Emilia Lanier: the Dark Lady in Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Emilia Lanier: The Dark Lady in Shakespeare’s Sonnets
For long centuries, two distinct, yet inextricably connected, mysteries have confounded the literary world. They are the actual identities of the “Fair Youth” and the “Dark Lady”, the chief protagonists, other than the poet/narrator, in William Shakespeare 's sonnets. As the sonnets reflect a painful and complex triangle existing between the poet, the young man, and the dark woman, it is inevitable that theories as to the identity of one are employed to isolate the other.
Scholars generally regard Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, as the youth. Virtually everything regarding his life conforms to his role within the verses; he was fair, privileged, and quite young at the time of the commencement of the sonnets. Two other elements greatly support this assertion. The first is that Southampton, once a ward of Elizabeth 's powerful minister William Cecil, evinced a reckless character and was reluctant to settle down and carry on the family line. This is perfectly in keeping with the relentless exhortations in the sonnets that the youth do so, for the sake of posterity. Then, there is the inescapable matter of his connection to Shakespeare himself. Only two letters exist from the author, and both are submissive appeals to the young lord for patronage. It is, in fact, very likely that Southampton did assist the young Shakespeare financially, which was a more than suitable, and typical, arrangement of the period.
As for the lady in question, candidates have come and gone in scholarly favour. However, the unearthing of a diary in 1973 by Shakespearean scholar A. L. Rowse brought extraordinary new evidence to light, even as that scholar 's reputation as both an ardent Southampton proponent and overt confidence in his own theories have diminished what he sought to establish. Nonetheless, when all the facts and suppositions are examined, it seems most probable that Emilia Bassano Lanier, daughter of
For long centuries, two distinct, yet inextricably connected, mysteries have confounded the literary world. They are the actual identities of the “Fair Youth” and the “Dark Lady”, the chief protagonists, other than the poet/narrator, in William Shakespeare 's sonnets. As the sonnets reflect a painful and complex triangle existing between the poet, the young man, and the dark woman, it is inevitable that theories as to the identity of one are employed to isolate the other.
Scholars generally regard Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, as the youth. Virtually everything regarding his life conforms to his role within the verses; he was fair, privileged, and quite young at the time of the commencement of the sonnets. Two other elements greatly support this assertion. The first is that Southampton, once a ward of Elizabeth 's powerful minister William Cecil, evinced a reckless character and was reluctant to settle down and carry on the family line. This is perfectly in keeping with the relentless exhortations in the sonnets that the youth do so, for the sake of posterity. Then, there is the inescapable matter of his connection to Shakespeare himself. Only two letters exist from the author, and both are submissive appeals to the young lord for patronage. It is, in fact, very likely that Southampton did assist the young Shakespeare financially, which was a more than suitable, and typical, arrangement of the period.
As for the lady in question, candidates have come and gone in scholarly favour. However, the unearthing of a diary in 1973 by Shakespearean scholar A. L. Rowse brought extraordinary new evidence to light, even as that scholar 's reputation as both an ardent Southampton proponent and overt confidence in his own theories have diminished what he sought to establish. Nonetheless, when all the facts and suppositions are examined, it seems most probable that Emilia Bassano Lanier, daughter of
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