The Representation of Masculine Honour in the Private Sphere in Renaissance England Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors D'Souza, Erika Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 06/10/2021 03:00:42 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/642056 THE REPRESENTATION OF MASCULINE HONOUR IN THE PRIVATE SPHERE IN RENAISSANCE ENGLAND by Erika D’Souza __________________________ Copyright © Erika D’Souza 2020 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2020 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by: Erika D'Souza titled: and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Meg Lota Brown _________________________________________________________________ Date: ____________Jul 7, 2020 Meg Lota Brown _________________________________________________________________ Date: ____________Jul 7, 2020 Tenney J Nathanson Frederick P Kiefer _________________________________________________________________ Date: ____________Jul 7, 2020 Frederick P Kiefer Pia F Cuneo _________________________________________________________________ Date: ____________Jul 9, 2020 Pia F Cuneo Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. Meg Lota Brown _________________________________________________________________ Date: ____________Jul 7, 2020 Meg Lota Brown Department of English 3 Dedication I dedicate my dissertation to my loving parents, Fiona and Donald D’Souza, who – to my immense fortune – offered me every encouragement possible to pursue a career that was also my passion. And to my brother David, who read every first draft and always lent a patient ear to every hysterical phone call – thank you for your endless forbearance and unflappability. Also, to my friend Umaira – your steadfast counsel has been invaluable. To my many flatmates over the last few years, whom Providence has been kind enough to send my way. My sincere apologies for the incessant barrage about the likes of Robert Sidney, Nicholas Hilliard and Barbara Gamage. Elsa, Betul, and Hannah – thank you for suffering through my presentations, synopses and outlines! My heartfelt gratitude to my committee members who were more than generous with their expertise and precious time. A special thanks to Dr. Meg Lota Brown, my committee chair for her countless hours of reflecting, reading, encouraging, and most of all, patience, throughout the entire process. Thank you to Dr. Pia Cuneo, Dr. Frederick Kiefer and Dr. Tenney Nathanson, for your painstaking advice and kindness during the times I came up short. Because of your collective skills, I am today (five years later) a more mature scholar. Lastly, to all the teachers that have guided me throughout my life. I am forever in your debt for the wisdom you have imparted in my formative years. I hope I do you proud. 4 Table of Contents 1. Abstract ................................................................................................................. 6 2. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 7 3. Chapter One The Preservation of Masculinity through Child-Rearing: Private Honour in the Letters of Robert Sidney .................................................................................................... 19 4. Chapter Two Shame, Conscience and Emasculation: Private Honour and the Sonnets of Robert Sidney ................................................................................................................... 41 5. Chapter Three The Depiction of Private Honour in Nicholas Hilliard’s Portrait Miniature of Robert Sidney ................................................................................................................... 63 6. Chapter Four The Representation of Private Masculine Honour in Early Modern English Domestic Tragedies ............................................................................................................... 98 7. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 127 8. References ............................................................................................................. 132 5 List of Figures Figure 1. Miniature Portrait of Robert Sidney, First Earl of Leicester ................................ 65 Figure 2. Miniature Portrait of Robert Dudley, First Earl of Leicester................................ 68 Figure 3. The Heneage Jewel (Exterior) ............................................................................ 76 Figure 4. The Heneage Jewel (Interior). ............................................................................ 77 Figure 5. Full-length Portrait of Robert Devereux, Second Earl of Essex. .......................... 79 Figure 6. Miniature Portrait of Robert Devereux, Second Earl of Essex ............................. 81 Figure 7. Full-length Portrait of Robert Sidney, First Earl of Leicester .............................. 82 Figure 8. Portrait of a Gentleman aged 29. ........................................................................ 86 Figure 9. Merry Company. ................................................................................................ 88 Figure 10. Self-Portrait with Endymion Porter. .................................................................. 89 6 Abstract Did masculine honour exist in the private sphere in Renaissance England? This key question is the cornerstone of the dissertation. We challenge earlier interpretations of honour and privacy in order to arrive at our understanding of private masculine honour of that period. Our methodology for this dissertation involves identifying an early modern English nobleman who had in his collection a body of work pertinent to the subject of masculine honour in the private realm. In Robert Sidney, the first Earl of Leicester (1563-1626) we find an exemplar, who was a rich fount of material through a varied set of media, such as his letters that he wrote to his wife, his unpublished sonnets and love poems, and the miniature portrait he had commissioned of himself. We make an argument about how these writings and artwork might be considered private, and then proceed to analyse them across the first three chapters in order to determine the meaning behind private masculine honour in early modern England. Having thus established our definition of private honour, in the last chapter we investigate its manifestation through domestic tragedies authored at the time, thereby showing how widespread was this concept in Renaissance England. Under Queen Elizabeth’s reign, we begin to see a merging of private and public, which led to the emergence of new forms of masculine honour, across different media. My study explores how the aspect of “feminine virtues” steadily pervaded the realm of male- oriented discourse, as can be seen through conduct literature intended for husbands and courtiers, and various funeral sermons. Such a study reveals that conventional notions of masculine honour need to be revised to include how noblemen acted within the private circles. In a time when masculine honour was intertwined with militaristic qualities (such as courage, strength and fortitude), my investigation shows that in the domestic sphere, a gentler version of masculinity, encouraging humility, constancy and modesty, was fostered amongst the nobility. 7 Introduction The subject of this dissertation centres on the behaviour of early modern nobility when away from the surveillance of the Court. The conduct of the peerage in public was based on a strict code of honour that was maintained as a result of both self-discipline as well as the knowledge that they were under the watchful eyes of the monarch and her/his court. But was this code maintained just as strictly within the privacy of their homes, and their inner circle? Were the things that they read, wrote, and studied, the hobbies they pursued, different from what they professed to enjoy in public – given that they were secure in the knowledge that they were safe from scrutiny? This dissertation investigates cultural constructs of private honour through the examination of the life of Robert Sidney, the first Earl of Leicester (1563–1626). The focus of this analysis is Robert Sidney’s letters to his wife, his poetry, and his portrait miniature. This research examines how the nature of masculinity is affected under the conditions of privacy, and how honour was understood and manifested across the private sphere in Renaissance England. To do this, we first need to determine what the notions of private and public meant in the era. In 1577, Raphael Holinshed included amongst his chronicles a description of