Traditional early English sonnets often focused on romantic and idealized love, mirroring the Petrarchan sonnets that influenced their structure. These love poems frequently extolled a woman's beauty by elaborately comparing her facial features and body to elements found in nature. For example, a poet might compare a woman's cheeks to blooming roses. In "Whoso List to Hunt," Wyatt deviates from the typical love sonnet by depicting the woman as a deer being chased with intense passion. Unlike a passive object of affection, she is portrayed as a wild creature on the run, adding complexity beyond the usual subject of a courtly love poem.

Although she does not speak, she communicates with the narrator through her actions and the display of her collar. Wyatt, therefore, alters the viewpoint on courtly love to focus on masculine desire and possession.

The notion of the "divine right of kings" claimed that monarchs were God's representatives on Earth, making all their subjects essentially their possessions. The final lines of the sonnet, where the hind's collar identifies her as Caesar's exclusive property, allude to this belief. It was thought that a royal ruler had the authority to claim this female, regardless of her own desires or those of other admirers.

During his courtship with Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII lavished her with gifts, demonstrating his serious intentions. These gifts also served as a warning to other suitors, indicating that the King's object of affection was not available. Although Anne Boleyn did not wear a collar with the King's name, she adorned herself with jewels and other tokens he bestowed. As a king, Henry VIII likely felt entitled by his divine right to claim his subjects and would not have hesitated to pursue whomever he wished.

In Wyatt's sonnet, the hunter is depicted as being overwhelmed by his urge to capture his prey. He describes himself as "wearied" in both line 3 and line 5. By line 7, he mentions feeling "fainting" as he tirelessly chases the hind, despite her constant evasion. The pursuit is dangerous because the deer is marked as royal property, yet the hunter continues undeterred. When desire becomes so intense that it cannot be ignored, even when faced with danger, it might be considered an obsession. Mere reasoning is not enough to release the obsessed lover from his yearning.

In Wyatt's sonnet, the object of the hunt is a hind, or female deer, representing Anne Boleyn. The deer is chased as prey and wears a collar that signifies her ruler's ownership. This portrayal of a woman as a hunted forest animal emphasizes the lack of respect for women commonly found in Elizabethan society. In this allegory, the elements of courtship and romance are missing from the relationship between the hunter and the hunted, with the female unable to evade her role as a royal possession.