(2) In terms of plot, the two sections of the cycle also contribute to the overall "story" being told about an older man (the speaker) who is at first involved with a younger man but later also begins a relationship with a female (the dark lady). In many relationships, it is hardly unusual for one member of the couple to have an affair. Such affairs happen all of the time. In the extraordinary relationship between the speaker and the young man, which does not seem to be sexual, both the speaker and the young man have other relationships. That one of these other relationships becomes more than casual, then, is not a surprise. The speaker, therefore, has become involved in a rather odd love triangle. His love is clearly for the Young Man, but he cannot deny himself the sexual pleasure that he finds in his relationship with the Dark Lady. We have, then, a story with the speaker as the protagonist who is involved in an internal conflict (the conflict of man versus himself). The speaker is struggling between the higher Platonic love that he shares with the Young Man and the earthly sexual love that he shares with the Dark Lady.
(3) In terms of structure, the Young Man is included directly in one of the sonnets on the Dark Lady ("Sonnet 144," to be discussed later). Thus, Shakespeare unites the two parts of his sequence with this one particular poem.
