Dark Lady Sonnets... commence! One hundred thirty, one hundred thirty one & one hundred thirty three
Upon my first reading of these three sonnets, I was a little surprised at how quickly Shakespeare's affections moved from the young man to the dark lady. Then after I thought about it, I realized that some time (perhaps years) could have passed by since his love affair with OOP. I guess when you aren't allowed to love someone anymore, you have to force yourself to get over them. Anyways. Moving on from the sonnets for a young man to the sonnets for the dark lady.
Well one hundred thirty is basically a physical description of the lady. One line in particular that stands out to me is: "And in some perfumes is there more delight than in the breath that from my mistress reeks" Wow. I realize that he probably doesn't mean "reek" how we mean it now, but still. It's so interesting to compare and contrast how he described the young man and how he describes the dark lady. It seems the persona Shakespeare was trying to create for himself through these sonnets is a darker more bad ass character than he was in the first one hundred and twenty six sonnets.
The next sonnet talks about the lady as "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 fairest and most precious jewel. Yet, in good faith, some say that thee behold thy face hath not the power to make love groan." So she's not necessarily the most beautiful woman according to the world's standards or the kindest, but Shakespeare is crazy about her. I wonder if she was truly unattractive or if it was just the fact that she's of darker complexion that made others think of her as ugly. Perhaps Shakespeare just had a natural tendency to go against the cultural norms in who he loved.
One hundred thirty three. Not too sure what this one means. He speaks a lot of imprisonment. I'm guessing this is figurative. He also talks of his friend and himself being monopolized. I'm kind of completely lost with this one. Anyone have any ideas or interpretations?
on reeking
You're right. "Reek" isn't quite so damning back then as it would be today, but still not anything to be confused with a clear compliment, but that's the tone of the poem. Bradley
Bradley
Shakespeare Changing for the Dark Lady?
I actually laughed out loud when I read that you think that Shakespeare was trying to create a bad ass persona. That is outstanding. That thought had not crossed my mind. Why do you think he is trying to be more bad ass? I wonder if it has to do with the dark lady? I read that other people think that she may be a mean, horrible person, perhaps that has caused the change? I hope he isn't wishy washy if he does actually change, I don't think I could handle that after the wordy love affair of the first 126.
Megan Baeth-Brison
Well, I guess I just think
Well, I guess I just think he may be trying to show another side to himself. A less-sensitive side than he had in the first 126 sonnets. Almost as if to say, "I don't only go for the fair youth kind of person, but I can kick it with the bad girl if I feel like it"
I too hope he's not wishy washy...
~Molly
Good point
I'm glad you pointed out that Shakespeare might have taken a while to get over his previous feelings. He doesn't have to be flip-flopping within days. Still, for a love that will carry out even to the edge of doom, it seems to have changed rather quickly. Even though we all loved the romance of the sonnet that talked about love overcoming time, it's been proven to be a bit unreliable, at least in the romantic sense. Too bad.
I tend to think that the Dark Lady is really not all that attractive (to Shakespeare/in the day's standards). It's not just the color of her skin that's "criticized" but her eyes "are nothing like the sun" and "music hath a far more pleasing sound" than her speech. The beauty of their love comes from the fact that Shakespeare doesn't care, he still groans for her love even though she isn't one of the fair creatures.
Erin Kay Schulz
1589-1604
this is the assumed, meaning kinda guessed at, date range for the production of the sonnets. So, there could be quite a few years that have passed from the early poems to the latter poems. If we take this to mean that the OOP is the same in the early sonnets as the later (133 for instance) then we can see that as an enduring affection if nothing else. Bradley
Bradley
Maybe...
I was also a little confused with 133. I'm not sure if my interpretation of it was too literal. I got the idea that a friend of Shakespeare's (maybe the OOP made a return) was caught in this web of his mistress' seduction, and finds his heart breaking like Shakespeare's. It seems that this mistress has done something to hurt him, and his friend. And that Shakespeare would rather sacrifice his own heart in order for his friend's pain to be eased. However, I also thought it could be the other way around. Maybe the person who has betrayed him is the OOP, and he is the one who is causing Shakespeare and his mistress pain. Or maybe I am completely off.....
Jennie
That's sort of what I
That's sort of what I gathered from it as well. I was totally thrown off by who his friend is, and I think dwelling on that really messed me up for the rest of the sonnet. Like you said, it could go either way and be either the mistress who did the hurting or possibly the OOP causing Mr. 'Speare and his mistress pain. May make for an interesting discussion in class tomorrow.
friend is oop, we think
Most scholars think the dearest friend to be the fair youth of the earlier sonnets. The transgression, dark lady is sleeping with the both of them, though probably not at the same time/place kinda thing. She's just having her cake and eating it too. Bradley
Bradley