Naming Thy Name: Cross Talk in Shakespeare's Sonnets

Shakespeare's sonnets are among the most enigmatic and debated love poems in English literature. Central to their mystery is the identity of the noble youth to whom Shakespeare addresses them—a figure to whom he promises immortality through the words of future readers. Elaine Scarry examines a fundamental question: how can such promises be kept if the youth is never explicitly named? Scarry argues that Shakespeare does name his beloved, repeatedly, within the sonnets' language, structure, and deeper layers. By uncovering this hidden naming, Scarry reveals the sonnets as a two-way conversation between two poets in love—one speaking and writing, the other responding. The book combines textual analysis, literary criticism, and historiography to trace this exchange throughout the sequence, identifying the beloved and illuminating the dialogue at the heart of Shakespeare's verse.