Astrophel and Stella --------------by Philip Sidney Astrophel and Stella (now called Astrophil and Stella), which

includes 108 sonnets and 11 songs, is the first in a long line of Elizabethan sonnet cycles. "Sonnet cycles" were so named because they incorporated linked sonnets that generally described the progressive rise and fall of a love relationship. In other words, through a number of distinct but related poems, it was possible to infer a plot. Most of the sonnets in Astrophel and Stella are influenced by Petrarchan conventions, incorporating traditional methods such as addressing the moon and the world of sleep and dreams, mourning the lady's absence, praising her unique beauty, bemoaning her coldness, and highlighting the lover's frustrated longings. Like Petrarch's poems, Sidney's work displays a variation of emotion from sonnet to sonnet within the trappings of a vague but thematic narrative. Sidney's experiments with rhyme scheme in his sonnets also were deeply significant for English Renaissance poetry, essentially freeing the English sonnet from the inflexible rhyming requirements of the Italian sonnet form. Though the poems circulated widely in manuscript form, an official edition was not printed until 1591, five years after Sidney's death. This text, however, was considered to be inaccurate, and the most authoritative version came from a 1598 folio of Sidney's Arcadia, which contained an edition of Astrophel and Stella. This folio was supervised directly by Sidney's sister. Sidney's sonnet sequence also exhibits clear references to Homeric epic, particularly Homer's Penelope. Some scholars have suggested that the 108 sonnets in the sequence represent the 108 suitors of Penelope, who play a game of striving to hit the Penelope stone in order to determine who can court her. The 119 poems are also just one number short of the number of months Ulysses spent trying to return home to Penelope in The Odyssey. The structure of the sonnet sequence, falling one month short of achieving Ulysses's journey home, can be seen as an emphasis on Sidney's failure in his pursuit of his own Penelope. It is generally accepted that the Stella of the poems is Penelope Devereux, later Lady Rich, and that Astrophel (Astrophil) is Sidney himself. Critics disagree, however, on whether Sidney's love for Penelope is real or merely literary, meant simply to emulate the style of Petrarch's poetic adoration of "Laura." Because neither Elizabethan historians nor Sidney's own early biographers gave any clear account of his relationship with the Stella of the poems, the sonnets themselves are the only key to contextualizing the poetry with his romantic life. The impossibility of a successful relationship between the two is a key theme of the sequence. The rift between the two is also expressed in the title of the piece. First of all, the title is made up of one name of Greek origin and one name of Latin origin: a clear disjunction. The presence of the grammatical copula "and" suggests that the two are a couple (such as "Tristan and Isolde" or "Romeo and Juliet"), which readers immediately realize is not the case. Even the names themselves, meaning "star-lover" and "star," describes a separation between the two: there will always be distance between the stars and those who love them. Astrophel (now called Astrophil) is the protagonist of the poem, a man modeled after Sir Philip Sidney. The name "Astrophel" comes from two Greek roots: "astr-," meaning "star," and "phil-," meaning "lover." The "phil" in the name is also a pun on Sidney's first name, Philip. Astrophel's actions make him a sympathetic character for many literary critics. Above all, he is driven by love, and even the worst of his actions can be rationalized through the intensity of his love. Astrophel's characterization, however, also can be interpreted as an expression of a code of moral conduct constructed by Sidney. Astrophel is an example of a man who lets his emotions gets the better of him, something that was nearly unforgivable for an established courtier during the time when Sidney was writing the sonnet sequence. His inability to control his emotions eventually leads him to total despair and the loss of Stella forever. Astrophel's characterization also can be read as a metaphor for Christian development. His journey from hope to despair is similar to the progression of human desire in Christian terms-or even a mirroring of the fall of Adam and Eve from Paradise. Although Astrophel does not try to be funny, he is comic in his very seriousness. (Perhaps he is a Quixote.) No reader can take him as seriously as he takes himself and, though he remains sympathetic throughout the text; his dramatic ups and downs and complete absorption with his love make him a comic figure. Stella is the heroine of the poem and the object of Astrophel's desire. The name "Stella" comes from the Latin word meaning "star." This definition has two possible meanings in the context of the poem. In one respect, the name could suggest Stella's superiority to Astrophel. As a star, Stella is a celestial being, far beyond the reach of a human like Astrophel. On the other hand, however, as a star, Stella is just one of a million other stars in the skies. She is not unique or, perhaps, not even worthy of Astrophel's attention.

