Sidney Context Flashcards
What allusions does Sidney make in his sonnets?
to literature and the act of writing
What do these allusions suggest?
poetry is an outlet to express his deep appreciation and love for both writing and his lover
What does Sidney use to create a parallel between?
literary awareness to create a parallel between the relationship of Astrophil and Stella and his own relationship with writing
What does he suggest the relationship to writing is?
it is not simply a relationship between writer and the work
but rather a relationship between writer and his audience
How does Sidney connect himself to these sonnets?
point of view of Astrophil
Phil is an allusion to Philip
he connects his identity to Astrophil
the speaker is standing in for Sidney
Who is the intended reader for the sonnets
Stella - he is writing to get her attention, asking her to read his poem
How is Stella described? Who does she represent?
“porches rich” (9)
“doth even grow rich, meaning my stella’s name” (35)
allusions to Penelope Rich - Sidney’s romantic pursuit
“The sonnet’s ……. for expressing ……” who says this? what is the significance?
“The sonnets propensity for expressing self-awarenesss” - said by William Kennedy
Sonnets are an opportunity for an author to insert biographical details about themselves, as an author and as a member of society
What does Sidney blend together in his sonnets? What quote suggests this?
blending fiction and autobiography
“The hero of … Astrophil and Stella bears many similarities to his author, and their biographies overlap playfully” - Gavin Alexander.
How is Sidney’s resonance to Astrophil troubled?
“But he is not Sidney because this is literature and not life, and he cannot be Sidney because he is also composed of elements drawn from previous sonnet sequences, notably Petrarch’s”
What heritages does Sidney allude to?
literary and literal
What does Sidney relate Stella to?
Stella, as the beloved, is closely related to the act of writing itself
Where is frustration seen in the sonnet?
“words came halting forth” - writers block?
not being able to get this sonnet out of him
frustration to write
How does his frustration relate to the context
His life was defined by failure - emotionally, socially, in the military
How does he utilise his failure for literary purposes
he uses it to gain our attention
the modesty topos
