... the most famous, and important artistic creations 16th Century English culture gave birth to was Sidney's sonnet sequence called "Astrophil and Stella". The sequence is about a man, Astrophil who is attracted to and in pursuit of a married woman, called Stella. On stealing a first kiss from Stella whilst she is asleep Astrophil worries about her reaction if she should find him out, but later on kicks himself for not taking advantage of the situation. He then goes on to recount how he is filled with hopes one minute and despair the next, whilst trying in vain to pursue her. In constantly being refused, he feels angered and offends her but does not wait too long before trying to seduce her yet again. After a few more refusals he is moved to desperation, evoking his misery in the last few sonnets. Astrophil's actions seem to be forgiven by some critics ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now