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Poetic Tradition and the History of Love in Early Modern

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Poetic Tradition and the History of Love in Early Modern POETIC TRADITION AND THE HISTORY OF LOVE IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND: EXPLORING REPRESENTATIONS OF LOVE IN THE SONNET SEQUENCES OF SIDNEY, SPENSER, BARNFIELD, AND WROTH A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Department of English California State University, Sacramento Submitted in partial satisfaction of The requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in English (Literature) by Ashley Thomas SPRING 2020 © 2020 Ashley Thomas ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii POETIC TRADITION AND THE HISTORY OF LOVE IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND: EXPLORING REPRESENTATIONS OF LOVE IN THE SONNET SEQUENCES OF SIDNEY, SPENSER, BARNFIELD, AND WROTH A Thesis by Ashley Thomas Approved by: __________________________________, Committee Chair Jason Gieger, Ph.D. __________________________________, Second Reader David Toise, Ph.D. ____________________________ Date iii Student: Ashley Thomas I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and this thesis is suitable for electronic submission to the library and credit is to be awarded for the thesis. __________________________, Graduate Coordinator ___________________ Doug Rice, Ph.D. Date Department of English iv Abstract of POETIC TRADITION AND THE HISTORY OF LOVE IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND: EXPLORING REPRESENTATIONS OF LOVE IN THE SONNET SEQUENCES OF SIDNEY, SPENSER, BARNFIELD, AND WROTH by Ashley Thomas This study explores representations of love, power, gender, and sexuality in the sonnet sequences of Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, Richard Barnfield, and Lady Mary Wroth. Although Sidney and Spenser are esteemed authors whose work has shaped our perceptions of Renaissance thought, I look at the sequences of Sidney and Spenser as problematic works that endorse misogynist and hierarchical models of love. Conversely, I look at Barnfield’s and Wroth’s respective portrayals of a male speaker writing to a male beloved and a female speaker writing to a male beloved as more diverse and progressive conceptions of love than the ones that Sidney and Spenser provide. I ultimately argue that we should give more canonical power and critical attention to Wroth and Barnfield, since their poetry can give us a more comprehensive understanding of love in early modern England. v In contrast to current critical attitudes that view Sidney and Spenser as canonical poets while viewing Wroth and Barnfield as less canonical or non-canonical poets, a large part of my project deconstructs the canonical authority of Sidney and Spenser and challenges the notion that Barnfield should remain at the fringes of Renaissance literary studies or that Wroth should only be studied in a subfield of women writers. I argue that Barnfield and Wroth should be brought to the forefront of Renaissance literary studies not only for students of literature to be exposed to their poetry, but also because the canonization and recognition of their work can help to refashion modern conceptions of love. _______________________, Committee Chair Jason Gieger, Ph.D. _______________________ Date vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my thesis readers, Jason Gieger and David Toise for their invaluable help on this project. Their thoughtful feedback and support for my work has not only made this project one of intellectual growth, but also one that fosters the enjoyment of literature. As my committee chair, Jason Gieger provided guidance and expertise that were essential to the development of my ideas. His constant willingness to discuss my work and his enthusiasm for everything that he teaches has always kept me inspired to pursue a career in the arts and letters. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION: LOVE, MARRIAGE, AND THE SONNET TRADITION IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND ..................................................................... 1 2. “SWEET BE THE BANDS, THE WHICH TRUE LOVE DOTH TYE”: DECONSTRUCTING THE CANONICAL AUTHORITY OF SIDNEY AND SPENSER AND RECOGNIZING THEMES OF MISOGYNY IN ASTROPHIL AND STELLA AND AMORETTI.................................................................... 16 3 “HE STRAIGHT PERCEAV’D HIMSELFE TO BE MY LOVER”: THE CREATION OF A HOMOEROTIC EXPERIENCE AND THE COST OF VOICING HOMOEROTICISM IN RICHARD BARNFIELD’S CYNTHIA SONNETS ....................................................................................................... 42 4. “HEE MAY OWR PROFITT, AND OUR TUTER PROVE”: REFASHIONING PETRARCHAN CONCEPTIONS OF LOVE IN LADY MARY WROTH’S PAMPHILIA TO AMPHILANTHUS .............................................................. 