Choose one of the three recurring characters in the sonnets - the fair lord, the rival poet, or the dark lady - and argue the case for his or her real-world identity. Adopt a candidate who has already been proposed, assessing the evidence for yourself - or posit a new possibility. A: This question demands careful historical research, coupled with close literary analysis. Techniques of comparative literature will come in handy; for example, when weighing the validity of the Christopher Marlowe claim, it behooves the student to not only study Marlowe's life and place in history, but his work as well - and the ways in which Shakespeare's writing might draw from, comment on, or question his.