William Shakespeare Sonnet 130
Aim: Renaissance sonnets often focus on the great beauty of the beloved. How important is physical beauty or attractiveness in today’s society?
Do Now: What do you think makes you beautiful?
Teacher Read Aloud: Sonnet 130
Students will do the following
• Write a brief paragraph on what you think is the meaning of the poem.
Is the speaker’s mistress dark or fair?
Mini Lesson:
Figurative Language is language that conveys meaning beyond the literal meanings of words. Similes and metaphors are types of figurative language. Simile uses the word like or as to make comparisons. A metaphor makes a comparison without using like or as.
Literary Analysis: find a simile and metaphor in Sonnet 130.
Cooperative Learning: Sept 12 - Sept 15
Do Now: Students will start forming groups of 2-3 to create their ideal beauty Select one of Shakespeare’s poem and let your readers know why this sonnet best represents your ideal male/female in 3 paragraphs.
Do Now: What do you think makes you beautiful?
It would more than likely be my skills and my talents. These things, I feel, are more important than my physical appearance and it is these qualities that make me beautiful.
Procedures:Teacher Read Aloud: Sonnet 130
Students will do the following
• Write a brief paragraph on what you think is the meaning of the poem.
I believe that the poem is stating that physical beauty should not be taken into consideration when think about whether you love someone or not. In the speaker's case, he states how "ugly" and unpleasing their love is physically. But in lines 13 and 14, the speaker states that his/her love is rare and that no one can be better.
• Think about two questions that you would like to discuss about this poem and write it in your journal/notebook. Now pass your journals around your table and have your peers answer the questions.
Q1: In line 11, the speaker states that he "never saw a goddess go." So therefore wouldn't the speaker not be able to compare his love to someone who is beautiful?
QA: Although the speaker has not seen someone who is like a goddess, he still knows the stereotype of someone being beautiful, and there is no way that his love is anywhere near these stereotypes.
Q2: If there is nothing physically appealing about the speaker's love, then what could be beautiful about the speaker's love? After all, the speaker did not state anything.
Q2a: It is more than likely that the speaker's love has characteristics that no other male or female possesses.
Comprehension check:QA: Although the speaker has not seen someone who is like a goddess, he still knows the stereotype of someone being beautiful, and there is no way that his love is anywhere near these stereotypes.
Q2: If there is nothing physically appealing about the speaker's love, then what could be beautiful about the speaker's love? After all, the speaker did not state anything.
Q2a: It is more than likely that the speaker's love has characteristics that no other male or female possesses.
Is the speaker’s mistress dark or fair?
The speaker's mistress must be dark. In context of how the speaker is describing her, he is using specifically dark words, such as "tread," reeks" and "black wires." If the mistress was fair, why would there be any reason for the speaker to use such dark words?
Do the flaws pointed out by the speaker affect his love for the woman described?
The flaws do not impact the speaker's love for the woman described. As the speaker states in lines 13 and 14, "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare."
Think Critically:
What do you think is the speaker’s attitude toward the woman he loves? Think about: his descriptions of her physical characteristics, his descriptions of her voice, his conclusion in the couplet.
The speaker does indeed love the woman he is describing. Although she may not be physically perfect no one else can compare to his love. This is meant in a positive manner, as his love is rare. Although most people would not love this woman, because the speaker can overlook her physical flaws and still love her like she was physically beautiful, his love is indeed rare.
What do you think might have been Shakespeare’s purpose in writing this sonnet?
Shakespeare might have been contemplating why everyone chases after physical beauty, and angered by this fact, might have wrote this sonnet in hopes to show that not always is physical appearance the biggest factor in deciding whether you love someone or not. After all, like he stated in sonnet 116, physical appearance and tastes may change over the years. But true love, the love that overlooks physical appearance, lasts forever.
Does this poem present a realistic or idealized portrait of the beloved?
This is without a doubt a realistic portrait of the beloved as Shakespeare goes into detail about the beloved. He states everything about the beloved, in a negative manner, but then states that the beloved is beautiful in other ways that the eye cannot see.
Mini Lesson:
Figurative Language is language that conveys meaning beyond the literal meanings of words. Similes and metaphors are types of figurative language. Simile uses the word like or as to make comparisons. A metaphor makes a comparison without using like or as.
Literary Analysis: find a simile and metaphor in Sonnet 130.
Simile - Line 1: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Metaphor - Line 2: If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
Metaphor - Line 2: If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
Cooperative Learning: Sept 12 - Sept 15
Do Now: Students will start forming groups of 2-3 to create their ideal beauty Select one of Shakespeare’s poem and let your readers know why this sonnet best represents your ideal male/female in 3 paragraphs.
We have chosen Sonnet 130 to represent our ideal female. The reason is quite simple actually, as both our ideal female and the speaker’s ideal female holds this natural beauty. In sonnet 130, the speaker is describing the love of his life. The speaker states, in lines 1, 4, 6, 8, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” and “If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.” He goes on to state that there are “no … roses … in her cheeks” and that “the breath that from my mistress reeks.” So far, it doesn’t seem as though the speaker really finds this person beautiful.
However, the speaker completely turns his attitude around in line 13. The speaker states “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare.” Why on earth would he say this? That is because the speaker finds a natural beauty within his love. It may not be in the way he/she walks, talks or appears, but there is just something about this person that the speaker loves. This is what our photo depicts.
In our photo, we have a beautiful Angelina Jolie depicted only with her face. There is nothing else that other males might find attractive; the female in the photo is wearing glasses and a long black dress. All that remains of Angelina Jolie is her face. So like the speaker’s love, our ideal female lacks in areas that other males normally treasure. Yet we still see this female as beautiful because this female has a natural beauty. After all, this female is still Angelina Jolie.
However, the speaker completely turns his attitude around in line 13. The speaker states “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare.” Why on earth would he say this? That is because the speaker finds a natural beauty within his love. It may not be in the way he/she walks, talks or appears, but there is just something about this person that the speaker loves. This is what our photo depicts.
In our photo, we have a beautiful Angelina Jolie depicted only with her face. There is nothing else that other males might find attractive; the female in the photo is wearing glasses and a long black dress. All that remains of Angelina Jolie is her face. So like the speaker’s love, our ideal female lacks in areas that other males normally treasure. Yet we still see this female as beautiful because this female has a natural beauty. After all, this female is still Angelina Jolie.