Bernard Shaw's The Dark Lady of the Sonnets (1910) is a one-act play written to raise funds for a National Theatre memorial to Shakespeare. In the preface, Shaw explains his decision to identify the Dark Lady with Mary Fitton, a maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth, despite later evidence suggesting she was fair-haired. The play itself stages a comic encounter between Shakespeare, the Dark Lady, and Queen Elizabeth, but the preface—far longer than the play—dominates the text with Shaw's characteristic blend of scholarship, wit, and polemic.

Shaw uses the preface to dissect the Bardolaters' reverence for Shakespeare, arguing that the playwright was neither a sycophant nor a democrat, but a 'privateer through and through' whose characters, like Hamlet, could not have been plumbers. The work is as much about Shaw's own views on art and society as it is about Shakespeare.

The Preface as Performance

Shaw's preface is not a dry scholarly introduction but a lively, argumentative essay that often overshadows the play. He begins by recounting how the play came to be written, originally suggested by Mrs. Alfred Lyttelton, and his personal acquaintance with the 'parent' of the Fitton theory. Shaw admits the historical identification is shaky—a portrait of Mary Fitton shows a fair lady—but he sticks with it for dramatic convenience. This self-aware, almost playful handling of evidence sets the tone: Shaw is less concerned with historical accuracy than with using the Dark Lady as a springboard for his own ideas about Shakespeare, class, and art.

Shakespeare's Social Standing

Shaw takes issue with critics like Frank Harris who accuse Shakespeare of sycophancy toward the aristocracy. He counters by pointing to the 'mercilessly exposed string of scoundrels' among Shakespeare's kings and lords, from the 'drunken and sensual assassin' in Hamlet to the fops and courtiers scattered throughout the plays. Shaw argues that Shakespeare 'loathed courtiers' and that his characters' leisured status is a dramatic necessity, not flattery: 'Hamlet's experiences simply could not have happened to a plumber.' This defense is typical of Shaw's method—using concrete examples from the plays to challenge received opinions.

Diction and Argumentative Voice

Shaw's prose in the preface is marked by sharp, aphoristic statements and a conversational tone that mimics debate. He writes of Shakespeare's 'lack of an intelligent comprehension of feudalism' and calls him 'a privateer through and through.' His diction is precise and often combative: he dismisses the idea that Shakespeare's characters are flattering by noting that 'a more mercilessly exposed string of scoundrels never crossed the stage.' The rhythm of his sentences—short, punchy assertions followed by illustrative examples—creates a sense of immediacy, as if Shaw is arguing directly with the reader.

The Play's Structure and Gaps

The play itself is brief, and the excerpts provided do not include its dialogue. Based on the preface, the play appears to be a 'piece d'occasion' built around a comic premise: a jealousy scene between Queen Elizabeth and the Dark Lady over Shakespeare. Shaw notes that this scenario works only if the Dark Lady is a maid of honor, not a tavern landlady, revealing how dramatic convenience shaped his historical choice. The play's structure likely mirrors Shaw's preference for witty, idea-driven comedy, but without the full text, one can only infer that the dialogue would showcase his characteristic wordplay and social critique.

Readers approaching The Dark Lady of the Sonnets should treat the preface as the main event—a spirited essay that uses the play as a pretext. Shaw's arguments about Shakespeare's social attitudes and the nature of dramatic character are more developed here than in the play itself. For those interested in Shaw's own voice, the preface offers a concentrated dose of his wit and polemical style, while the play remains a historical curiosity.