"The Old Arcadia"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how it is hard to miss the evident congruence between the character known as "Philisides" and Philip Sidney himself in his novel "The Old Arcadia". It discusses how, because Philisides does not appear nearly as much in the revision of the Arcadia, the reader of "The Old Arcadia" is left to wonder why Philisides is included in the novel and what the role is he is meant to play. In order to understand the true meaning, the paper explores Sidney's self-representations in the novel.

From the Paper:

"Another instance in which Philisides appears to be a representation of Philip Sidney is at the end of Philisides's song in the Third Eclogues. Philisides mentions the animals that follow him when he is walking, but who never run ahead of him. "Thus I did sing and pipe for eight sullen hours / To sheep whom love, not knowledge, made to hear; / Now fancy's fits, now fortune's baleful stours. / But then I homeward called my lambskins dear; / For to my dimmed eyes began t'appear..." (Sidney 223). While the sheep understand the meaning of Philisides's pipe, their knowledge of the instrument only goes as far that they know enough to follow the noise. The sheep are easily swayed by the spontaneity and sound of his pipe, and because of the large admiration that they have for him, they completely trust him with their entire beings. "

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