Desperate Love towards the Dark Lady in Shakespeare’s Sonnets

張媛媛

Abstract：The dark lady in Shakespeares sonnets is nontraditionally beautiful.The poet remains infatuated with her although she is dissolute in loving affairs.These sonnets center around the intricate triangular relationship among the poet，the dark lady and a young nobleman.The poets affection towards the dark lady is contradictory and desperate.He is fascinated by her true beauty in his deep heart，but also in hatred of her libertine nature.

Key words：dark lady，sonnets

Shakespeare，a shining star during English Renaissance period，created 37 world-renowned plays and 154 universally recognized sonnets.His sonnets are the crystallization of his spiritual world and his fine art，as well as a biography of his life.Many critics in both China and abroad from the ancient times to present have analyzed the theme of the sonnets.Many scholars found these sonnets can be divide into three parts，in which sonnets 127-152 are considered to be around a dark-skinned lady.

Sonnets 127，marking the beginning of the Dark Lady Sonnets，introduces the poets beloved mistress as an anti-traditional beautiful woman，just as the poet tells us：“In the old age black was not counted fair，/Or if it were，it bore not beautys name./But now is black beautys successive heir”.In poets eyes，it is hard to distinguish beauty，since women now are prone to use cosmetics to improve their looks and this artificial practice profanes the true beauty of women.Therefore，the poet appreciates her raven black eyes，brows and hair so much more because her beauty is nature rather than pretentious.Faced with innumerable doubts out of the public about the charm of the dark ladys appearance，the poet firmly defends his beloved as rare as the fairest and most precious jewel.In the end of sonnet 131，the poet admits there is dark side in her deeds，but he is so captivated by her true beauty that he is unwilling to criticize her moral taint.The poet loves the dark lady deeply regardless of social stereotype about the judgement of beauty.

The dark lady looks attractive and irresistible to men.She seems to own certain magic to seduce all of the men in the world.Unlike her charming appearance，she is dissolute and ruthless in heart.She had an affair with the poet，but later on，she tempted his young friend to develop a sexual relationship with her.The poet suffers a lot in this triangular relationship，just as he said in sonnet 133：“Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan/For that deep wound it gives my friend and me.” Initially，the poet tried to ease the complicated situation by letting his heart be the guard of his young friend so that one of them can be released from her imprisonment.Finally，the poet painfully realized that his dark mistress is as frivolous with his young friend as she is with him.In sonnet 134，hoping to gain the dark ladys favor，the poet volunteers to send the young nobleman to her，as suggested in line 1 and 2：“So now I have confessed that he is thine，/And I myself am mortgaged to thy will.” However，the dark lady seizes the opportunity to lure the young man and make the young man respond to her wholeheartedly by using his innocence.It reaffirms that this dark-skinned lady is nothing but a loose woman.The deep love towards the dark lady binds poet himself into an inescapable slavery.

The poet is caught in despair.He realizes love is blind and tortuous which misleads his judgement.His blind love deprives him of his senses.His ability in judgement is misled by the eyes so much that seeing the lady is dissipated，his heart still denies it，as suggested in line 13 in Sonnet 137：“In things right true my heart and eye have erred，” Nevertheless，his eyes cannot help taking the worst for the best.His love toward the dark lady is irresistible and desperate，and hed rather to bear the pain of being betrayed compared with the pain of detaching from her.In sonnet 140，the poet threatens the lady that she at least should pretend to love him，or he would bring public humiliation upon her.Her open flirtation with other men has brought him ultimate torture and he has to admit that she does not love him at all.Nevertheless，he would rather not believe it.Like a dying man who wants only false reassurance from his doctor about his condition，he wants the dark lady to falsify her love for him.He is well aware of the end of their relationship，but he still deceives himself.He makes a direct warning to the dark lady that she must pay attention only to him and not to any other man，when they are in public.Otherwise，he would publicly slander her.The torture of love and despair make the poet mad.

Work cited

[1]李正栓，張青梅.《莎士比亞十四行詩導讀》.北京：清華大學出版社.，2015.

（作者單位：云南大學 外國語學院）