Penshurst

Penshurst, the ancestral Sidney home, symbolizes an ideal society. Jonson portrays Penshurst as unique in its structure, noting that it is not as decorous as other more modern houses. But he also portrays the house as operating without problems like scarcity or hierarchy: the animals of the landscape happily die to be served as food for the dwellers of the house, and guests experience the same pleasures of hospitality that the lord of the house does. Penshurst is also a symbol of the Sidney family more generally, as they were often hailed as a exemplars of traditional English values due to their involvement with English politics, art, and war.

Philip Sidney

Philip Sidney symbolizes the ideal English citizen. Jonson suggests that Sidney's legacy lives on at Penshurst, as the Sidney children study the same subjects for which Sidney was best known: art, decorum, and arms. In...