Author’s note: I found The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia to be very difficult to read and understand. I gained very little from the text itself. I gathered most of my understanding from summaries, translations, and course information. My blog post is more on the research I did to understand the text than the text itself.
In books one and two of The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia the root of the issue, Basilius, begins a path of avoidance which leads him only further and more haphazardly towards his own troublesome and twisted fate. In a journey to know more of himself and his destiny the Oracle of Delphos decrees that his wife will fall for another man, his daughters will have undesirable suitors, and that he will lose his kingdom. Notably, the epic story was written for the sister of the author, and when considering these fates and the subsequent drama that unfolds, in partnership with the author, it draws particular conclusions about marriage and fate for the intended audience. The potential commentary on women in this situation is enough to fill a library, but more generally, on the themes of human choice there is still the issue of fate. The situation Basilius is fated for is reminiscent of the commentary that St. Simeon engages with on the will power of the soul. In writing 179 of the Philokalia, Simeon argues that any creature with a soul, that is any creature beyond plants and other vegetation that only posses power of growth, has willpower. In Pembroke’s ArcadiaI Basilius appears to have some kind of will; he goes to speak with the Oracle, he decides to move and take his family with him. However, the things the oracle spoke of still come to pass. What does this say about the influence or power of the personal will. Do the characters actually have agency? Does fate control all of our actions? Or, do will and fate fall into entirely different categories?
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