Man+or+Wimp

Sir Philip Sidney as a Strong Man or Wimp Throughout reading Sir Philip Sidney’s works it is blatantly apparent the attention he gives to those of the opposite gender. Whether he is discussing his long lost love Penelope, the Queen Elizabeth I, or his dear sister Mary, the emphasis for almost all of his pieces are female admiration. Merely glancing over many of his lines and works one may suspect that his ability to interact with women would make him a prominent figure in this time period, constantly pursuing and being pursued by women. However, after deeper consideration into the content and the life events that affected him, I propose that Sir Philip Sidney was a fairly weak man who used his poetry to express the great pain her suffered at the hands of women. One of Sidney’s greatest works, //Astrophil and Stella,// discusses the love and loss of the star gazer to the star he so adores. This piece is shaped around the idea that no matter how hard Astrophil tries he will never be able to have the thing he loves most. This seemingly autobiographical piece can be viewed as the relationship Sir Philip Sidney once had with his love Penelope Rich. Many times throughout the piece Philip refers to the star as being “rich” in so many things while he is alone. Rich, the married name given to Penelope, is repeated to show the loss Philip had in his real life. However much he knows he cannot have Penelope back, he still pines over her loss and desperately praises her above all things. The weakness in this “voice” shows Philip to be somewhat of a wimp, a puppy who has lost his ways. The sonnet cycle goes through many phases that represent the feelings Astrophil has for Stella. Seemingly a rollercoaster of emotion, the love and obsession over this star builds and builds until it ultimately culminates into a sexually driven fantasy of rape. A sleeping Stella urges Astrophil to sneak a kiss, or more, but he reluctantly shy’s away upon her awakening. One could only imagine that Philip uses Astrophil as a means to express what he wishes he could do to Penelope and sneak one last kiss while she sleeps. These events lead me to only see Philip as a creepy little man who cannot have the woman he desires so he must take it by force, but is too weak to make himself do it. Finally, we see Astrophil turn to psychotic rage as his adoration turns towards hate for Stella. Cursing her forever and hating what she is and what she represents. Like the beautiful girl in high school being hated by the geeky boy she never noticed, Philip shows his true colors as he implodes from the emotions bottling up inside of him. I cannot think but to portray Philip as a weak, self-conscious, and obsessive wimp who writes this sonnet cycle to explain his feelings to the world.

Sir Joseph Darwal