is embodied in lines 1 and 2, with Shakespeare’s declaration beginning “Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments.”, stressing the importance of love without tribulations and that true love should be without fault. Another example of religious imagery occurs in line 11, referencing “the edge of doom”, an allusion to judgement day within Christianity as an event that will not alter the course of idealistic love. During the Elizabethan era, marriages were often arranged, regardless of the woman’s opinion or emotions, and the act was viewed as a mere legal bond, rather than an act of true love. This sonnet juxtaposes the entire perception of marriage of the era, and instead offers an idealistic, transcendent viewpoint which emphasizes the constant love he holds for his partner.


To contrast, Sonnet 130 provides a much more realistic, yet derogatory portrayal of love through the use of colour and object comparison. Various negative similarities to natural objects are drawn, such as how his mistress’ eyes are “nothing like the sun” and the colour of her lips and breasts are dull when compared to the red in coral and the whiteness of snow. These comparisons could possibly be a method of demeaning his mistress due to her appearance being perceived as unattractive, thus the disparaging remarks diminishing his mistress’ worth to nothing more than “perfumes” or “roses”.  - Kenzee


Using sonnet 116 Shakespeare is conveying the nature of love and what he expects of his lover, to love him unconditionally, which is shown by 'love is not times fool,' the idyllic love Shakespeare is portraying to the reader is timeless and will forever stay the same through 'his brief hours and weeks' this shows that no matter how long his days seem when he sees his lover everything gets better. The enjambment used shows Shakespeare's wish to have no obstacles in the way of his love he wants it to flow forever. The beautiful imagery about the ocean show how he sees his lover.

Sonnet 130 contradicts how Shakespeare sees his love as he no longer uses the beautiful imagery he wrote in Sonnet 116, as you can infer that he has returned to reality and seen that not all love is everlasting and beautiful. The message throughout the Sonnet is that even though this lover is not physically the most beautiful with her 'dun' body parts contrasting the lover in Sonnet 116 'rosy lips', he loves her anyway because you don't have to be physically appealing to be loved. Sonnet 130 takes a more unrequited love tone as it can be taken as she loves him a lot more then he loves her. -Evie.