Rhetorical Play between Marlowe and Ralegh. Alicia D. Fenney

Transcription

1 Rhetorical Play between Marlowe and Ralegh Alicia D. Fenney Course: English 313, Early Modern English Poetry Assignment: Compare two sixteenth-century English poems that use the carpe diem theme. Most poets in Queen Elizabeth s court wrote about love by objectifying women; some poets ostracized them as superficial, materialistic and manipulative beings, while others preyed on them as ornamental, virtuous and submissive goddesses. Either way, or with any number of variations, the representation of most women in Renaissance poetry is in relation to a male gaze. This conventionally misogynistic view is challenged by courtier Sir Walter Ralegh in his poem The Nymph s Reply to the Shepherd, a direct response to Christopher Marlowe s The Passionate Shepherd to His Love. However, although Ralegh promotes an anti-misogynistic view which destabilizes the traditional framework of female representation in content, his intentions are visible in the poem s form. In his shrewd reply, he challenges Marlowe with rhetoric, a tool shared by the educated, and carefully concealed from others behind the often elaborate content of the poem. The life of a shepherd offers an opposing parallel to the life of a courtier, so it is no surprise that Marlowe chooses the lowly shepherd as the speaker of his poem. Traditionally, a shepherd was of the lower class; his occupation required little skill and virtually no formal education, despite the difficulty and importance of his job. On the other hand, the courtier was of the upper class that often entailed both a formal education in Latin, Greek, and English grammar, and a mastery of the coveted skill sprezzatura, manipulating appearances and masking all the tedious memorizing of lines and secret rehearsals that underlie successful social performances (Abrams 577). A courtier would have viewed the shepherd s lifestyle as one of relative ease, and a shepherd himself would have been seen as a harmonious and humble man who lived a life of pastoral beauty. Marlowe uses the idealized pastoral scene to evoke a similar response from his readers, and more specifically, to persuade his female companion into a relationship which, like the poem itself, is not all it appears to be. In the first quatrain of Marlowe s poem, the shepherd delineates an alluring pastoral scene, inviting a presumed woman to taste his lifestyle. He writes And we will all the pleasures prove/ That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, / Woods, or steepy mountain yields, and tempts her with a haven from the regular courtly life (ll. 2-4). The shepherd offers this vast landscape to her as if it were his own, enticing her to try the pleasures of nature as he does daily. Using the ending consonance of s, the list of boundless places the shepherd has access to seems limitless as the s rolls off the tongue seductively. The consonance of s continues to create the pastoral mood in the second quatrain. Marlowe writes: And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks, 9

2 By shallow rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals. (5-8) In this image of rest and relaxation, the emphasized s aurally simulates the hissing of running water portrayed in the poem s pastoral content. Observation is key to the pastoral theme; the mood is complete when both the senses of the eyes, seeing, and the ears, sing[ing], are met in natural harmony. Even within nature harmony exists, literally, as birds sing melodies to the sounds of falling water. Ralegh s response to Marlowe is double-sided; upon first glance, he appears simply to favor realism over idealism, but beneath the content he is manipulating Marlowe s shepherd with a clever syllogism. Originally introduced by Aristotle, a syllogism is an ancient form of logical argument consisting of two premises and one conclusion. The premises on which Ralegh forms his argument are the poem s opening lines: If all the world and love were young, / And truth in every shepherd s tongue, which he sets up to disprove Marlowe s carefully crafted carpe diem scene (1-2). Ralegh, the true speaker cloaked beneath a female façade, insinuates that Marlowe s intentions are purposely unclear. Time is the conceit here, with age as a signifier for wisdom. Ralegh suggests that the world and love are experienced with Marlowe s sort and are wise to his artifice. When the nymph indirectly addresses Marlowe as a shepherd, Ralegh himself acknowledges that he sees through the veneer, and rather seems to be calling Marlowe a wolf in sheep s clothing. In the conclusion of the syllogism Ralegh writes These pretty pleasures might me move/ To live with thee and be thy love, essentially disproving Marlowe s entire argument based on the false premises (3-4). Only the educated would understand the purpose of the syllogism and the importance of Ralegh s speaking through a female voice. Ralegh s speaker-choice of a Nymph in place of Marlowe s Love is clever, since a nymph could be seen as a prostitute; a woman regarded as a means of sexual gratification ( Nymph ). By choosing to respond as a woman who knows from first-hand experience that the world and love are not ideal, Ralegh gives a common prostitute an authority which makes a powerful counterstatement to Marlowe. The very idea of a prostitute s replacing Marlowe s Love implies that Marlowe is using the woman he courts for sexual gratification. Ralegh manipulates his chosen speaker, the nymph, in the same way Marlowe that manipulates his chosen speaker, the shepherd. In quatrain two, Ralegh works from a framework of realism to portray the effect of time s passage on the idealized courting relationship Marlowe suggests. He writes: Time drives the flocks from field to fold When rivers rage and rocks grow cold, And Philomel becometh dumb; The rest complains of cares to come. (5-8) Ralegh destabilizes the harmonious scene with alliteration similarly to the way Marlowe reinforces it; while Marlowe uses a similar sound throughout, Ralegh s alliteration changes line by line, creating a separation of ideas. Using the destructive figure of Time, Ralegh draws on the seasons changing from spring to fall with a change in temperature, grow[ing] cold, and 10

