Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130: Anti-Pertrarchian?

The Renaissance rose from the Middle Ages in the Sixteenth Century. It was a golden age of music, philosophy, architecture, art, and perhaps most importantly, literature. Many topics were written about and reflected on. Among these topics were romance and chivalry. Italian poet and scholar Petrach testifies to the popular use of courtship and love in his sonnets. In fact, these types of sonnets have been named Petrarchian. They tend to have a narrative tone …showed first 75 words of 619 total…

…showed last 75 words of 619 total…satirical tone rejects Patrarch’s form and content. In Sonnet 130, the blunt, yet honest outlook sheds a whole new light to the feminine expectations. Though the speaker celebrates his mistress as the opposite of the ladies idealized in most Renaissance love poetry, it still embraces the same values. Perhaps it expresses an even deeper and genuine love than Patrarchian sonnets because, despite Shakespeare’s lover’s plain appearance, he continues to love and admire her.