Pamphilia to Amphilanthus

Petrarchan (in nature) sonnets concerning love from a woman’s (practically unheard of for that time) perspective. In both Donne’s “A Valediction: forbidding Mourning” and Wroth’s “Sonnet 22” (in the sonnet sequence Pamphilia to Amphilanthus) the issue of separation between lovers is explored by means of nature, metaphysical conceits, and complex metaphors. Additionally, the form of either of these respective works seems to mimic the sense of certainty or complacency of the speakers. With that said, although the speakers love in both poems seems readily accessible, they deal with the separation from their beloved in contrasting ways. Donne’s speaker’s love is intensified by means of the separation with his beloved, seeing as their love transcends physicality. Wroth’s Pamphilia, on the other hand, in “Sonnet 22” works to come to terms with her depression caused by the absence…

In Shakespeare 's sonnet "Sonnet CXXX," the blazon is constructed in a very peculiar way. Mary Wroth, in sonnet 42 "Pamphilia to Amphilanthus," interprets the blazon within herself rather than her love. Both uses of the blazon depict a time in which love is of the essence. However, in both sonnets, the person in which they are describing is forever unknown. Shakespeare attacks the blazon of his sonnet and creates an anti-blazon, while both sonnets are still in singular perspectives. In…

In both of the readings “Pamphilia to Amphilanthus” and “I..and Your Eyes” are two similar, yet different poems. They have the same concepts for both Poem A and B. In “Pamphilia to Amphilanthus” the theme is about love and how someone admiring something and/or someone. Poem B “I..and Your Eyes” theme is also about love and expressing the feelings that happens when looking one another’s eyes. For example, they hold untold tales and conspire and if he could hold your hillside smile and the…

While the women are rivals for Amphilanthus’ affection, they both admire one another and want to remain friends with each other. Through the course of the first part of the romance, there is consistent and direct tension between these two desires (Lewalski, 273). This is especially interesting in terms of heterosexual primacy because both women are experiencing this at the same time (Lewalski, 276). This tension is suggestive of the tendency for female intimacy to be effectually replaced by male…

tell you, our conceptualization of “aberrant” and “normal” sexualities was conceived and solidified towards the end of the European Renaissance (Horrocks, 124). This is when specific anxieties about the nature of gender and sexuality began coming into focus, under the pressure of biblical literalism as the Protestant Reformation swept over Europe, and especially, Britain. We can see these anxieties coming to the fore in much of English literature from the time, from Shakespeare, to Jonson, to…

Can love hold the same concept in all time periods? Does love hold power over people or do people hold power over love? The hunt for love is a recurring theme in early British literature, specifically the Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and seventeenth century time periods. Four poems show a unique perspective on love, depending on when they were written. Early periods show men having control over love, or marriage, while the women patiently awaits the man’s decision. Later periods show women having…

It is a well-known fact that Lady Mary Wroth’s sonnet sequence Pamphilia to Amphilanthus was largely influenced by her uncle Sir Philip Sidney’s own sonnet sequence Astrophil and Stella. The one main difference between Wroth’s sonnets and those of Sidney is that she delivers the poetry through a female protagonist, Pamphilia, whereas her uncle’s protagonist is a male, Astrophil. This is an interesting difference to consider when reading these poems because the struggles of the speakers of the…