# Mistress Mary Fitton — Short Plays character guide

> Mistress Mary Fitton in Short Plays by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Bell, Mistress Mary Fitton, Mary Fitton, Mary, Mistress Fitton

**First appearance:** 0029-the-dark-lady-of-the-sonnets

## Snapshot

The Dark Lady of the Sonnets herself, Mary Fitton strides through Shakespeare's London with a wit sharp enough to wound a poet and a will no sonnet can contain.

## Who they are

She moves between court and tavern as the woman whose identity has tantalized centuries of readers, and in Shaw's play she is no passive muse but a sparring partner who gives as good as she gets. Her tension with Shakespeare turns on who gets to define whom, the poet claiming her for his verse while she insists on being a person rather than a poem. She matters because she makes the mystery of the sonnets flesh and voice, and because her refusal to be merely adored drives the comedy's central duel.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters/bell_mistress_mary_fitton
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- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters