Sonnet 147: Shakespeare’s view or literary context

Sonnet 147

William Shakespeare

Sonnet 147:Shakespeare’s view or literary context

As part of Shakespeare's sonnet collection, Sonnet 147 is included in the Dark Lady sonnet sequence (sonnets 127–154), followed by the Fair Youth sequence (sonnets 1–126). Set after the Fair Youth Sonnets, which "celebrate a young male love object"; the Dark Lady Sonnets are associated with women of dark physical and moral characteristics. Unlike the Fair Youth sonnet, which lovingly and admirably points out the beauty and personality of a young man, the Dark Lady sonnets often include harsh and offensive language, often with sexual innuendos, to describe a woman who is not admirably beautiful or aristocratic status.

The sonnet details the poet's internal battle between his reason (or head) and his love for his mistress (his heart). As he realizes that his love is harmful, perhaps even fatal, to his health and stability, the poet's logic attempts to end the relationship. However, eventually, the war between the poet's reason and his love ends. Unable to let go of his lover, the poet abandons reason and his love is all-consuming and sends him to the brink of madness.

By writing about this dark and simple woman, Shakespeare was writing in stark contrast to most poets of his time, who often and predominantly wrote about fair, virginal, young women of high social status. Like the questionable identity of the Fair Youth sonnet's inspiration, the identity of the original Dark Lady has been debated and argued for centuries. Unlike the Fair Youth Sonnets, however, there is little intellectual ‘evidence’ to back up any proposed female musings, although historical figures such as Shakespeare's wife Anne Hathaway, Emilia Lanier, and even Queen Elizabeth have been suggested as potentially formidable female characters.

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