In the modern English era, romantic love was a major topic in literature. From Hoby's translation of The Courtier to the various sonnets written during this time, everyone seemed to have something to add regarding their opinions on what exactly love is and the role love plays in society. Many texts from this period offer a distinct perspective on love, with some believing that love could be the key to virtue, or that love could transcend death, or even that love is present just for the sake of it. pleasure of love. The conversation between early modern English texts reveals to us the ideology behind love in that era. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Starting with Sir Thomas Hoby's translation of The Courtier of Castiglione, the stage is set for a fairly specific view of romantic love. Specifically in the fourth book, titled “The Ladder of Love,” love is described as a method of achieving virtue, while recognizing one's true beauty, or goodness. If a woman is able "to open the eyes which all men have and which few men occupy, and sees in herself a shining ray of that light which is the true image of the angelic beauty associated with her", a couple of lovers will experience a “greater and happier love than the others, because the cause which animates it is more excellent” (716-717). What is meant by this “angelic beauty” is the goodness or virtue of a woman, a type of beauty that transcends the earthly body, and is therefore angelic. This idea that if a man is able to rise above the passion for earthly beauty and can recognize and fall in love with the good virtue of a woman, then this love is valid for the gentleman courtier, an associated title to an estimated magnitude. On the other hand, there is a warning, when a man falls in love, "then the courtier must resolve, when he perceives that he is taken, to avoid altogether all taint of common love, and thus to enter into the holy way of love with the guide of reason” (713). A man must not let himself be consumed by his love for a woman's beauty and must find her virtue. This push and pull to "enter the holy way of love" as described in the Courtier is put into sonnet form through Sidney's sonnets called Astrophil and Stella. In these sonnets, which are written by Sidney from the point of view of Astrophil, whose love for Stella is not reciprocated, the subject of "The Ladder of Love" is dramatized. In the first sonnet, Astrophil believes that if he writes sonnets to Stella, she might eventually return his love. The actual debate does not begin until the fifth sonnet. Sidney uses the imagery of the heart as a temple and even says "it is true, that the true virtue of beauty indeed is", but concludes the poem by rejecting this idea that love should be a means of s 'improve. The last three lines of the poem read: "True, that on earth we are but made pilgrims, / And should in soul move to our country, / True, and yet true that I must Stella love", which reveal a complex meaning of the poem. Yes, Astrophil realizes that love is an adventure that requires the pursuit of some kind of holy, supernatural virtue, but Stella is the one who wins his affections, even with that in mind. This rejection of this idea begins the conversation about romantic love in this era. Love is also characterized in Spenser's Amoretti, which follows the path in which Spenser's love for his future wife, Elizabeth Boyle, blossoms into a lovevirtuous, as The Courtier describes him. Towards the beginning of the sonnet cycle, images surrounding Elizabeth's physical beauty are prevalent. Sonnet 37 is dedicated to her "golden tresses" and how "the sharp eyes of men, who look too bold, / she may become entangled in that golden trap" (986). These lines, of course, emphasize how her physical beauty is what attracts men, including Spenser in the first place. However, at the end of the sonnet cycle we see a change of subject. Sonnet 79 says that "Men call you fayre, and you believe it", continuing to add: "But the trew fayre, that is, the meek spirit and the virtuous spirit, is much more prayed for on my part” (989). What Spenser is saying is that Elizabeth is beautiful and everyone sees it, but he appreciates the true beauty of her virtuous spirit and strong spirit. Spenser revealed Elizabeth's true beauty and eventually married her, essentially becoming a model of what The Courtier wishes to create and what Astrophil was unable to achieve. However, in Sir Thomas More's Utopia the subject of marriage is simplified and can be seen as quite a different example from love seen in The Courtier or Amoretti. Marriage is almost transformed into a kind of transaction, where the man and woman can see each other naked, in order to monitor each other for anything undesirable, before finally committing to marriage. This practice is compared to when a man buys a horse: "he will not complete the deal until the saddle and rug are removed, lest there be a sore hidden beneath." (625). The descriptions of marriage and divorce in Utopia don't even mention love and therefore reject all these concepts that everyone talked about in the first place. This ideal world has rules regarding premarital sex, in which case a person is not allowed to marry, but is that because they have not "completely avoided all the filth of common love ”, as Le Courtisan asks them? Do you do it, or is it for another reason? This complete absence of the subject of love is not visible in any of the other texts in question, however some ideas could be translated into Spenser's The Faerie Queene, in which love and sex are briefly mentioned in the first canto of the first book. Una, the lady of the Red Cross Knight, is impersonated by a leprechaun, and the leprechaun offers to kiss the Red Cross Knight. Then, subsequently, the spirits engage in “lewd games” and the Knight of the Red Cross was “very saddened to think that his sweet Lady was so light” (793-795). In other words, the Red Cross Knight, although his relationship with Una seemed quite platonic, was upset to see "Una" having sex with someone and then offering to kiss her. The examples of harsh punishments for premarital sex in Utopia and Una's rejection in The Faerie Queene for perceived loose morality show that love and relationships were not taken lightly during this period , perhaps taking some sort of influence from The Broker or Astrophil and Stella's take on using love to achieve some sort of supernatural goodness. Unlike all of the previously mentioned texts, Williams Shakespeare's sonnets take a rather different turn. Specifically in Sonnet 130, Shakespeare describes all of his mistress's faults, but in the verse remarks: "And yet, by heaven, I think my love is as rare, / As any other she has denied with a false comparison” (1184). Shakespeare reiterates the arguments made by The Courtier, but in a humorous way. He asserts the position that a man.