Does Shakespeare’s Sonnet 20 reveal a secret identity or just a clever word game?
In short: Sonnet 20 is one of Shakespeare’s most debated poems, famous for its gender-bending imagery and feminine rhymes. While some scholars see it as a confession of homoerotic desire, others argue it is a playful, technical exercise. Does this poem expose the poet’s true self, or is it merely a literary mask?
Sonnet 20 stands out in the Shakespearean sequence for its unique structure and subject. Unlike most of the 154 sonnets, it employs feminine rhymes throughout, a rare technical choice that some critics suggest mirrors the poem's theme of gender ambiguity. The speaker describes the beloved as a 'master mistress,' a figure possessing both feminine beauty and masculine form. According to the poem, Nature originally intended to create a woman but fell in love with her own creation, ultimately adding a phallus—the 'one thing' that defeats the poet’s own romantic purpose.
Interpretations of this sonnet are deeply divided. Many scholars view it as a cornerstone of the 'Fair Youth' sequence, suggesting it reflects Shakespeare’s own homoeroticism. However, others caution against applying modern concepts of 'gay identity' to the early modern period, noting that such categories did not exist in the same way during the poet's life. Some academics have even attempted to 'save' the poem from homoerotic readings by arguing that its language relies on technical puns from contemporary sports like bowls, or by framing the relationship as a platonic friendship.
The poem’s history is also marked by creative myth-making. Oscar Wilde famously popularized the theory that the sonnet was addressed to a young actor named Willie Hughes, though no historical evidence supports this person’s existence. Meanwhile, modern analysts continue to debate whether the sonnets form a cohesive narrative or are simply a collection of individual poems. Whether read as a sincere expression of love or a complex, gender-neutral linguistic puzzle, Sonnet 20 remains a central, unresolved mystery in English literature.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Sonnet 20
- Also: www.folger.edu — Shakespeare
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