Relational Antifeminism in Sidney's Arcadia

Abstract

Sir Philip Sidney is often considered a profeminist participant in the Elizabethan polemics of gender. His biographers stress the influence of loving, intelligent women in his life, and many critics have found a sympathetic literary treatment of women in his fictional works, especially in the Arcadia, ' a text that is said to show more sympathy toward women than Queen Elizabeth ever expressed.2 Sidney's view of women is generally acknowledged to be unbiased, even by the critic who most vigorously exposes Arcadian analogies to Elizabeth that reflect the many ways in which the queen falls far short of Sidney's expectations of her.3 Unlike many of his contemporaries, Sidney does not deny women's moral potential or political rights. Biological difference between the sexes does not govern character or behavior: a woman can be virtuous or vicious, rational or passionate, chaste or lustful, a good or a bad ruler, just as a man can be. The Old Arcadia, itself dedicated to Sidney's beloved sister and addressed to fair ladies, abounds with defenses of women; in the New Arcadia, there are numerous positive female characters, from shepherdess to queen regnant.4 The range of his female characters shows that Sidney disregards conventional judgments and rejects stereotypes.5 In various ways, Sidney seems to transcend not only the gender hierarchy, but also the gender ideology of his age. Constance Jordan highlights Sidney's powerful exposition of the notion of androgyny, extended critique of patriarchy, and vigorous defense of woman and of woman's rule; to conclude, she calls the Arcadia a feminist text.6