3 flocks that are no longer grazing but are pent up. Philomela, a Greek mythological character who sings a mournful song in springtime, represents the death of Marlowe s idealized spring as she, literally, is no longer able to sing. Her silence could also represent the submissiveness of women, as according to myth she was raped and then silenced by her attacker, a possible analogy to Marlowe s overture to his love. In this sense, Ralegh is commenting on the two-faced shepherd, whose seemingly harmless temptations may result in the rape, silencing, and perhaps, ultimate rejection of his love. In quatrains three through five, Marlowe s shepherd offers his love aspects of nature touched by the hand of man, which, although unrealistic, are suggestive of his idealized role. He writes And I will make thee beds of roses/ And a thousand fragrant posies, a proposition which is paradoxical (9-10). On the one hand, a bed of roses and posies would make for fragrant relaxation; on the other hand, a bed in itself would be used by both the speaker and his love for sexual intercourse. By coaxing her with a tribute of a thousand hand-picked flowers he could presumably sway her into sexual intercourse, which suggests that she is a stereotypical female. Yet if the bed of petals doesn t win her over, her similarly stereotyped fascination with fashion will. He writes: A cap of flowers, and a kirtle Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle; A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty lambs we pull; Fair lined slippers for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold; A belt of straw and ivy buds, With coral clasps and amber studs. (11-18) Each of these items would conventionally be desired by women: a cap, hand-embroidered gowns, slippers with gold buckles, and a belt with coral and amber buttons. Unfortunately, these propositions start at possible realism and plunge into certain idealism; although a poor shepherd would have some of these items at hand, like wool, flowers, and straw, for instance, the ready availability of pure gold, coral, and amber is improbable. However, this is an idealized scene: a courtier would have believed shepherds had free time to cater to their loves. Furthermore, the image created by hand-pulling the finest wool is enchanting as the shepherd has all the tools literally at his fingertips. Finally, Marlowe s shepherd seems to be prepared for Ralegh s suggested death of spring when he offers his love slippers for the cold. Again Ralegh replies with the destruction of Time but more specifically, the waning of love after the initial courting period is concluded. When he writes The flowers do fade, and wanton fields/ To wayward winter reckoning yields, he is saying that flowers die, but love and devotion should remain in the heart long afterwards (9-10). Using a farming conceit, he suggests the shepherd s love will wither like an undisciplined field; in other words, he is interested while she interests him. Since the speaker fulfills the purpose of a prostitute, when Ralegh writes A honey tongue, a heart of gall,/ Is fancy s spring, but sorrow s fall, he is suggesting that the shepherd is really manipulating the woman for his own sexual needs (11-12). In the spring, or beginning of courting attraction, the shepherd s tongue is like honey: his words are sweet and 11

