For Wednesday, start reading the "Dark Lady" sonnets, which document his love affair with a mistress, who he repeatedly says is a dark haired (and dark hued?) beauty. Yet the relationship is quite different from that with the 'young man,' and it begs the question, what did love between a man and a woman (especially a cultured man of the arts and theater) mean in Shakespeare's time? Did men and women experience love the same way we do? Or was there something inherently shameful about sharing a deep, physical, emotional love with a woman? Read on to find out...
Only 12 Sonnets to read this time (read both 138 and 138a), but pay special attention to Sonnets 129, 130, 134, 135, and 138/138a. Consider some of the following as you read...
* Sonnets 128, 129, 130, and a few others seem defensive in their love/praise of the dark mistress. Sometimes he seems to demean her (as in 130), and other times, to attempt to re-write the aestetics of beauty (127). What seems to be the cause of his anxiety? Why does her "blackness" trouble him, and make it necessary to qualify her beauty/attractions?
* Is Sonnet 129 secretly flattering in the way 130 is, or is it outright insulting? Many of these sonnets walk a fine line between the two, but this one seems to cross it--or does it? Is it sly and humorous? Ironic? What kind of tone should the reader adopt when reciting it?
* Also, why might Sonnet 129 (if read straight) betray the poet's sexual anxiety, either in his ability to perform or of his attraction to women? How might this reflect deeper cultural anxieties as well?
* Compare Sonnet 130 to Sonnet 18: both are backwards love sonnets, reversing the usual procedure to offer a more realistic approach. What makes this one more audacious--and frankly, satisfying--than 18? What is the one thing he does in this poem that he refuses to do in 18?
* Ah, Sonnet 135. Why does he pun so often on the name "Will," even using its close form "Wilt" throughout? Is it significant that his own name is Will? Also, why is "Will" sometimes capitalized and sometimes not? Note that Sonnet 136 continues this joke.
* Look carefully at the differences between the two versions of Sonnet 138. Sonnet 138a came first, published in The Passionate Pilgrim in 1599, whereas 138 appeared with the Sonnets in 1609, slightly revised. What did Shakespeare (we assume) change in the revision? Which one is 'stronger' to you? Darker?
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