TheDark Lady is a woman described inShakespeare's sonnets (sonnets 127–152), and so called because the poems make it clear that she has black wiry hair, and dark, "dun"-coloured skin. The description of the Dark Lady distinguishes itself from theFair Youth sequence by being overtly sexual. Among these,Sonnet 151 has been characterised as "bawdy" and is used to illustrate the difference between the spiritual love for the Fair Youth and the sexual love for theDark Lady.[1] The distinction is commonly made in the introduction to modern editions of the sonnets.[1] As with the Fair Youth sequence, there have been many attempts to identify her with a real historical individual. A widely held scholarly opinion, however, is that the "dark lady" is nothing more than a construct ofShakespeare's imagination and art, and any attempt to identify her with a real person is "pointless".[2]
The question of the identity of the Dark Lady is an unsolved, controversial issue because of the insufficiency of historical detail. Some believe that she might be of Mediterranean ancestry, with the dark hair and dark eyes common in Greece, Spain, Italy, and southern France. Other scholars have suggested, given Shakespeare's description of her dark, dun-colored skin and black wiry hair, that the Dark Lady might have been a woman of African ancestry. Ultimately, "none of the many attempts at identifying the dark lady…are finally convincing".[3]
In 1973,A. L. Rowse claimed to have solved the identity of the Dark Lady in his bookShakespeare's Sonnets—the Problem Solved, based upon his study of astrologerSimon Forman's journal entries describing his meetings withEmilia Lanier.[4][5] It was later shown that Rowse had based his identification on a misreading of Forman's text: Forman had described Lanier as "brave in youth", not "brown in youth", but Rowse, while later correcting his misreading, continued to defend his argument.[6][7]
In the diaries, Emilia is described as the mistress ofLord Hunsdon, the Queen's Lord Chamberlain. She seemed to have similar qualities to ones of the Dark Lady. For example, Emilia was so attractive to men that during the years of being Hunsdon's mistress, she may have been viewed as a prostitute.[clarification needed] She might have been a musician, because she was a member of theBassano family, which was famous for providing the music to entertain the Courts ofElizabeth I andJames I. They were Italians, and the Dark Lady may have been of Mediterranean ancestry.[2]
However, there are academics, such asDavid Bevington of theUniversity of Chicago, who refuse to acknowledge the theory that Lanier was the Dark Lady not only due to the lack of any direct proof, but also because the claimed association with Shakespeare tends to overshadow her own literary achievements: she published her celebrated collection of poemsSalve Deus Rex Judæorum in 1611.[8][9]
G. B. Harrison, writing in 1933, notes that aClerkenwellbrothel-owner known as "Black Luce" had participated in the 1601–1602 Christmas revels atGray's Inn (under the Latinized stage-name "Lucy Negro") and that she could there have encountered Shakespeare, as this was the occasion of the first performance ofTwelfth Night. Harrison "tentatively" proposes Black Luce as the Dark Lady.[10]Duncan Salkeld, a Shakespearean scholar from theUniversity of Chichester, while acknowledging that "[t]he records do not link her directly with Shakespeare", established that Luce had multiple connections to London's theatrical scene.[11] Two Clerkenwell brothel-keepers carried the nickname of "Black Luce"—Lucy Baynham and Lucy Morgan—but there is no evidence that either was of African ancestry.[12]
Jonathan Bate, in hisThe Genius of Shakespeare (2008), considers the case for both Lanier and Luce, before suggesting his own "pleasing fancy" that the unnamed, "low-born", but "witty and talented" wife of Italian linguistJohn Florio (and sister of poetSamuel Daniel)[13][14] was the Dark Lady, the lover of not only Shakespeare but also ofHenry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, who was at the time the patron of both the linguist and the playwright. Bate acknowledges the possibility that the sonnets may be no more than Shakespeare's "knowing imaginings", rather than allusions to actual events.[15]
Aubrey Burl, a fellow of theSociety of Antiquaries and commentator on prehistoric monuments, takes up the case that the Dark Lady is the wife of John Florio, whom he names as "Aline Florio". He arrives at his theory via a play on words he either discovered or re-discovered: the name of the dark-haired character Rosaline inLove's Labours Lost being suggested to Shakespeare by combining "rose" from the Earl's family name of "Wriothesley", and "Aline" from a popular contemporary given name. Burl lists eight possible contenders for the Dark Lady's true identity, and finally asserts that Florio's wife is the real one, using some clues which were mentioned in Shakespeare's work: she was dark-haired, self-centred, and enjoyed sex. According to him, Mrs. Florio loved "for her own gratification", indulged in "temptation and callously self-satisfied betrayal of her husband", which coincides with features of the Dark Lady. He also suggests that the fact that she was born of low degree in Somerset explains the darkness of her complexion. Burl reasons that Florio probably first met Shakespeare atTitchfield, the Wriothesley family seat in Hampshire, and met him again in London at Florio's home.[16]
