the use of affectionate word choice by the poet towards the young man must be due to a homosexual desire. Some suggest this theory is invalid, saying the poet views the Fair Youth as a son rather than a lover. Majority tend to lean towards the idea of a homosexual relationship due to choice of wording in some sonnets (see Sonnet 20). During the era in which Shakespeare's sonnets were written, any "sexual acts that do not result in reproduction" were condemned. In David Hawkes's article, 'Sodomy, Usury, and the Narrative of Shakespeare's Sonnets', he "argues that by using the language of 'unnatural' usury to expound the merits of 'natural' marriage and procreation, Shakespeare is ironically undermining the assumption that, because homosexual sex is non-reproductive, homoerotic desire is 'unnatural'." References Further reading External links Paraphrase of sonnet in modern language Shakespeare's sonnets British poems Sonnets by William Shakespeare