I wanted to spend two more days on the Sonnets, but we're simply out of time and have to move on. So finish them for next time, and pay special attention to the following sonnets: 135, both 138s, 139, 141, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, and 152. Here are some questions to consider:
* As in the other set of questions, consider how 138 changes between the two versions. What does Shakespeare intensify or soften in his revision?
* Many of these Sonnets seem to find the Dark Lady all too real: that is, she doesn't hide her flaws/sins and leaves them out for all to view. What is the nature of her 'sins' to the poet? Or, what does he seem to consistently accuse her of?
* Note how often the word "Will" appears in these sonnets, and not just the thousand times it appears in 135. How is he punning on the meanings of this word, and how much are we meant to take is as the poet himself?
* How do some of these poems, notably 141 and 147, seem to contradict the hopeful, romantic tone of 130? What seems to have changed over the course of a mere handful of sonnets? Or, is 141 a near echo of 130, suggesting that we read 130 too optimistically?
* Sonnet 143 contains an endearingly innocent metaphor--yet one that becomes problematic when taken in context of the Dark Lady drama. What is she chasing after like a "careful housewife," and why is the poet the "neglected child"?
* Sonnet 144 is a drama unto itself: if we read this literally, what seems to be the story here? Or should it be read more metaphorically, like the good and bad angel on one's shoulder?
* Sonnet 145 is charming, and many scholars consider is a very early poem, thrown into the Sonnets to provide comic relief (see if you can find the pun on Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway). Why does this poem offer a tender/comic pause given the darkness of the previous sonnets? Why does it also give the poet hope where he previously had none?
* Sonnet 152 is technically the end of the Dark Lady drama (and perhaps, of the Sonnets themselves), and is a very tricky poem. Consider the difficult syntax of lines like "and new faith torn/In vowing new hate after new love bearing." Why might he be deliberately clouding the language of this sonnet? How does form follow function here?
* Sonnets 153/154 seem like they inhabit a completely different world than the others, even going back to the opening sonnets. Why would he end the entire sonnet sequence with two poems about Cupid and the bath of love? Does this seem like a bathetic way to end the Sonnets? A killjoy?
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