Stella corresponds to the stereotypical characterization of women in the Petrarchan tradition. Following this tradition, Stella has blond hair, black eyes, ruby lips, pearl teeth, and lily-white skin. In an unconventional twist, however, Stella is not the unapproachable ideal that appears so often in Petrarchan poetry. Instead, she is a real woman, made of flesh and blood, not necessarily a celestial star. As a result, readers can view glimpses of Stella's personality as she understands and returns Astrophel's love but eventually rejects him. Not only is she beautiful, but she also is intelligent and rational. When she begins to return Astrophel's love, she refuses to allow her emotions to overcome her reason. She recognizes that their love cannot exist and that she must guard herself. Unlike the stereotypical figures of desire in other poetry from the time, Stella is a complex character and, above all, a real woman. Corresponding to this expectation, Stella has a personal life and a background. Her past has shaped her into the woman whom Astrophel loves. Even if Stella is not Penelope Devereux herself, her personal life is still filled with all of the troubles of a normal person, rather than expressing a romantic ideal. She is trapped in a loveless and even abusive marriage, a fact that Astrophel emphasizes in Sonnet 24. The courtship between the two characters also takes place in real life, through common social circumstances. 1. Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show, That she (dear She) might take some pleasure of my pain: Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know, Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain; I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe, Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain: Oft turning others' leaves, to see if thence would flow Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sun-burned brain. But words came halting forth, wanting Invention's stay, Invention, Nature's child, fled step-dame Study's blows, And others' feet still seemed but strangers in my way. Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes, Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite-"Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart and write." abab abab cdcd ee The author opens this first sonnet by explaining his motivation for composing the sonnet sequence. He believes that if his love were to read the sonnets, she would eventually return his affection. He argues that her pleasure in his pain would cause her to read his sonnets, and her reading of the sonnets would allow her to know the extent of his affection, which might make her pity for the author's situation-and this pity may transform into grace and love. The author also describes his difficulties in composing the sonnet sequence. He has struggled to express the pain and misery of his emotions and has tried to look at other poets' works in order to gain inspiration. Still, he has been unsuccessful. Finally, the author has realized that the only way to fully express his love for Stella in his poetry is to write from his heart. Analysis: Sidney's actions of writing about how to compose a love sonnet allow him to do just that: compose a love sonnet. With this in mind, he warns the reader that the emotions expressed in the entire sonnet sequence stem directly from the heart-thus, he cannot be held rationally responsible. The statements in this first sonnet make clear that Sidney (who already can be identified with the author of the love sonnets) is conflicted in his role as a zealous lover and a self-critical poet. This sonnet demonstrates the first of many clashes between reason and passion that appear in the sonnet sequence. He already seems to know that he will never truly win Stella, but he cannot help but desire her. This conflict between contradicting forces is a crucial element of the sequence. 2 Not at first sight, nor with a dribbed shot Love gave the wound, which while I breathe will bleed; But known worth did in mine of time proceed, Till by degrees it had full conquest got: I saw and liked, I liked but loved not; I loved, but straight did not what Love decreed. At length to love's decrees I, forced, agreed, Yet with repining at so partial lot.

