Sonnet 141 By William Shakespeare

Discussion
The theme of “Sonnet 141” is the battle between the poetic persona's wits and his heart. In the Shakespearean as well as Renaissance context, wits were associated with reason making it masculine while the heart was associated with irrationality making it feminine.  As in many of the Sonnets on the Dark Lady, in “Sonnet 141”, too, the poet's relationship with the Dark Lady is based on an irrational infatuation, rather than intellectual stimulation as in his relationship with the young man. Interestingly, as explained in Sonnet 130, it is not even physical beauty in the accepted sense of the period that drew the poetic persona to the so-called Dark Lady.

Hence, the poetic persona constantly rebelled against the attraction he felt for a woman who according to him had “enthralled” him and “unmanned” him in more than one way. It must be noted that this outlook is very much in keeping with the classical view on male-male and male-female relationships that was in vogue during the Renaissance. According to Greco-Roman philosophy it was only men who were capable of having relationships based on deep understanding and intellectuality; therefore, only males could be friends of equal stature. Male-female relations, on the other hand, were mainly for physical release and to carry on the family name. However, one must take such views with a pinch of salt as it is a well-documented fact that some of the most famous men of antiquity such as Pericles of Athens had had both physical and intellectual relations with women.

In Shakespeare’s work, the Dark Lady Sonnets deal with a baser or more earthly form of human sexuality. Some see Shakespeare's Dark Lady Sonnets as an ironic response to Petrarchan sonnets in which an ideal female subject is glorified. According to Shakespeare-specialist Katherine Duncan-Jones, Shakespeare in the Dark Lady Sonnets, "[i]nstead of exploring the subtle and complex effect on the speaker of an obsession with a chaste and high-born lady who can never be possessed physically, offer[s] backhanded praise of a manifestly non-aristocratic woman who is neither young, beautiful, intelligent nor chaste, but… provides a perfectly adequate outlet for male desire. 127-[1]52" However, in my view, this conclusion does not explain the emotional turmoil the poet experiences at his inability to resist the lure of the woman he is attracted to.

In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes,

For they in thee a thousand errors note;

But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise,

Who in despite of view is pleased to dote;

In the first quatrain of “Sonnet 141” the poet says that it is not what his eyes behold that makes him love the woman he is attracted to, for his eyes, which are under the purview of his reason, have noted “thousand errors” in the woman.  He is perplexed by the fact that his heart insists on loving the woman in spite of the fact that his eyes “despise” her. His heart rebels against his “five wits” and “five senses” in desiring or loving the woman – so his attraction is completely irrational. There is a note of bewilderment when he says “But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise” in the third line. Through the use of synecdoche in allocating heart and eyes independent will, the poet distances himself from the unfolding drama so that he could documents the battle. The need for distance signals confusion he is feeling due to his predicament. Moreover, in documenting his predicament by standing outside Shakespeare illustrates the unique ability artists have to explore intensely personal experiences through their art.  The word "errors" in line two, which is an example of pun on words, refers to both her physical faults as well as moral slips born of her promiscuity.

Nor are mine ears with thy tongue's tune delighted,

Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone,

Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited

To any sensual feast with thee alone:

In the second quatrain, continuing along in the same vein, the phrase "base touches" in line six suggests sleazy sexual encounters. The poetic persona says that he finds no joy in the woman’s voice. This could be a reference either to the harshness or the bossiness of the woman’s voice or her inability to sing. The ability to sing beautifully was a much valued female accomplishment at a time when people had very few modes of entertainment.

Next, he says that the woman’s touch did not generate tender or loving feelings in him due to his certain knowledge that that he was not the only person to receive them. The poetic persona knew that the woman was unfaithful to him. Continuing in the same vein, the poetic persona says that his other two senses, the sense of taste and the sense of smell, too, do not find anything remarkable in the woman which would explain his obsession with her. Still his heart desires her.

Repetition of “nor” and the use of parallelism – reiterates his state of mind. Frequent use of commas mark the man pausing frequently to contemplate on the issue

But my five wits nor my five senses can

Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee,

Who leaves unsway'd the likeness of a man,

Thy proud hearts slave and vassal wretch to be:

In the third quatrain, the rational part of him, his wits[7] and senses that are governed by his brain, are overruled by his irrational heart which insists on “serving” the woman. Once again the term “serving” has more than one meaning. One may serve a woman in the sense the knights in Courtly Love Poems served highborn ladies or one may also serve her sexually as in a stallion serving a mare in heat. If the second meaning were to be applied to the context, it would capture the man’s state of mind better. The woman with her loose morals could very well be described as a mare in heat; in such a context, males like the poetic persona in her vicinity would not be able to resist her. The poetic persona is aware of the situation; yet, he loves her and desires her and that “leaves [him] unsway'd the likeness of a man”. The term “unsway’d” refers to the continuous attempt of his five senses and the wits to sway or persuade the man’s heart to give up the woman. “Sway” also refers to authority or power. Of course, the heart cannot be persuaded so the man is left a mere powerless shell of a man. The poet loves a woman against his better judgment. He is aware of all of her physical, moral and intellectual flaws, does not enjoy her voice, smell, taste or touch, but his wits and senses cannot prevent him from loving her. As a result the poetic persona becomes a “slave and wretch” to the woman’s whims and fancies.

T.G. Tucker points out in his edition of The Sonnets of Shakespeare, "leaves unsway’d' means … his heart that becomes the vassal of hers, while he becomes the mere 'likeness of a man'" (221). Interestingly, Shakespeare in Sonnets 57-8 professed to have become a slave to the Fair Youth without feeling his manhood “unsway’d”.

Only my plague thus far I count my gain,

That she that makes me sin awards me pain.

Commenting on the often misunderstood final couplet, Stephen Booth writes, "The basis of the conceit here is the idea of a soul's term of imprisonment in purgatory". The "pain" of the last line could be both mental and physical. The poet may have contracted a venereal disease from his mistress. Clearly, the lady in question does not make him happy; therefore, the only thing he gains from the relationship is a lot of pain. And he masochistically delights in the pain she inflicts on him out of lack of judgment and self-worth. According to Samuel Butler the last couplet means Shakespeare believes that he shall suffer less for his sin hereafter for he had received some of the punishment that was due to him as soon as the offense was carried out.

 

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[1] His heart is irrational
[2] The eyes
[3] The heart
[4] In private/ only her
[5] the mental faculties of common sense, imagination, fantasy, instinct, and memory
[6] The Renaissance was a period that venerated rationality over feelings