Truth and honesty are key elements for a good and healthy relationship. However, in Shakespeare's Sonnet 138, the key to a healthy relationship between the speaker and the Dark Lady is maintaining the lies they have constructed for each other. Through wordplay Shakespeare creates different levels of meaning, in doing so, he shows the nature of truth and flattery in relationships. Shakespeare's Sonnet 138 is one of his sonnets about the Dark Lady. Dark in both appearance and actions, she is once again the subject of the sonnet. The speaker is the Dark Lady's lover. It is not entirely clear whether the speaker is married to her or not. From the age-related lines “…she knows my days are gone” (6), it seems like they have been together for a long time, but not necessarily married. The sonnet does not sound like the speaker is talking to anyone, but rather reflecting to himself. When read aloud, the sonnet sounds as if it could be a soliloquy, the speaker simply saying his thoughts aloud to himself. The First Quatrain In this sonnet the speaker begins to reveal more about the relationship between him and the Dark Lady, and also his fear of growing old. He begins the sonnet by saying, “When my love swears to be made of truth / I believe her, even though I know she lies” (1-2). In these first two lines the speaker immediately contradicts himself by saying that he believes her, but knows that she is not telling the truth. He is very aware of the illusion he is in, but is willing to let it pass. He is willing to let it pass because of the mutual dishonesty that exists in the relationship. In the next two lines he talks about youth and age. He is talking about the Dark Lady considering him a younger man... in the middle of the paper... of the world of the word. The ironic part, the only reason they lie together, in the sexual meaning of the word, is because they lie to each other. Without the lie, their relationship would fall apart. There are a number of words used twice throughout the sonnet. The words “truth,” “lies,” “love,” “best,” “because,” “think,” and “know” are all used twice. The fact that they are all used twice helps highlight the duality of their relationship. There are two sides to these people and this relationship also has two sides. All of these words can be used to describe the relationship between the speaker and the Dark Lady. More specifically, all words can be understood in multiple ways. They both know the truth about each other, but are unwilling to accept their own truth. They lie to each other as they lie to each other and to others.