Now even that footstep of lost liberty Is gone, and now like slave-born Muscovite I call it praise to suffer tyranny; And now employ the remnant of my wit To make myself believe that all is well, While with a feeling skill I paint my hell. abba abba cdcd ee The author describes the slow progression of love into his life. Love did not come quickly or at first sight. Instead, the author's love for Stella began slowly and infiltrated his heart before he realized what was happening. He began by viewing her in a purely platonic way, and he then began to appreciate her moreand he finally fell in love with her. At first he bemoaned his loss of liberty at the hands of love, but now, his emotions run too deep to allow him to make even that small complaint about the circumstances. He praises his slavery and spends his time trying to obscure the truth of his situation. Analysis: Sidney presents himself as a passive participant in the progression of love. He has no control over his emotions. Moreover, because of the slow and steady progression of his emotions, he was unable to guard himself in any way. He is a slave to love and has no power to escape it. By presenting himself as a slave to a sort of happy tyranny, Sidney both justifies and excuses his actions. According to his inflexible Protestant background, Sidney's desire for Stella is inappropriate and must be restrained at all times. But if he is not under his own control, existing as nothing more than a slave to love, he cannot be judged as completely responsible for his behavior. The love poetry of Petrarch is a primary theme running throughout the sequence. Petrarch's love and description of Laura in the 366 poems Il Canzoniere are closely mirrored in Astrophel's love and description of Stella. Petrarch's preoccupation with Laura causes his overwhelming joy as well as tormenting desires, the same conflict that Astrophel experiences for Stella. Sidney also uses the rhyme scheme used by Petrarch in his poetry, abba abba cdc ece. But Sidney also bends Petrarch's rhyme scheme, incorporating fifteen variants at different points in the sonnet sequence. Sidney also mirrors Petrarch on a more general level. His use of an ongoing narrative, conflicts between love and desire and between love and reason, and discussion of poetic creativity are all characteristic of Petrarch's works. Above all, Sidney is recognized as the poet who introduced the key features of Italian love poetry to England and, in so doing, single-handedly changed the course of English Renaissance literature. Defying Petrarchian Convention: Philip Sidney's Astrophil and Stella by W S, Member Astrophil and Stella is without doubt one of the most influential sonnet cycles of the Elizabethan Age. While many people simply dismiss Astrophil and Stella as a typical Petrarchan sonnet sequence filled with the familiar Petrarchan conventions of love and desire, Sidney actually is presenting a new perspective on love, one that is quite different from that of Petrarch, Wyatt, and many other earlier writers. Although many of the sequences are predictable in their course of recitation, Sidney still finds a way to infuse a force and energy into his writing that causes the reader, not only to be caught by the paradoxical verses but also to question the entire psychoanalytical process of love. Sidney effectively creates in his work an anatomy of love. He dissects, explores and analyses love in all its different facets and stages, laying bare to us the mechanism and etiology of love, essentially taking the reader on a tour of the lovers mind and the psychological voyage that it induces upon all those that it wounds with its pointed arrow. More importantly, however, he shows us that the expression of love has no pattern, convention, or set model, and that to try and conventionalize love is impossible, because love follows no set course. He essentially uses the Petrarchian convention to deride not only that very same convention, but also to show that describing ones love through the words or conventions of others is not only ineffective, but fails to express true love at all. Wasting no time in getting his point across Sidney actually begins with his critique of love and its conventional word expressions with the very title he gives the sonnet sequence. Going against the normal practice of naming the sonnet sequences after the name of the lady that the sequence is about, Sidney decides to employ two words: Astrophil and Stella. By doing so Sidney effectively breaks with the accepted convention of naming, and he also immediately alludes to the disparate nature of the two main characters, thereby putting the focus of his work not on the unity or elation that love brings, which had been the popular use of the sonnet sequence before this time, but rather on the impossibility and ridiculousness of love. By employing both a Greek name (Astrophil) and also a Latin one (Stella), Sidney immediately introduces the idea of contradiction and ambiguity. This idea of paradox is furthered even more by the translation of these names. Astrophil, which literally translates as star lover

