Analysis of Sonnet CXXX: The Dark Lady

Sonnet CXXX by Shakespeare is ones of the series of sonnets describing the narrator's relationship with a woman known only as The Dark Lady. The sonnet compares his love to different objects like many other love poems, but accentuates her negatives rather than her positives. However, the narrator eventually uses these less than flattering analogies to make a point about the Lady.

The poem's imagery of the Dark Lady would paint her as almost unlovable if taken at face value. His line "If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun" (line 3) note his mistress's difference in skin tone compared to white women. Upper class white women of the day bore pale skin; an indication of their lack of participation in physical labor. Therefore,the Dark Lady would be identified as a woman of much lower class. He also has no qualms pointing out other deficiencies; such as he bad breath in lines 7-8.

However, after mentioning what the Dark Lady is not, the narrator mentions the one thing she is:

And yet by heaven, i think my love is rare,

As any she belied with false compare. (Lines 13-14)

Unlike all the other class women white like snow, the Dark Lady is a deeper person. She is not a shallow woman simply interested in sex or social status; she is someone the narrator can truly call a companion. They share an intimate relationship because it is not based off each other's looks or place in society.

Unlike the narrator's previous love, the Fair Youth, the relationship with the Dark Lady is based of personality rather than beauty. In my opinion, this would be the more satisfying relationship to be involved in. While the Fair Youth had his charms, the narrator was able to create this relationship with the Lady based of the person rather than the looks of the person. While anyone could enjoy pleasures from a beautiful partner, it is simply casual: no intimate relationship is made. The missing intimacy is what turns a one-night stand into a lifelong commitment.

Sonnet CXXX is one of several the describe the narrator's affair with the Black Lady. In contrast to the Fair Youth, however, the narrator bases the relationship off the Lady's genuine nature rather than her external looks.

Sources:

http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/sonnet/130