Saul Frampton, of the University of Westminster, identifies Samuel Daniel's birthplace asWilton, near Marlborough, Wiltshire, citingWilliam Slatyer'sThe history of Great Britain (1621), with theOxford Dictionary of National Biography also recording a connection between the Daniel family and Marlborough. Frampton notes that the baptismal records of the parish contain an entry for one "Avisa Danyell" (dated 8 February 1556), and from this he deduces that this was Samuel's sister and therefore John Florio's wife. Thus, he says, Avisa Florio was the Dark Lady.[17][18][19]
The speculations that Florio’s wife, of whatever baptismal name and relationship with Shakespeare, was Daniel's sister may be based on an incorrect interpretation first made byAnthony à Wood (offering no authority) in hisAthenæ Oxonienses of 1691. There is no documentary evidence to support this; rather, à Wood arrived at his conclusion from a passage of text where Daniel names Florio as his "brother" in introductory material to the latter’s famous translation ofMichel de Montaigne’sEssays. If this were referring (in today’s terms) to his "brother-in-law", this could have been due to the marriage ofeither man’s sister to the other. Furthermore, in the prevalent usage of the time (ignored by à Wood), this may simply signify that they were both members of the same "brotherhood": in this instance, both men weregrooms of the privy chamber (an honorary and not a functional office), and not related by marriage at all.[13][20][21]
Based upon the recurring theme in the early sonnets of two men vying for a lady's affection, often assumed to be Shakespeare andWilliam Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, Herbert's mistressMary Fitton has been proposed as the "Dark Lady". The first to make this suggestion wasThomas Tyler in the preface to his 1890 facsimile edition of theSonnets, but later commentators have assessed the depiction of the rivalry as a "fictitious situation" presented for poetic effect. When a portrait of Fitton, showing her to have fair complexion, brown hair, and grey eyes, was discovered in 1897, the identification fell from favour. It was Fitton whomGeorge Bernard Shaw had in mind when writing his playThe Dark Lady of the Sonnets (seebelow).[22][23][24]
Elizabeth Vernon ofHodnet,Shropshire, who married William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke amid scandal has been offered as a possible identity for the muse.[25][26]
Jacqueline Field was the French-born wife of Shakespeare's friend and publisherRichard Field. The "not impeccable" reasoning provided byCharlotte Carmichael Stopes, a lecturer in literary history, to justify the claim does not form a strong case, comprising little more than: “as a Frenchwoman…she would have had dark eyes, a sallow complexion and that indefinable charm", thus matching the character in the sonnets.[27][28]
Originally arising from nothing more than the poetWilliam Davenant's boast that he was the illegitimate son of Shakespeare, Jennet (or Jane) Davenant, the wife of a tavern-keeper on the route between London and Stratford, has been proposed as the Dark Lady.[29][30]
George Bernard Shaw's short playThe Dark Lady of the Sonnets (1910) was written in support of a campaign for a national theatre in Britain. In it, while attempting to meet with the Dark Lady for a tryst, Shakespeare accidentally encountersQueen Elizabeth, and commends the project to her.
Ngaio Marsh's 1966 novelKiller Dolphin (published in the UK a year later asDeath at the Dolphin) involves the creation and production ofThe Glove, a play portraying Shakespeare's devastating encounter with the Dark Lady, which ends with him composingSonnet 129.
In theDoctor Whoseries 3 episode "The Shakespeare Code", set in 1599, Shakespeare becomes infatuated with theTenth Doctor's new companionMartha Jones, aBlack British woman. At the end of the episode, after deducing that she is from the future, he calls her his "dark lady" and recitesSonnet 18 for her.
Upstart Crow S1E4 names Emilia as the Dark Lady and portrays her as annoyed with her depiction in sonnet 130 and more receptive to Kit Marlowe's crude but direct flattery. The series also includes the character of Lucy, a tavern-keeper from Africa.
A musical 'The Dark Lady' by Sophie Boyce and Veronica Mansour is currently in development, depicting the 'what if' scenario whereby Emilia usesWilliam Shakespeare's name in order to have her plays seen. The musical has been developed at theEugene O'Neill Theater Center (2023).[31] andGoodspeed Musicals (2024).
In her stage playThe Dark Lady, Canadian playwright and actress Jessica B. Hill draws together the stories ofEmilia Lanier andShakespeare into a tumultuous love story which highlights both Lanier's possible influence on the Bard's work and her efforts to make her own mark on history. The play was staged inManitoba andSaskatchewan in the summer of 2023.[32][33]
Rowse's fantasy has tended to obscure Lanyer as a poet.
[Florio] having married the sister of Samuel Daniel…
To my deare brother and friend M. John Florio, one of the Gentlemen of hir Maiesties most Royall Privie Chamber
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