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Problematising Petrarchism: Shakespeare’s Varying Responses to an Elizabethan Cult
Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2017.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1867613440330170368 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Lenahan, P.C. |
| author_browse | Lenahan, P.C. |
| author_facet | Lenahan, P.C. |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2017. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/110039 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:36:11.018Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/110039 Problematising Petrarchism: Shakespeare’s Varying Responses to an Elizabethan Cult Lenahan, P.C. kirstendey@gmail.com Dey, Kirsten Charisse Shakespeare Petrarch Canzoniere Petrarchism Shakespeare’s comedies Shakespeare’s Sonnets Othello Venus and Adonis The Rape of Lucrece satire inversion. Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2017. This dissertation is concerned with Shakespeare’s varied, rich and multifaceted responses to the cult of Petrarchism in Elizabethan England in selected sonnets, narrative poems and plays. I start by providing a sense of the historical tradition of Petrarchism both in general and in its various manifestations in the culture of Elizabethan England in the 1590s, as well as determining its key features. I then use techniques of close reading and critical analysis to explore Shakespeare’s treatment of Petrarchism across a wide range of texts and according to a selection of topics. The first topic is his satirical treatment of conventional conceits in selected comedies (The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labour’s Lost and As You Like It). The second topic is his depiction of an inverted Petrarchism and its implications in Venus and Adonis and All’s Well That Ends Well. The third topic is his exploration of the darker reaches of Petrarchan devotion and its consequences in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Rape of Lucrece, Titus Andronicus, Much Ado About Nothing, Cymbeline and Othello. Finally, I consider the simultaneous subversion and exploitation of Petrarchan rhetoric in his Dark Lady sonnets. Through this analysis, I suggest that Shakespeare consistently uses these texts to question, both satirically and seriously, the idealism inherent in the vision and accompanying rhetoric of the Petrarchan tradition. Moreover, I argue that in his Dark Lady sonnets, Shakespeare does not simply dismiss and subvert Petrarchism, but revitalises it in his depiction of an imperfect lover’s Petrarchan devotion to, and realistic relationship with, his flawed mistress. In this way, Shakespeare shows that Petrarchism can be detached from its idealising tradition and assume new meanings in contexts which require the expressive power of its topoi to illustrate complex psychological and emotional states reminiscent of those articulated in Petrarch’s Canzoniere (1470). English MA (English) 2026-05-15T17:26:08Z 2026-05-15T17:26:08Z 18/02/02 2017 Dissertation http://hdl.handle.net/2263/110039 en application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Shakespeare Petrarch Canzoniere Petrarchism Shakespeare’s comedies Shakespeare’s Sonnets Othello Venus and Adonis The Rape of Lucrece satire inversion. Problematising Petrarchism: Shakespeare’s Varying Responses to an Elizabethan Cult |
| title | Problematising Petrarchism: Shakespeare’s Varying Responses to an Elizabethan Cult |
| title_full | Problematising Petrarchism: Shakespeare’s Varying Responses to an Elizabethan Cult |
| title_fullStr | Problematising Petrarchism: Shakespeare’s Varying Responses to an Elizabethan Cult |
| title_full_unstemmed | Problematising Petrarchism: Shakespeare’s Varying Responses to an Elizabethan Cult |
| title_short | Problematising Petrarchism: Shakespeare’s Varying Responses to an Elizabethan Cult |
| title_sort | problematising petrarchism shakespeare s varying responses to an elizabethan cult |
| topic | Shakespeare Petrarch Canzoniere Petrarchism Shakespeare’s comedies Shakespeare’s Sonnets Othello Venus and Adonis The Rape of Lucrece satire inversion. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/110039 |