71 5. CONCLUSION: THE RENAISSANCE LITERARY CANON AND ITS IMPACT ON MODERN CULTURE............................................................................. 95 Works Cited ............................................................................................................. 102 viii 1 Chapter One Introduction: Love, Marriage, and the Sonnet Tradition in Early Modern England What was love in early modern England? How did early moderns conceptualize love, what forms of love were condoned, and how was power distributed within amorous relationships? This study aims to examine the notion of love within early modern England and analyze how early moderns figured ideas of gender, sexuality, and power distributions between couples. Looking at the sonnet sequences of Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, Richard Barnfield, and Lady Mary Wroth, I examine how these authors reproduce and reshape early modern ideas of love. Furthermore, I also examine how our critical attitudes towards and canonization of these authors has influenced our current perceptions of love in the Renaissance—and has even impacted contemporary notions of love in popular culture. After exploring how Sidney and Spenser produce patriarchal and often misogynist relationships between their lovers and beloveds—while Barnfield and Wroth diversify hegemonic models of love through their respective portrayals of homoeroticism and egalitarian love—I ultimately gesture towards the notion that we must grant more canonical power to Barnfield and Wroth in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of what models of love existed during the Renaissance. As we begin our discussion of love in the four sequences of Sidney, Spenser, Barnfield, and Wroth, I first provide historical context surrounding amorous relationships by analyzing marriage practices, religious discourse, and conduct books. Once we move towards literary representations of love, I also outline the inception of the sonnet form and the poetic tradition that early modern English sonneteers inherited. 2 Social Contexts: Marriage in Early Modern England Although it is difficult to grasp how early moderns conceptualized a notion as broad as “love,” one of our best resources for tracing ideas of love is marriage. While marriage represents only one form of love—a religiously sanctioned, legal bond between man and woman—marriage rituals, legal documents, and reform theology can also be used to gain insight into other forms of love. For instance, homilies and conduct books on marriage not only tell us about the expectations between husband and wife, but they can also reveal attitudes surrounding forms of love that early moderns did not consider valid, such as adultery, premarital sex, and same-sex desire. To begin our discussion of early modern attitudes on love, though, we need to outline the standard marriage practices in England during this time.1 Regarding the ceremonial aspects of matrimony, marriage ritual in Reformation England consisted of spousals, the calling of banns (public announcements that a couple will be married), and a church ceremony. Spousals (also known as handfasting and betrothals) consisted of verbal exchanges between couples—usually made before witnesses—where the couples promised to take each other as husband and wife. These betrothals, as Shannon McSheffrey shows in her analysis of late-medieval marriages,2 usually consisted of “formulaic” statements such as “‘I John take you Joan to be my wedded wife,’” and actually constituted legally binding marriages in and of 1Although various critics have marked the start of the English Renaissance between the late 15th century and early 16th century, my discussion of marriage will begin after the Protestant Reformation in 1534, since the sonnet sequences I examine occur post-Reformation and are often informed by Protestant ethics. 2 Even though McSheffrey discusses marriage before the early modern period, her analysis of spousals is helpful since these rituals were part of wedding traditions throughout the medieval and early modern periods (though their relative importance shifted during these times). 3 themselves—a law which was not dissolved until 1753 (22). However, as Christine Peters, Martin Ingram, and McSheffrey have noted, the efficacy and authority of spousals declined from the late medieval period into the early modern period. Ingram, for instance, states that spousals began to lose their status as valid forms of marriage in the sixteenth century, since property laws (such as one which dictates that “no woman could claim dower unless she had been endowed at the church door”) and the prosecution of “disputed contracts” (marriages not made in church) rendered “a church wedding” as “the only satisfactory guarantee of a socially and legally acceptable union” (142). This, of course, brings us to our discussion of banns and church ceremonies, and
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