In the period of Early Modern English, romantic love was a major topic of literature. From Hoby's translation of The Courtier to the various sonnets written during this time, everyone seemed to have something to add regarding their opinions on what exactly love is and the role love plays in society. Many texts from this period offer a distinct perspective on love, some believing that love could be the key to virtue, or that love could transcend death, or even that love is only present for love's sake . The conversation held between early modern English texts reveals to us the ideology behind love in this time period. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Starting with Sir Thomas Hoby's translation of Castiglione's Courtier, the stage is set for a rather specific view of romantic love. Specifically in the fourth book, entitled “The Ladder of Love,” love is described as a method of achieving virtue while recognizing one's true beauty, or goodness. If a woman is able to “open the eyes which all men have and few occupy, and see within herself a shining ray of that light which is the true image of angelic beauty united with her,” a pair of lovers will experience a « greater and happier love than others, since the cause that moves it is more excellent" (716-717). What is meant by this “angelic beauty” is the goodness or virtue of a woman, a type of beauty that transcends the earthly body, and is therefore similar to an angel. This idea that if a man is able to rise above the passion of earthly beauty and can recognize and fall in love with the good virtue of a woman, then that love applies to the gentleman courtier, a title associated with esteemed greatness. On the other hand, there is a warning, when a man falls in love, "then the courtier must decide, when he realizes that he is taken, to completely avoid all filthiness of common love, and thus enter the holy path of love with the guidance of reason” (713). Man must not allow himself to be consumed by love for the beauty of a woman and must rediscover his virtue. as described in The Courtier is put in the form of a sonnet through Sidney's sonnets called Astrophil and Stella these sonnets, which are written by Sidney from the perspective of Astrophil, whose love for Stella is unreciprocated, the subject of. “The Ladder of Love” is dramatized. In the first sonnet, Astrophil explains that if he writes sonnets to Stella, she may eventually return his love. The actual debate does not begin until the fifth sonnet. Sidney uses the image of the heart like a temple and even says "it's true, true beauty is virtue", but ends the poem by rejecting this idea that love should be a means of improving oneself. The last lines of the poem read "True, that on earth we are but pilgrims, / And we should move in soul to our own country, / True, yet true that I must love Stella", which reveal a complex meaning of the poem. Yes, Astrophil realizes that love is a feat that requires the pursuit of some kind of sacred, otherworldly virtue, but Stella is the one who wins his affection, even with this in mind. This rejection of this idea begins the conversation about romantic love during this era. Love is also characterized in Spenser's Amoretti, which follows the path in which Spenser's love for his future wife, Elizabeth Boyle, blossoms into virtuous love, as described by The Courtier. Towards the beginning of the sonnet cycle, the images surrounding beautyElizabeth's physics are widespread. Sonnet 37 is dedicated to her "golden tresses" and how "men's frail eyes, that look too bold, / she may entangle in that golden snare" (986). These lines, of course, highlight how her physical beauty is what attracts men, including Spenser in the first place. However, by the end of the sonnet cycle we see a shift in topic. Sonnet 79 says that "Men call thee fayre, and thou givest them credit," continuing to add, "But the trew fayre, that is, the gentle spirit, / And the virtuous mind, is much more prayed for by me" (989) . What Spenser is saying is that Elizabeth is beautiful and everyone sees it, but he appreciates the true beauty of her virtuous mind and strong spirit. Spenser revealed Elizabeth's true beauty and eventually marries her, essentially becoming a model of what The Courtier wishes to create and what Astrophile was unable to achieve. However, in Sir Thomas More's Utopia, the theme of marriage is simplified and can be seen as quite a different example from the love seen in The Courtier or Amoretti. Marriage is almost turned into a kind of transaction, where both the man and the woman are allowed to see each other naked, so as to examine each other for anything undesirable, before finally committing to marriage. This practice is compared to when a man buys a horse, "they do not close the deal until the saddle and blanket have been taken off, lest there be a hidden sore underneath" (625). The descriptions of marriage and divorce in Utopia fail to even mention love, and thus eliminate all these concepts that everyone else talked about in the first place. This ideal world has rules about premarital sex, in which case a person is not allowed to marry, but is that because they haven't "completely avoided all the filth of common love," as The Courtier tells them to do? do it, or is it for some other reason? This complete absence of the subject of love is not seen in any of the other texts in question, however some ideas could be translated into Spenser's The Faerie Queene, in which love and sex are briefly mentioned in the first canto of the first book. One, the lady of the Knight of the Red Cross, is imitated by a sprite and the sprite offers to kiss the Knight of the Red Cross. Then, afterwards, the spirits engage in "lustful play" and the Red Cross knight was "much grieved to think that his gentle Lady was so light" (793-795). In other words, the Red Cross Knight, even though his relationship with Una appears to be rather platonic, was shocked to see "Una" have sex with someone and then offer to kiss him. The examples of harsh punishment for premarital sex in Utopia and the shunning of Una in The Faerie Queene for perceived loose morals show that love and relationships were not taken lightly during this time period, perhaps taking a sort of influence from The Courtier or Astrophil and Stella's view on using love to achieve a kind of otherworldly goodness. In contrast to all the previously mentioned texts, Williams Shakespeare's sonnets take a rather different turn. Specifically in Sonnet 130, Shakespeare describes all of his mistress's faults, but in the couplet he remarks "Yet, by heaven, I think my love is rare, / As all others belied with false comparisons" (1184). Shakespeare reiterates the points made by the Courtier, but in a humorous way. He is stating the position that a man must find the true virtue of a woman, and in doing so, he will find her true beauty. It matters not that Shakespeare's lover's "eyes are not like the sun" or that "if the hair be threads, on his head.