For about thirty years sonnet sequences were popular in England (1580s to the 1610s) . A sonnet is a poem of 14 lines of iambic pentameter with an elaborate rhyme scheme. The poets of these forms of poems wrote in order to express their deep human emotions. Especially, poets in Renaissance revealed the philosophy of humanism. Poets of Elizabethan time are mainly concerned with the subject of love. Thereby, they made use on metaphoric and poetic conventions which were developed by Italian poets of the fourteenth century like Petrarch or Dante. The Petrarchan, or Italian sonnet, consists of two quatrains and two tercets. To emphasize the idea of the poem, the rhyme scheme and structure work together. William Shakespeare reshaped the sonnet structure. The English, or Shakespearean sonnet, consists of three quatrains and a concluding couplet.
Shakespeare used, like Petrarch, the structure of the sonnet to explore multiple facets of a topic in short. He, despite his high status as a dramatist, attracted no attention as a sonneteer . William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford upon Avon. In 1609 he retracted from the London live in theatre back to the city of his birth. In the very same year the publisher Thomas Thorpe announced the book “Shake-Speares Sonnets Never before Imprinted”. “When [Shakespeare] published his sonnets – or allowed them to be published – in 1609, the sonnet vogue was all but over […]” . About the background and the reliability of this edition prevails disagreement. It is not resolved whether Shakespeare had wanted the publication. It is also uncertain whether the order of the sonnets is right or does it make any sense to rearrange the sequence. Even the division of the sequence into two parts – sonnet one till 126 address a young man and sonnet 127 till 154 address the Dark Lady – is questionable because many of the sonnets have no gender-markers. However, most editors accept the ordering from the 1609 edition . With 154 poems, Shakespeare wrote the longest sonnet cycle of the Elizabethan age. If we comply with the assumption of most editors, the poems one till 126 focuses a young blonde man, and the sonnets 127 till 152 are aimed at a Dark Lady who is the “conceptual antithesis of the young man” . The whole sequence ends with two rather insignificant love sonnets which have nothing to do with the previous sonnets.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Formal and substantially aspects of sonnet 127
2.1 The first quatrain
2.2 The second quatrain
2.3 The third quatrain
2.4 The couplet
2.5 Shakespeare and Petrarch
2.6 Dark Lady
3 Conclusion
4 Bibliography
Objectives and Topics
The work aims to provide a detailed formal and substantial analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 127, exploring its role as the entry point into the "Dark Lady" sequence and examining the poet's subversion of traditional Petrarchan beauty ideals through themes of naturalness versus artificiality.
- Formal structure and rhyme scheme of the Shakespearean sonnet.
- Deconstruction of traditional beauty standards and the critique of cosmetics.
- Thematic evolution from Petrarchan conventions to Shakespeare's unique perspective.
- Biographical and literary investigations into the identity of the mysterious "Dark Lady."
- Symbolism of "blackness" and the reversal of aesthetic values in the Elizabethan context.
Excerpt from the Book
2.2 The second quatrain
For since each hand hath put on nature's power,
Fairing the foul with art's false borrow'd face,
Sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower,
But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace.
The second quatrain claims that the standard of “beauty” has lost its naturalness because of using make up. The true colour of a woman can be changed by using cosmetics to “fair[ing] the foul”. Once more “faring” is a pun between blonde and beautiful. This modification and the try of making beautiful what is ugly are false and make a “bastard” of true “beauty”: “Sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower”. Since “black” is beautiful every woman wants “put on Nature's power” to allocate prettiness.
The phrasing is suggestive of applying powder or rouge or white lead to the face, as if Nature's power could be equated with a thick layering of cosmetics.
Chapter Summaries
1 Introduction: Provides an overview of Elizabethan sonnet sequences, the technical structure of Shakespearean sonnets, and the historical context of the 1609 edition.
2 Formal and substantially aspects of sonnet 127: Examines the poem's programmatic opening, its critique of cosmetic deception, and the structural devices used to challenge existing beauty ideals.
2.1 The first quatrain: Analyzes the poet’s defiance of traditional blonde beauty standards and the paradox of blackness as the new aesthetic ideal.
2.2 The second quatrain: Discusses the degradation of beauty through artificial means and the profanity of using cosmetics to mimic nature.
2.3 The third quatrain: Explores the conceit of the mistress's mourning eyes and the social implications of "not being born fair."
2.4 The couplet: Analyzes how the final two lines consolidate the speaker's argument for blackness as a new, fashionable standard.
2.5 Shakespeare and Petrarch: Compares the conventional Petrarchan love tradition with Shakespeare’s subversion of these tropes through his distinct treatment of the subject.
2.6 Dark Lady: Reviews various historical and biographical hypotheses regarding the identity of the mysterious woman addressed in the sonnets.
3 Conclusion: Reflects on the enduring mystery of the sonnets and the impossibility of arriving at a definitive biographical truth.
4 Bibliography: Lists the academic sources, editions, and electronic resources used throughout the research.
Keywords
Shakespeare, Sonnet 127, Dark Lady, Petrarchan tradition, Renaissance, Elizabethan poetry, Beauty ideals, Cosmetics, Naturalness, Biography, Literary criticism, Sonnet structure, Iambic pentameter, Aesthetics, Mourning.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this work?
The work provides a comprehensive analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnet 127, treating it as a pivotal text that introduces the "Dark Lady" and challenges the aesthetic norms of the Elizabethan era.
What are the central thematic fields covered?
Key themes include the dichotomy between artificiality and natural beauty, the historical shift in beauty ideals, the breakdown of Petrarchan poetic conventions, and the biographical mystery surrounding the addressee.
What is the core research objective?
The objective is to explain how Shakespeare formally and substantially reshapes the sonnet form to argue against the corruption of beauty by artificial cosmetic practices.
Which methodology is employed in this research?
The paper utilizes a literary-analytical approach, combining textual close-reading of the sonnet's stanzas with a review of historical biographical theories and comparisons to Petrarchan traditions.
What does the main body of the text cover?
It covers a stanza-by-stanza breakdown of Sonnet 127, a comparative study between Shakespeare and Petrarch, and an evaluation of various scholarly theories regarding the identity of the Dark Lady.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
Prominent keywords include Shakespeare, Sonnet 127, Dark Lady, Elizabethan poetry, Beauty ideals, and Petrarchan tradition.
Why does Shakespeare link the color black to beauty in Sonnet 127?
Shakespeare challenges the prevailing blonde-hair ideal by associating blackness with naturalness and truth, contrasting it with the "false" beauty created by cosmetics.
How does the author interpret the identity of the Dark Lady?
The author concludes that despite numerous historical theories—ranging from Mary Fitton to Emilia Lanier—the true identity of the Dark Lady remains an unsolvable mystery.
What is the significance of the "clinching couplet" in this work?
The author highlights the couplet as a characteristic feature of the Shakespearean sonnet, serving as a decisive conclusion that enforces the poet's new perspective on beauty.
- Quote paper
- Sarah Nitschke (Author), 2010, Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 127" and the mysterious "Dark Lady" - An Analysis, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/149148
