The literary of Philip Sidney Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The literary of Philip Sidney - Research Paper Example He was also able to get a university education: something that was only available to a few individual of his time and this inspired his appreciation of literary work. His work was not restricted to writing alone. Sidney was a very ambitious man and sought to have an impact in the political arena that often got him in trouble with the queen. For instance, he protested openly against the marriage of between a catholic duke and Queen Elizabeth (Duncan-Jones, 21). This led to him being banished from Queen Elizabeth’s Court. He now retired to his family estate at Wilton. Politics was the main theme in the Lady of May. It was written in 1578, while Queen Elizabeth was in a dilemma of accepting or refusing the marriage proposal of the Duke of Alencon. She was invited by the Earl of Leicester to his mansion, the Queen accepted the invitation, and stayed several days at the luxurious mansion where Sir Philip Sidney then presented and performed the play, The Lady of May was written for the occasion and for the entertainment of the queen. This writing might be called persuasive and political, because it was designed to win the favor of the queen and to influence political affairs. The Lady of May indicates the literary tradition of pastoral style of writing. Pastoral is a literary style or type of writing that shows the conventional image of rural life. Pastoral literatures are written from the point of view of rural characters, especially of shepherds. In some way, concerns in pastoral works are the tensions between nature and art, and the actual and the mythical. English Renaissance pastoral has traditional roots, nevertheless, it contains distinctly contemporary English foundations, including humanism, sentimentality, depictions of court reality, an anxiety of with real life and the use of sardonic and comedy. One cannot ignore the influence that her mother had on Sidney literary work. This