How Does Petrarch View The Beloved?

Even though the sonnet is instinctively attributed to the literary accomplishments of the wordsmith William Shakespeare, Francis Petrarch played an ancestral role in the development and lifeblood of the sonnet, offering Shakespeare a foundation upon which he built his legacy of the Shakespearean sonnet. Despite this interrelationship, the way in which Petrarch views the beloved is in considerable contrast with the way in which Shakespeare views the beloved within his sonnets. The difference in approach to the beloved is what this essay will be concerned with, as it is this difference that answers the question of who wields the most power in Shakespearean sonnet- the poet or the beloved? This essay will look at the thematic features of Petrarchan

Because of the precise yet musical nature of the sonnet, Petrarch was able to maintain the equilibrium between his consuming passion and his intellectual sphere1. Because of this balance, his sonnets are a neat manifestation of personal feelings and the subsequent reflection upon those feelings, resulting in an emotional autobiography of his life2, his yearning and his suffering3, for the elusive Laura. Because of these perpetual shifts between the despair and rapture4 his beloved inspires within him, we are able to witness the war within the self which love can create5, and the effects this war can have on the self. It is for this reason that Petrarchan sonnets are less about the beloved, and more about the poet. The real focus of the sonnets is the effects of the female object of desire on the poet6, rather than the description of the beloved as a separate entity. The power of the woman resides in her ability to establish the poet's identity and autonomy. Her power as an autonomous figure fades into the backdrop of Petrarch's monological re-enactment of his love affair with a beloved whom is not only unattainable, but essentially inconsequential to the integrity of his monologue7. This celebration of asceticism and endurance of pain that his poetry articulates8, can only be demonstrated because of the beloved's absence and distance9, which creates the occasion for the poet to achieve a higher stature, by performing the various acts that are important to him10. Therefore, in this instance the beloved wields the power rather than the poet, as without the beloved, the poet would be without a platform whereby he can reflect on and express his intellectual and emotional inclinations. The beloved also maintains this power through her absence, for it is her absence that fuels and drives the poet's