“Sonnet 127” and “Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare : Desire, Love, Conflict, and Meaning (Page 1 of 2►)

 

Other essays and articles in the Literature Archives related to this topic include : Poetry Comparison of Dover Beach (Arnold) and Sonnet 29 (Shakespeare)

 

There are several common themes in Sonnet 127 and Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare. One of the reasons why William Shakespeare’s extensive body of dramatic and poetic work has been able to survive as long as it has is its identification and exploration of themes that are both timeless and universal. Moreover, it is the treatment of these themes, especially those related to the nature of love and friendship, that has made Shakespeare’s poems and plays remain so appealing despite the abundance of other literary works that examine the same themes. Shakespeare demonstrated a well-developed capacity for witty insight; applied to the compact form of the sonnets in particular, the humorous observations about love, friendship, and life itself entertain the reader (Vickers 292). More importantly, though, the sonnets also provoke the reader to reconsider beliefs and ideals that we often perpetuate unconsciously. Such is the case with two of Shakespeare’s love poems, “Sonnet 127” and “Sonnet 130.”

 

 “Sonnet 127” is the first in a series of 23 poems devoted to the subject of the “Dark Lady”, Shakespeare’s mistress (Hubler 38). Shakespeare scholar Hubler describes this series of sonnets as a cycle of poems that “tell of an amour which began in pleasure and ended in moral loathing” (38). What makes the sonnets remarkable, and “Sonnet 127” and “Sonnet 130” exemplary, is that they challenge the traditional sonnet form and meaning, which was established and perfected by Shakespeare’s predecessors and contemporaries, Greville, Petrarch, Sidney, and Spenser the most notable examples among them. In earlier sonnets, the subject of the poet’s attention was almost always that of love, and specifically, the idealization and idolization of the object of the poet’s affection (Hubler 39). Consider, for example, the following characterizations of ideal womanhood that appear in Spenser’s sonnet, “Fair is my love, when her fair golden hairs.” Before the lines of the poem even begin in earnest, the title orients the reader to the subject and the degree of beauty which will be described. The poet immediately establishes that his love is fair, and that she has “golden hair,” (l. 1), a fact which will become particularly important when our attention is turned towards Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130.”

 

The speaker of this Shakespeare sonnet goes on, however, to praise many other physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of his fair lady. She has “rose in her red cheeks” (l. 3), “the fire of love” in her eyes (l. 4), breasts that evoke a “rich laden bark/With precious merchandise” laid forth (ll. 5-6), a “goodly light” (l. 8) and smile which “drives away” (l. 8) all malice, wise words, and a “gentle sprite” [spirit] (l. 12), all of which call the poet’s attention and inspire him to love her with devotion. Such observations both reflected and defined the standards of beauty that characterized this particular period in literary and social history. Understanding just how common and pervasive these meanings and images of beauty were in conventional sonnets will allow one to substantiate the claim that Shakespeare’s “Dark Lady” sonnets were a radical departure from the literary norm.

 

In the “Dark Lady” sonnet cycle, Shakespeare satirizes traditional notions of beauty and of love by describing a woman who apparently possesses none of the conventionally cherished characteristics that made a woman in Shakespeare’s day appealing. The poet approaches the lady, then, with an admiration that is not evident to the reader initially. The meaning of “Sonnet 127”, the first poem in the “Dark Lady” series, begins with Shakespeare as he familiarizes the reader with what society defines as ideal beauty. This orientation is particularly helpful for the contemporary reader, who may approach the work with a different, more modern interpretation of physical beauty. In this Shakespearian sonnet, The bard explains that black has never been ideal for women, and by this he refers to all aspects of darkness as they apply to physical attributes, including the skin, hair, and eyes. Again, reflecting upon Spenser’s “Fair is my love, when her fair golden hairs,” the reader understands just how important a departure the Shakespeare sonnets are from the traditional love sonnets.

 

In his sonnets, Shakespeare will have to not only redefine beauty, but also defend this new conceptualization. By extension, the redefinition of beauty necessitates the redefinition of related concepts, including desire and love. Shakespeare must teach his reader how to love an object that appears to be the antithesis of all things beautiful. He does so by modeling his own love for the Dark Lady, acknowledging just how unconventional her features are when considered against the ideal, and asserting that this love is just as profoundly moving and as transcendental, or in his words, “rare” (l. 13), as any other poet’s love for his muse. Shakespeare’s break from the traditional sonnet subject causes conflict to the extent that it disrupts established forms and declares them open to revision. Yet by redefining beauty, Shakespeare opens society and the poetic form to new possibilities and interpretations, making more room for people who have traditionally been on the margins.

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