The Place 2 Be: Shakespeare's Sonnets

Critique of Sonnet 131

SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS

Theme: The Dark Lady
Content: An affirmation of the author's love for the negro lady that utilises religious language to convey the spiritual dimension to the relationship.

Thou art as tyrannous so as thou art
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel,
For well thou know'st to my dear doting heart
Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.

The subject is described as fairest - the ultimate superlative compared to the basic positive of fair used to describe the subject's contemporaries in other sonnets.

Denial is represented throughout the sonnet both explicitly and hidden in tyrannous...know'st...not...not...not...another...nothing.

An abundance of words containing c and k seem to deliberately echo the issue of subject's black complexion.

Yet, in good faith, some say that thee behold
Thy face hath not the power to make love groan.
To say they err I dare not be so bold,
Although I swear it to myself alone;

The author reveals he is reticent about disclosing his feelings for the subject to others.

Possible pun on groan also meaning grown.

faith and swear are invoked to give a spiritual dimension to the relationship.

The critics err in public while the author swears in private.

And, to be sure that is not false I swear,
A thousand groans but thinking on thy face
One on another's neck do witness bear
Thy black is fairest in my judgement's place.

As in the other sonnets regarding the Dark Lady the subject is again described as black in the context of the subject's face and neck.

The subject is reaffirmed to be the fairest.

Possible further pun on groans as in grown.

swear, witness and judgement continue the spiritual terminology.

thousand is a commonplace number throughout Shakespeare but this particular line (A thousand groans but thinking on thy face) recalls Marlowe's "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships" from his Dr. Faustus.

In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds,
And thence this slander, as I think, proceeds.

In Elizabethan times, nothing was a term used to refer to the female genitalia, as in Hamlet Act 3, Scene 2:

Hamlet (to Ophelia) "Lady, shall I lie in your lap?"
Ophelia: "No, my lord."
Hamlet: "I mean my head upon your lap?"
Ophelia: "Ay, my lord."
Hamlet: "Do you think I meant country matters?" [country used here as a play on the word cunt]
Ophelia: "I think nothing, my lord."
Hamlet: "That’s a fair thought to lie between maids’ legs."
Ophelia: "What is, my lord?"
Hamlet: "No thing."
The reference to nothing in the couplet (anticipated by the several no words) in the context of the sonnet's groaning love theme would appear to indicate that a pun is intended on nothing here also.