Maymester 2008
May 12 through June 2
M-S 10:00-12:30
This lengthy prose romance was one of the most innovative and important texts of the 16th century. As Maurice Evans says, "The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia has been one of the most widely read and best-loved books in the whole of English literature. In the century after its original publication in 1593 it went through thirteen editions and inspired two sequels and countless imitations, as well as being translated into all the major European languages" (9). Besides being significant in-and-of-itself, it influenced writers of succeeding generations. As Evans continues, it "contributed to the development of its successor in the narrative mode, the new novel. Its influence on the work of both Fielding and Richardson is unmistakable .... It is no accident that Richardson gave the name of Pamela to his first heroine. Pope had a copy; Joseph Warton praised it as the archetypal romance; Scott and Lamb treasured it. ... Yet its days as a best-seller were over, and in the nineteenth century it was superseded by the novel. The last complete edition appeared in 1907 ... " (9).
Anyone interested in the Renaissance, in prose narration, or in 18th through 21 sl century literature would do well to have a working knowledge of this text. Cormac McCarthy's fine novel All the Pretty Horses is, for example, a direct descendent of Sidney's work.
Also, in this rich, complex work, Sidney not only asks us to question the topics
of gender, sexuality, subjectivity, and discourse, but he also asks us to investigate
the nature and value of art in Western culture.
Assignments: Oral presentations and one 15-20 page seminar paper.