Astrophil and Stella Essay Example

Astrophil and Stella Essay Example Astrophil and Stella Paper Astrophil and Stella Paper Breaking Free of Convention: Sir Philip Sidney In his sonnet, Strophic and Stella, Sir Phillip Sidney attempts to break free of the conventional displays of love while still maintaining a conventional sonnet form to represent that love does not follow any rules. The poem itself is a metaphor of love, infused with drama and passion that ultimately ruins the relationship. However, to stay within the confines of a sonnet from allows love, an uncontrollable force, to be controlled. Sidney wants to follow the form of a sonnet, but he makes the epic poem is own by infusing it with his own voice, and his own conventions about love. He does this to make the poem more real to readers. It is not a poem of courtly love, where marriage ensued for politics. Instead this epic poem demonstrates real love, and all the trials and tribulations that come with loving another, especially another who is involved with someone else. First, Sidney breaks free of convention with his first sonnet in the sequence. Kidneys way of completely disregarding the ways of displaying love accepted in his time era makes him stand out as a renaissance writer. Sir Philip Kidneys entire first sonnet is a great example of his unconventional style. The entire sonnet is forced forward, and it seems that Strophic does not know how to start to describe his love for Stella. He does not want to use the click ©s of the time to describe his love. In the beginning of the sonnet, he is hopeful that Stella could give him her grace which the audience understands to be her love. However, as the sonnet continues, he gets more and more frustrated, unsure of what he should write. He looks to his muse for some help to which she replies, Fool, look in thy heart and rite(1085). Readers see that all regular conventions of love and poetry are not in this poem. Sidney paints the picture of this epic poem being raw and real love, and not full of click ©s associated with Patriarchs poems. Many poems following Perpetrates form used sonnets as a way to flatter the beloved, as discussed earlier. The readers can clearly see that Strophic thinks of Stella as beautiful. However, the audience never receives a full description of her. Usually, poets would write on in great detail about the body and face of the beloved, but the readers only see a half- rated description of Stella in the conventional way. Furthermore, Stalls eyes are black. This breaks free of convention because most poets described a womans eyes as light. Sidney also uses his description of Stella when he writes of her grace. In sonnet 9, he writes, The door, by which sometimes comes forth her grace(1086), meaning that the grace that comes from her mouth, or when she speaks, is sometimes graceful. He flatters her, but completely when he uses sometimes. Not only does he use unconventional descriptions of Stella, Sidney also uses unlikely drama in his poem. Most displays of love in the time period were sweet, and flattering to the beloved. Instead, Sidney infuses his poetry with drama. Sidney paints Astrophysics situation as a life or death situation. The audience sees this in sonnet 20 when Sidney writes, Fly, fly, my friends, I have my death-wound fly'(1088). The line illustrates that Sidney uses drama in his epic poem. Here, he talks about love as a death wound, with no hope of recovery. He does this to make Astrophysics love more real and raw to readers. Another example of drama in the poem can be found at the The readers see her true anger and disdain for Strophic. She is appalled that he would continue in his attentions even while she has begged him not to do so. Finally, she dismisses him forever. Strophic ends the sonnet alone and empty without Stalls presence. Sidney hopes to portray how it feels to be rejected, and abandoned. The readers understand that Strophic is devastated, simply because Stella rejected him because of her marriage. Another way Sidney disregarding the traditional way of showing love in his poem is Astrophysics clear desire for sex with Stella. He obsesses over her, calling her face a Queen Virtues court, decorated by Natures chiefs furniture(1086). Furthermore, Strophic believes that if Stella were to have sex with him, she would surely love him. The readers see this in sonnet 61 when Strophic says, With chastened mind I straight must she that she Shall quickly me from what she hates remove(1095). This quote simply put, Strophic believes that although Stella hates the desire he has for her, if they were to have sex, she would no longer hate the desire he has to have sex. When he steals a kiss from here while she was sleeping, Sidney portrays the kiss as a sort of rape. Strophic let he desire get the best of him, and ruined his love with Stella. The desire is not unconventional, as all love poetry possess some element of desire of the beloved. However, how Sidney portrays this desire is unconventional. He makes the yearning for Stella seem personal, and like a confession. Strophic knows the consequences of how his love may react to this betrayal of his trust, but he does it anyway. Stella is furious and ends her affair with Strophic for the sake of her marriage. Although he tries to break free of many conventional ideas about love, Sidney still follows Patriarchs form of sonnets. He uses the trials and tribulations of being a lover, Strophic experiences setbacks, and suffers at the hands of his lover. He shows the contradicting faces of love. For example, Strophic has hope that Stella will love him but despairs when she does not. Strophic also has unbelievable tenderness towards Stella, but when she rejects him he is quick to resent her. In sonnet 18, Sidney lists all of the things that Strophic has wasted because of his love for Stella. Strophic lists his wealth, his wit, his youth, and his knowledge as wasteful towards the cause of paving Stella when he has only gained sorrow from loving her. The audience clearly sees this bitterness in this sonnet. However, Sidney uses desire and morals associated with love as the biggest contradiction. It is clear that Strophic has a strong desire for Stella, and he wishes to consummate this desire with her. However, the morals of the time do not allow him to do so. Stella is married, and does not wish to move Astrophysics love further along than being a platonic, friendly love. In conclusion, in the epic poem, Strophic and Stella, Sir Philip Sidney attempts to reek free of the conventional way of displaying love while still trying maintain a conventional sonnet. This unconventional style can be found in the first sonnet of the epic poem, his description of Stella, the high drama, and the persistent desire exhibited by Strophic that causes the relationship to end. However, he does try to maintain some form of a sonnet similar to the Italian, Patriarch, and he also follows some conventional ideas of love proposed by Andrew Capsules. Sidney found ways to change Patriarchs form of a sonnet to make a name for himself in Renaissance writings.