High Standards and Ultimate Deficiencies: Virtue in Astrophel & Stella Sonnets I, IV, V, IX & X and Henry IV. Katherine Pass College

Virtue is behaviour showing a high moral standard. In both Henry IV and Astrophel & Stella, virtue (or honour) is acknowledged but self-interest is shown to consistently dominate, with characters using varying modes of dishonesty to achieve or justify selfish aims. Shakespeare and Sidney address the theme of virtue in similar ways, with characters contradictorily holding up virtue as the ultimate standard yet missing the mark, even when that mark is arbitrarily set by their own conscience rather than an external measure.

In his Defence of Poesy Sidney says that poetry should delight and instruct, with the ultimate purpose of moving readers to virtuous action (Sidney). In his sonnet sequence of Astrophel and Stella it is hard to see how this can be Sidney’s aim unless he is making his case for virtuous action based on how not to proceed. His hero Astrophel (or Sidney, in the guise of Astrophel) derides virtue as a harsh taskmaster that won’t allow him to “take some rest” (IV:1), a cold beauty of stone (IX:2-7) and something he wishes would stop pursuing him (X:3-5) even while apparently acknowledging “True, that true beautie virtue is indeed” (V:9). In Henry IV Falstaff denounces “honour” as only “a word”, a “mere scutcheon”...