Images of women in poetry

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2011 im Fachbereich Didaktik - Englisch - Literatur, Werke, Note: 1,3, Universität Paderborn, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Is it truly love that lets a woman look like a divine beauty? Or does the poet just

lists the features of beauty within nearly each and every one of his sonnets?

There are many different images of women in poetry and writers know how to

present their beloved best. But actually, how important was beauty in order to

love someone? Such questions have inspired me to pick this topic for the

further analysis of the typical perception of women in some selected love

sonnets.

The man, who brought attention to the Italian sonnet, was Francesco Petrarca

who was usually referred to as Petrarch. Especially his sonnets for his idealized

girl, Laura, characterized the pan-European love poetry of the Renaissance up

to the seventeenth century (c.f. 9.9.201 http://lo-net2.de/home/

mario.leis/Download_Anglistik_Frauenbild.pdf)

That is why many writers adopted Petrarch¿s conception of love, beauty and

perfection. But of course there are just as many poets who have turned away

from the pure admiration of the idealized female figure.

In my following analysis I will take a closer look at the image of women in Sir

Philip Sidney¿s sonnet 91 and Shakespeare¿s sonnet 130 in comparison to the

traditional concept of Petrarch. It is important to establish the drastic changes

which exist in these two works. How much do the ladies of Shakespeare and

Sidney differ from Petrarch¿s Laura?

Do their shared characteristics outweigh the differences? And more importantly:

Is there a turning point in the historical development of literature with reference

to the visual representation of feminine beauty?

In my work, I have tried to find answers to these central questions.

First of all, I would like to give a short overview on the Petrarchan tradition and

then analyze sonnet 90 which was written for his beloved Laura. After that I will

concentrate on Sir Philip Sidney¿s presentation of women. In doing so, I will

analyze sonnet 91 from his sonnet sequence Astrophil and Stella. Then I will

continue like this for sonnet 130 by Shakespeare. Finally, I would like to sum up

my results and give a brief conclusion.