What is the point of Sonnet 130?
Sonnet 130 mocks the typical Petrarchan metaphors by presenting a speaker who seems to take them at face value, and somewhat bemusedly, decides to tell the truth.
The main idea in Sonnet 130 is to challenge those poets who use too much hyperbole when describing their loves. The use of hyperbole and cliché originated with the poetry of ancient Greece and Rome. It was a convention during the Elizabethan era – and the royal court – in both literature and art.