Shakespeare and Cialis: Aging and Sex in Sonnet 73

Many of Shakespeare’s sonnets consist of allusions to time, love, and sex. Most of these rest upon the broad and strapping shoulders of the impulsive young  as they face their own mortality and how they should bask in these youthful ways while they still can. This theme is really driven home in Sonnet 73, as the protagonist is at the brink of his mortality and is facing the worst ailment imaginable in the Shakespearean world: male impotence. The use of imagery in sonnet 73 paints the picture of not only an aging man, but an aging man who has lost the ability to achieve the sexual satisfaction of his youth.

As the sonnet opens, we read of a bleak fall scene. This image of a coldness with bare trees, empty choirs with barely any singing, and no birds paint the tone of sadness but also begin to set the idea of the sexual undertones of what this man is experiencing. The beauty of sexual release and the ability to pleasure his lover has escaped him. There is no heavenly choirs singing upon pent up release, no birds chirping, all of which are common equations to such an act. Building upon the ever used “tree of life” theme, his own has become so bareen only a few leaves cling; yet another image indicating his age. As the sonnet moves forward, lines 5-7 only cement the aging mans disdain for his impending mortality. However, in line 8, there is a play on words from mortality to a very different type of death. “Death’s second self that seals up all in rest” is bridging his own death to le petit mort, or the little death, a French term for orgasim. The next line goes one to say the ashes of his youth lie. This is the first direct omission of the character that he is no longer able to have such a youthful release. All the pain and sadness built up in the preceding lines comes to a head at this point at line 10 of the sonnet. The final two lines are a signal of his defeat, stating he can not strengthen love, love being of a sexual nature, and now must leave this part of him behind for good.

It is very common of any time period to have sex as a theme, yet to have a character speak so candidly of his loss is breathtaking. Human sexual nature has always been prevalent, even if not so open as it is in the present day. Due to this, much of it had to be spoken in code and even more so just for simple entertainment purposes; but the raw emotion, portrayed through such amazing imagery, being felt in this piece is amazing and makes it worth discussing.