FAIR YOUTH
The Fair Youth: A Comprehensive Study of Shakespearean Ontological Devotion
A deep immersion into the subversion of Petrarchan ideals and the complex homoerotic subtext of the English Renaissance.
The Sequence Architecture
The sonnets of William Shakespeare (1564–1616) represent a monumental shift in the history of lyric poetry. Traditionally, the first 126 sonnets of the 1609 Quarto are identified as being addressed to a young man of high social standing, referred to by scholars as the Fair Youth. This sequence is unique for its time, as it replaces the conventional, distant female muse with a young man whose beauty is described as being superior to that of women, yet subject to the ravages of Time and Nature.
Thematic Evolution: Procreation and Eternity
The narrative arc regarding the Youth is meticulously structured. In the initial "Procreation Sonnets" (1–17), the poet exerts a philosophical pressure on the Youth to marry and sire an heir, arguing that to remain single is a form of self-consumption and a "theft" of beauty from the future. However, from Sonnet 18 onwards, a profound shift occurs: the poet realizes that biological lineage is fragile. He pivots toward the "Eternal Lines" of his own verse, claiming that the Youth’s essence will live as long as the poem is read.
| Critical Category | Scholarly & Historical Detail |
|---|---|
| Original Author | William Shakespeare (The Bard of Avon). |
| Historical Candidates | Henry Wriothesley (3rd Earl of Southampton) or William Herbert (3rd Earl of Pembroke). |
| Literature Type | Sonnets in Iambic Pentameter (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG). |
| Literary Current | English Renaissance / Elizabethan Neoplatonism. |
| The Rival Poet | A secondary figure (often identified as Christopher Marlowe or George Chapman) who competes for the Youth's patronage and affection. |
Subversion of Gender and Desire
The inclusion of the Fair Youth challenges the gender binary of early modern romance. In Sonnet 20, Shakespeare famously refers to the youth as the "master-mistress" of his passion, acknowledging a figure that possesses the aesthetic qualities of a woman but the biological form of a man. This creates a Neoplatonic tension where the love for the Youth is often portrayed as "nobler" and more intellectual than the lust-driven, cynical poems later addressed to the Dark Lady.
"A woman’s face with Nature’s own hand painted / Hast thou, the master-mistress of my passion." — Sonnet 20