Read the lines from Shakespeare's "Sonnet 131."

Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,

As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;

For well thou know'st to my dear doting heart

Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.

Now read the lines from Shakespeare's "Sonnet 130."

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

As any she belied with false compare.

How do the central ideas in the sonnets relate to each other?

A) They are similar because both are about the angelic beauty of a woman.

B) They are similar because both are about love for a woman others may find lacking.

C) They are different because the first is about pride, while the second is about love.

D) They are different because the first is about true love, while the second is about betrayal.

In my opinion, the correct answer is B) They are similar because both are about love for a woman others may find lacking. These sonnets are about Shakespeare's infamous Dark Lady - a woman of very peculiar looks and personality traits. She is nothing like the ladies that the poets usually obsess over - angelic beauties with golden locks and pearls for eyes. In truth, she is quite ugly and repelling, and she even smells. But nevertheless, the speaker loves her, and thinks there is nothing wrong with his love. Just like others sing about their love for beautiful and fragile ladies, so he is entitled to put his own love to verse and immortalize it. Whatever she might be or look like to others, to him she is "the fairest and most precious jewel", worthy of love, and worthy of being the center of his sonnets.