Sonnet Sequence:
By thom_austin
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Sonnet sequence: 'Helen &;amp; her Fella'
('The architecture of writing: the sonnet')
In my formal approach to the writing of a sonnet sequence, I have taken
the technically simpler form of the Shakespearean sonnet with rhyming
scheme abab, cdcd, efef, gg. As for content I have focused on some of
the conventions of the Petrarchan form, particularly the examples of
Sir Philip Sydney in his sequence 'Astophil &;amp; Stella'.
I have attempted to highlight and subvert conventional depictions of
the unrequited lover, a prevalent theme not only in these sonnets of
Sydney but others of the Petrarchan type. The theme of subverted love
of the dominant female object and the subservient attentions of the
male poet are conventions of the Renaissance era in literature. My
creative project corresponds to a essay paper submitted for the course
'Renaissance &;amp; Restoration' entitled 'The queer convention
&;amp; the closeted Queen'. My approach here was to highlight the
melancholic condition in sonnets of the time, melancholy as a
psychological complex as well as a fashionable literary
convention.
Traditionally the sonnet is a vehicle for love, I have attempted to
stay true to this tradition. Though a more philosophical attitude is
adopted in relation to the history of the sonnet as literary form and
the nature and process of being educated.
The Academy can be read as the institution of literary theory, how
poetry itself is taught to a new audience.
Background reading for the project has been varied, essential I have
hunted or researched texts for the presence of Helen as a character, I
found her in the following texts:
'Trolius &;amp; Cressida', W. Shakespeare.
'Dr Faustus', C. Marlowe.
Some of the sonnets were inspired by the Renaissance topics I have
studied at college, therefore unavoidable are the self-conscious
references, sometimes satirical to the process of learning and writing-
production. Poets and painters of that time have also been influential
in my writing of the sequence.
The main idea for the presentation of Helen as a central character came
from Christopher Marlowe's 'Dr Faustus' where she is magically spirited
for her beauty and for the benefit of the party of men assembled. She
is supposedly the cause of much male fuss and fighting in classical
history: 'the face that launched a thousand ships' etc. Again I wanted
to stay true to this presentation of objective beauty, my post-feminist
motive- was to subvert that objectivity by allowing Helen to grow as
commentator on male poetic fantasy.
A common feature of the Elizabethan sonnet was its 'conceit', which
came in many forms, and was worked out neatly within the form of the
sonnet.
Examples of the conceit are:
1. The single metaphor extended through the whole sonnet and reaching
its natural climax in the last line:
2. The classical myth applied as an allegory of the lover's state
3. The debate
4. The paradox
5. The pattern of anaphora worked out with perfect symmetry through the
three quatrains and the couplet.
I don't necessarily utilize all the above conceits in the 'Helen'
sequence; mostly the first two are applicable. The classical myth being
that of Helen of Troy used as an allegory for the student poet's
academic and love state. The test for the persona of the sonnets who is
the voice of Achilles, is to rescue Helen who represents a
Post-Feminist &;amp; Freudian muse from the classical grasp of Paris
(Sir Philip Sidney) and the Academy which is the site for a
post-modern-battle of Troy.
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