Cupid is emblematic of the constancy of the sonneteer’s love as induced by the female object. As the sonnets progress, he becomes the object of her attention and her criticism, before she finally moves away from both Venus (Wroth, Crown Sonnet 9) wherein she rejects him for her “sunne”, and Cupid (Sonnet 103) (who seems to become a sort of surrogate for her love interest, as well as the representative of her own desire) to a higher form of love that transcends both passion and longing . Shift seems to reject female sexuality, and the lesbian exploration that comes with it, in favor of marital (or at least heterosexual) constancy, and the higher love that comes with it. This is further reflected in the corresponding plot of Urania, wherein
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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 intimacy, and is a potent example of when female bonds are mutually exclusive with similarly intimate and intense bonds with men. Putting one man at the center of their relationship brings this tension into the foreground and makes it more obvious than it is in many other places. By the end of Part I, Pamphilia’s constancy and self-containment (which is developed in the sonnet sequence, chronologically speaking) is rewarded with Amphilanthus’ affection, whereas Antissa’s assertive nature and inability to cogently express her emotions is textually condemned (Lewalski, 281). This is important because it seems to be reflective of the two different kinds of female love: the developed female agape, which adheres to traditionally masculine ideals of constancy and patience. I argue that the reason Pamphilia is structurally rewarded is because she rejects the parts of herself that are …show more content…
Further this illuminates the ways in which discourses such as heteronormativity and the way it is expressed in this period of time effectively remove the teeth from the things that threaten it: i.e. heterosexuality is still framed as the end-all-be-all and lesbian activity is framed as an insufficient ”quick fix” when that may not be true. However, literature of the time does seem to hint at the deep emotional impacts that can result from the destruction of these relationships, and this is probably where we see the seeds of deviancy growing, in that homosexuality may actually pose a threat to heteronormativity. Ultimately, looking at the weird and often oblique ways that the discourses of the time weave themselves in and out of texts is important in understanding the ways that culture reasserts itself against subversion, and Urania, and Pamphilia to Amphilanthus seem to stand as artifacts to that
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 intimacy, and is a potent example of when female bonds are mutually exclusive with similarly intimate and intense bonds with men. Putting one man at the center of their relationship brings this tension into the foreground and makes it more obvious than it is in many other places. By the end of Part I, Pamphilia’s constancy and self-containment (which is developed in the sonnet sequence, chronologically speaking) is rewarded with Amphilanthus’ affection, whereas Antissa’s assertive nature and inability to cogently express her emotions is textually condemned (Lewalski, 281). This is important because it seems to be reflective of the two different kinds of female love: the developed female agape, which adheres to traditionally masculine ideals of constancy and patience. I argue that the reason Pamphilia is structurally rewarded is because she rejects the parts of herself that are …show more content…
Further this illuminates the ways in which discourses such as heteronormativity and the way it is expressed in this period of time effectively remove the teeth from the things that threaten it: i.e. heterosexuality is still framed as the end-all-be-all and lesbian activity is framed as an insufficient ”quick fix” when that may not be true. However, literature of the time does seem to hint at the deep emotional impacts that can result from the destruction of these relationships, and this is probably where we see the seeds of deviancy growing, in that homosexuality may actually pose a threat to heteronormativity. Ultimately, looking at the weird and often oblique ways that the discourses of the time weave themselves in and out of texts is important in understanding the ways that culture reasserts itself against subversion, and Urania, and Pamphilia to Amphilanthus seem to stand as artifacts to that