The beginning of the Dark Lady: Sonnet 127 Analysis

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There is no question that William Shakespeare’s sonnets deal with the themes of love, beauty, and nature, and death, sonnet 127 is no different than the others. Sonnet 127 is written as an anti-Petrarchan statement in the introduction into the Dark Lady sequence which succeeds the fair youth sequence. In the sonnet Shakespeare is heavily expressing the concept that black can be beautiful and only the talk of people says that it cannot, and he also stresses on the idea that due to modern beauty enhancers such as make-up nature is being mocked and that beauty is being took by force.
The sonnet is opened with the line “In the old age black was not counted fair”(CXXVII, L-1, Shakespeare), this does not only grasp the reader’s attention instantly, but reveals that people of dark complexions weren’t treated, or looked at in the same manner as those with a fair pigment of skin. As Shakespeare continues to write the sonnet he exposes the acceptance of darkness as beauty and the decline of fair beauty as the ideal look. Now everyone has the capabilities to become beautiful through artificial creations. The concept that nature has been cheated from its job and have been sidelined leads to the question, “Is beauty actually real?” There is no home for true beauty due to the many imposters that claim to be beautiful, so legitimate beauty lives in the shadows of what we now think of as beauty.
The sonnet presents an abundance of imagery throughout, for example quatrains 1, 5, 8 and 9 create pictures for the reader to allow visuals of beauty, and the Dark Lady. The sonnet is ironic because of the idea that beauty can be achieved by the power of one’s own hand, rather than given by nature. The enhanced beauty mocks nature because it simulates ...

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...y, and destroying the originality of beauty. Shakespeare’s sonnet 127 teaches a lesson to the reader and clears the fog that surrounds beauty. He digs deep to find the truth of beauty, and writes in hope that beauty will be what it should be, and that it will be restored. It creates, lures, and does much more……beauty is an asset or attribute, and sonnet 127 shines light on it.

Works Cited

"Dark Lady Sonnets." About.com Shakespeare. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Dec. 2013.
"Shakespearean Sonnets: The Form of the Sonnets, Shakespeare's Dark Lady and More." Shakespearean Sonnets: The Form of the Sonnets, Shakespeare's Dark Lady and More. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2014.
"Shakespeare's Sonnets." Shakespeare's Sonnets. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Dec. 2013.
"Sonnet 127." William Shakespeare Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Jan. 2014.
SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 06 Jan. 2014.

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