4 persuasive. In the fall, towards the sad end of the courting love when their physical love has resulted in a harvest, to return to the farming conceit, or child, the shepherd s heart becomes the bitterness of sorrow in his pursuits. In quatrains four and five, Ralegh reiterates the items which Marlowe s shepherd has offered his love and describes how time destroys them; he writes soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten / In folly ripe, in reason rotten suggesting that, again within a farming conceit, these materialistic items were foolish and unreasonable (15-16). In the final lines of quatrain five, the nymph directly replies to the shepherd, using Marlowe s own words, and firmly states that none of these pleasures, referring to the shepherd s pleasure in her, would convince her of his loyalty in love. In the final quatrain of Marlowe s poem, he returns again to a sensual scene enhanced by alliteration to finalize the pastoral mood. He writes The shepherd s swains shall dance and sing/ For thy delight each May morning, and the alliteration of s ties together the senses of the eyes, dance, and ears, sing, in pastoral harmony (21-22). In this idealized scene it is springtime, and as the figure of Spring is the herald of love, it seems appropriate that Marlowe ends with this image. When he finalizes his plea with If these delights thy mind may move,/ Then live with me and be my love, he is using a shortened syllogism in courtly persuasion (23-24). However, the syllogism is rhetorical, because in theory an idealized pastoral scene is presumed to move the minds of all. Ralegh ends with a formal syllogism similar to his first which adds symmetry to his poem. His premises, But could youth last and love still breed,/ Had joys no date nor age no need, use the image of destructive time again (21-22). He suggests that love is a function of age, decreasing with time, that pleasures such as Marlowe suggests have a terminal date, and that with age, more than courtly love is desired and needed by women. Since none of these things are true in the mind of Ralegh, he writes Then these delights my mind might move/ To live with thee and be thy love, essentially poking fun at Marlowe for suggesting such an outrageous idea by using his very words (23-24). The poems of Ralegh and Marlowe reveal the court of Queen Elizabeth as the site of an educated interplay of ideas. To take a Renaissance poem out of its original context would not do justice to the sprezzatura required to execute such a witty task. The play with speakers, alliteration, and syllogism in both men s poems is proof of such sprezzatura, and the poems themselves are social performances by the poets. These poems would have been read among members of the court and so challenges would resonate throughout the court since the readers knew the writers, thus amplifying the power of their arguments. Ralegh seems to be an exception to the male gaze in this Renaissance poem; however, beneath the surface he, like Marlowe, is a courtier glorifying himself through his shrewd use of rhetoric. Works Cited Hoby, Sir Thomas. From Castiglione s The Courtier. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc,

5 Marlowe, Christopher. The Passionate Shepherd to His Love. The Norton Anthology of Poetr y. Eds. Ferguson, Margaret, Mary Jo Salter, and Jon Stallworthy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, Nymph. Oxford English Dictionary Online: Ralegh, Sir Walter. The Nymph s Reply to the Shepherd. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. Eds. Ferguson, Margaret, Mary Jo Salter, and Jon Stallworthy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, Appendix A Christopher Marlowe s The Passionate Shepherd to His Love Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, Woods, or steepy mountain yields. And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals. And I will make thee beds of roses And a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers, and a kirtle Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle; A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty lambs we pull; Fair lined slippers for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold; A belt of straw and ivy buds, With coral clasps and amber studs; And if these pleasures may thee move, Come live with me and be my love. The shepherds swains shall dance and sing For thy delight each May morning: If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me and be my love. 13

6 Appendix B Sir Walter Ralegh s The Nymph s Reply to the Shepherd If all the world and love were young, And truth on every shepherd s tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move To live with thee and be thy love. Time drives the flocks from field to fold When rivers rage and rocks grow cold, And Philomel becometh dumb; The rest complains of cares to come. The flowers do fade, and wanton fields To wayward winter reckoning yields; A honey tongue, a heart of gall, Is fancy s spring, but sorrow s fall. Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses, Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten In folly ripe, in reason rotten. Thy belt of straw and ivy buds, Thy coral clasps and amber studs, All these in me no means can move To come to thee and be thy love. But could youth last and love still breed, Had joys no date nor age no need, Then these delights my mind might move To live with thee and be thy love. 14