8-4DarkLady

//Answer prepared by Ben W//** Shakespeare's "Dark Lady" is a subject of great debate. She is a character described in many of Shakespeare's sonnets, and is described as having black hair and "dun" (darker) skin. The "Dun gene" is a gene mutation that causes a horse's body hair pigment to darken to colors like tan or brown. Here is Sonnet 128:
 * Who is the "Dark Lady"?

//How oft when thou, my music, music play’st, Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway’st// //The wiry concord that mine ear confounds,// //Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap, To kiss the tender inward of thy hand, Whilst my poor lips which should that harvest reap, At the wood’s boldness by thee blushing stand!// //To be so tickled, they would change their state And situation with those dancing chips, O’er whom thy fingers walk with gentle gait, Making dead wood more bless’d than living lips.// //Since saucy jacks so happy are in this, Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss.//

Here is a clip of the same sonnet being read aloud: media type="youtube" key="dY_q7St7cB0" height="344" width="425"

This sonnet appears to be describing this Dark Lady- specifically, how she is "out of the league" of the narrator. It seems to show how beautiful the narrator thinks she is, and possibly that he is jealous of her good looks and youth, things that the nararator possibly does not have.This sonnet obviously has lusty and sexual undertones, which leads us to believe that the narrator of this poem (presumably Shakespeare) had an affair with this particular "Dark Lady". There are many theories as to who this lady is-many historians believe she is one of three historic women: Marry Fitton, a servant of Queen Elizabeth, Lucy Morgan, a brothel owner, and Emilia Laner, patron of the arts. . Some say that her "dun" skin undoubetly labels her as an African- otheres simply claim that the Dark Lady was not meant to be taken literally, but is rather a ficitonal embodiment of Shakespeare's "dark" lust and passion. Others have even claimed there are connections between the Dark Lady and the character Hermia from the Shakespeare play //A Midsummer Night's Dream//, who is also described as having dark hair. The mystery of the true identity of the Dark Lady has still not been solved-it is a conundrum whose solution accompanied Shakespeare to his eternal rest. Works Cited Unknown Author, "The Dark Lady." 7 Apr 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_sonnets#The_Dark_Lady.

Davies, Nigel. "The Principal Characters of The Sonnets." Web.5 Apr 2009. .

Wilson, Ian. //Shakespeare's Dark Lady//. New York: 1997. Print.