Question

today the word mistress has a negative connotation in it used to refer to in adultery, is woman what did mistress mean as used in Shakespeare’s sonnet 130?

Answer 1

A mistress was a high society woman, while
people used to call master the men, they would also call mistress the women, so in this
sonnet, he talks about his loved one as a
woman with class and grace not a woman
with a dubious reputation as we would think
at first.