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Sir Philip Sidney and his audiences
Abstract
Although much has been written about the historical conditions of the manuscript culture in the English Renaissance, too little effort has been made to apply these insights to our understanding of the texts of the period. An author's choice of audience says a great deal about his/her own perception of his/her art, and that is particularly true of Sir Philip Sidney. The fact that he apparently shared his writings only with his younger siblings and very closest friends indicates a peculiarly high sensitivity regarding his literary efforts, a sensitivity that is ignored by readers who automatically presume that all written texts are "public" texts. It is the purpose of this dissertation to explore this sensitivity on Sidney's part by examining his written texts in light not only of his chosen audience but of a second, inescapable audience with whom he apparently did not choose to share his works but who nevertheless exerted considerable psychological pressure on everything he wrote. This second audience I characterize as Sidney's "father-figures": powerful men associated with Sidney through family or purely political ties who encouraged and trained Sidney to pursue a political rather than a literary career. Sidney's failure to satisfy these expectations was a source of continual and painful frustration for him, and this frustration finds its way into his writings at all stages. This frustration, however, is continually balanced by a defensive project in which Sidney seeks to outline a positive place for writing in his life in the face of the continuing failure of his political career. It is the contention of this dissertation that Sidney's revision of the Arcadia represents not simply one more stage in the lifelong exploration of the dialectics of frustration and exculpation but rather a turning point in Sidney's attitude toward his art. Taking as his theme the whole notion of fictions and fiction-making, Sidney offers a world in which the poet is hero. This dissertation, therefore, traces in Sidney's literary career a trajectory from frustration, doubt, and guilt to a final self-assurance, a final willing acceptance of his "unelected vocation."
Subject Area
British and Irish literature
Recommended Citation
Alwes, Derek Bernard, "Sir Philip Sidney and his audiences" (1991). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9120847.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9120847