In the very first sonnet Astrophil begins his passage through the twisting curvatures of his love for his star. We follow Sidney as he takes through a cause and effect series that describes the state of our star lover, his desire and struggle to express the love that he has for his unattainable star, and the eventual failure he finds in that endeavor: Louing in trueth, and fayne in verse my loue to show, That she, deare Shee, might take som pleasure of my paine, Pleasure might cause her reade, reading might make her know, Knowledge might pittie winne, and pity grace obtaine, (1.1-4). Notice in the first lines 1-4 how one thing leads to the next in his imagined chain of events. His pains lead to her pleasure; her pleasure may lead to her reading. Reading will bring her to the knowledge of his deplorable state by which he hopes to be able to gain pity. Pity he hopes will then gain him her grace. Essentially, he hopes to win her love by seeming pitiful. This again is a twisting of the conventional attitudes of the time, a man was not supposed to seem pitiful or weak. However, more importantly than that, he links his attempts at being pitiful with the idea of looking for inspiration in the works of others: I sought fit wordes to paint the blackest face of woe; Studying inuentions fine, her wits to entertaine, Oft turning others leaues, to see if thence would flow Some fresh and fruitfull showers vpon my sun-burnd brain. (1.5-8) This linking of his attempt to be pitiful with the then accepted practice of turning to the works of others to find inspiration, effectively conveys to the reader exactly what Sidney thinks of such a practice. He finds it to not only to be pitiful but, as he describes in lines 9-13, to be completely ineffective. He becomes disgusted with himself for attempting such a pathetic approach and finishes the first sonnet reprimanding himself with the line: Fool, said my Muse to me, look into thy heart and write (1.14). In the following sonnet he describes to the reader how love conquered him. He tells the reader that love conquered him not as the traditional conventions of the time usually portrayed, but rather in progressive stages, which actually are probably more real than the Petrarchian convention of love at first sight: Not at the first sight, nor with a dribbed shot, Loue gaue the wound, which, while I breathe, will bleede; But knowne worth did in tract of time proceed, Till by degrees, it had full conquest got. (2.1-4) He also, with this second sonnet begins a twist on the ancient convention of omnia vincit amor (love conquers all) that lasts literally through the entire sonnet sequence. With phrase such as lost libertie /like a slave borne / suffer tyrannie / paint my hell (2.9-14). He suggests that this convention of triumphant love is innately wrong, and that the correct reading of the phrase penned by Virgil should be that love doesnt overcome all obstacles, but rather love conquers all of us, and as a conqueror destroys us. As the sonnet sequence progresses Astrophil sees no distinction between his Stella and Love, or Cupid, himself. --------------------------------Beginning in sonnet 11 and continuing most notably through sonnet 29, Sidney uses many commonplace petrarchian conventions, among others, to confuse the identity Stella with that of Cupid himself. While this practice of the embodiment of the object of their desire as love itself was common among earlier poets, Sidney uses this convention, not to further glorify his love with wit and poetic prose, but rather uses it to employ an emphatic change from wit into grotesquerie and bitterness. This shift is most notably shown when comparing sonnets 13 and 29. In sonnet 13 Sidney uses wit and poetic imagery having Cupid appear as a champion knight, glorifying Stella by using her hair as his crest and her face as his shield: Cupid then smiles, for on his crest there lies / Stellas faire haire; her face he makes his shield (13.9-10). Then in Sonnet 29 we see the shift to the bizarre and almost grotesque. Stellas body has become Loves tent and also his source of food and nourishment: her lips his heralds arre, / her breasts his tents, legs his triumphal carre, / Her flesh his food, her skin his armour brave (29.10-12). This continual twisting and perverting of the Petrarchian and other conventions of his time creates an ironic, mocking, and humorous sequence in which his paradoxical descriptions of his struggles with desire and reason, show that the expression of love really has no pattern, convention, or set model, and that to try and express love in the conventional way is not only impossible, but also humorous in that it is ridiculous to even attempt to do so. The only way to truly express ones love is not by the use of common convention and prose, but rather only by looking into ones own heart.