Philip Sidney Summary

Biography EssayGrandson of the duke of Northumberland and heir presumptive to the earls of Leicester and Warwick, Sir Philip Sidney was not himself a nobleman. Today he is closely associated in the po... Read more

The grandson of the Duke of Northumberland and heir presumptive to the earls of Leicester and Warwick, Sir Philip Sidney was not himself a nobleman. Today he is closely associated in the popular imagi... Read more

In the following review of John Drinkwater's edition of The Poems of Sir Philip Sidney, originally published in the Times Literary Supplement in 1910, Bailey contends that Sidney marks an impor... Read more

In the following essay, Waller argues that the Sidney Psalter not only contains poetry that may be compared with that of the Metaphysical poets, but also is a reflection of important aspects in the li... Read more

In the following essay, Turner discusses the “rooted moisture” mentioned in elegy 75 in the Old Arcadia, and says the concept, which is derived from the Greek philosopher Aristotle, desc... Read more

In the following essay, Traister offers a close analysis of two sonnets, and concludes Sidney forces readers to reconsider experiences and approach the sonnets with the knowledge of their new implicat... Read more

In the following essay, originally published in Anniversary Papers by Colleagues and Pupils of George Lyman Kittredge in 1913, Greenlaw argues that by Elizabethan standards Arcadia is a heroic poem; S... Read more

In the following essay, Robertson presents an overview of Sidney's poetry in relation to his life and his intentions. Nothing that happened later in his life meant so much to Fulke Greville ... Read more

In the following essay, Orgel finds that Sidney's mixed-mode court masque about the contemplative life, The Lady of May, provides us with a “brief and excellent example of the way his mi... Read more

In the following essay, Hamilton seeks to show that the 108 sonnets in Astrophel and Stella may be read as a single, long poem on the theme “loving in truth.” I My purpose in this art... Read more

In the following excerpt, McCoy examines the courtly politics of The Four Foster Children of Desire, an "entertainment" staged by Sidney for Queen Elizabeth. Sir Philip Sidney was the... Read more

In the following excerpt, Hager considers Sidney's choice of words in his famous letter to the Queen, and contends that the advice may not have met with her disapproval. … Advice to t... Read more

In the following excerpt, Herman reconsiders the Apology for Poetry and its stance regarding poetry's superiority to history in the light of two of Sidney's letters. … "... Read more

In the following excerpt, Lanham explores the complex, shifting, and sometimes ambiguous narration of the Old Arcadia. An age that cherishes the memory of Henry James can hardly be expected to allo... Read more

In the following excerpt, Roche contends that Sidney meant Astrophil to represent a negative example, someone who "must end in despair because he never learns from his experience." Si... Read more

In the following excerpt, Levao examines some of the difficulties and paradoxes in Sidney's An Apology for Poetry. Any attempt to discuss Sidney's theory of poetic fictions proves to ... Read more