Sonnet 133 - Slave Imagery

Slave Imagery

Critics note that throughout Sonnet 133, Shakespeare uses slave imagery as a metaphor for the relationship between the speaker and the Dark Lady. The implication of the speaker as subservient to the dark lady is quite prevalent in the themes of traditional courtly love. The relationship is expressed throughout the sonnet with the use of words like “torture”, “slave”, “torment”, “prison”, and “jail.” Critic Stephen Booth holds that the metaphor within this sonnet is “so complete, so urgent, so detailed… that the lovers and their situation, and their behavior becomes grotesque”. Booth proceeds to note that, although the slave imagery is a commonly used metaphor, the wording of the speaker's metaphors creates a witty and unconventional depiction of the his relationship with the unknown woman. Through phrases such as “pent in thee” found in line 13, the reader is exposed to the image of the speaker imprisoned in the Dark Lady. Furthermore, in line 4 (“But slave to slavery my sweet’st friend must be?”) we see the speaker playing on the hyperbole “by which lovers swore themselves their ladies’ willing slave”. Essentially, Booth points out that although the speaker conforms with the traditional “slave” metaphor, he appears to almost resent his place in a relationship that is ultimately debilitating. Scholarly critic Gertrude Garrigues argues that Shakespeare’s use of slave imagery is simply symbolic of man as a “slave of the senses”. Garrigues counters Booth’s argument in her assertion that the speaker is simply a slave to his own feelings and not a slave to the dark lady. Despite the speaker’s great affliction over his relationship with the dark lady, he has willingly subjected himself to such unbearable torment. In relationship to this argument, it can be argued that the “friend” within Shakespeare’s Sonnet 133 is in fact representative of the speaker’s inner self. This strengthens Garrigues’ argument, most notably in the line 4 where the speaker states, “But slavery to slavery my sweet’st friend must be?” When read in light of Garrigue’s assertions, the reader can see that the speaker is referring to being enslaved by himself, or his senses.