the only things he has written about himself.
The three main characters in the sonnets are the poet, his
friend and the dark lady. The poet ex p resses the warmest
admiration for the friend. The dark lady is the beloved o f the
Poet; unlike the idealized ladies in the sonnets o f Petrarch and his
followers, she is false and vicious, but the poet, though aware o f
the fact, can’t help loving her. And then com es the tragedy: the
friend and the dark lady betray the poet and fall in love with each
other.
By reading between the Unes o f the sonnets, w e may see a
tragedy in Shakespeare’s life, a tragedy that he might not have
fully understood him self. Despite the author’s intention, we feel
that the poet’s friend, who is praised so warmly, is a shallow, cruel
and petulant man; the dark lady is wicked and lying. Thus, in the
sonnets w e may see the great misfortune o f a genius, who wasted
his life and soul for the sake o f persons, unworthy o f him.
There is a major theme running through the cycle: the theme
ofth e implacability ofT im e. How could ore triumph over it? The
poet gives tw o answers: the first is: one lives forever in one’s
children, in on e’s posterity. The second is: one may achieve
immortality if one’s features are preserved by art, and particularly
in poetry.
Scholars and critics have made many attempts to discover all
the mysteries o f Shakespeare’s sonnets, as they may shed light
on his life, but generally to no avail. It is important to remember
that Shakespeare’s sonnets were written at a time when such
sequences were fashionable, and thus the sonnets may be more
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