Abstract

This thesis examines Lady Mary Wroth's revision of the Petrarchan sonnet form in Pamphilia to Amphilanthus . It examines Wroth's construction of a private textual space through the absence of social and political referents and her emphasis on Pamphilia's inner thoughts and emotion. This construction of a psychic space for Pamphilia allows Wroth to resist the performative aspect of other Petrarchan sequences. Her resistance of performance involves the reinvention of the Diana/Actaeon myth, the reconstitution of the male gaze, and the elimination of the blazon. As well, the thesis examines how Pamphilia to Amphilanthus manifests the power of the court through the figure of torture, in spite of Wroth's attempt to create a textual space removed from courtly influence. It also includes a discussion of Wroth's attempt to appease the actual crown in the Crowne of Sonnets and her inability to sustain this renewed vision of the court and its power.