'The root of my desire was virtue dressed in constant louse clothing.' (Arcadia, III) Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Dress and appearance are at the heart of Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia of the Countess of Pembroke (or simply Arcadia) with the plot hinging on ideas of custom, shifting identity and deception; is not surprising considering Sidney's role in the humanist tradition of the Renaissance era, in which writers revived ideas from classical antiquity. Greek literature and mythology relied heavily on ideas about disguise and costume, with the title of Ovid's Metamorphoses, for example, translating to "books of transformations". “Transformations” here seems like a particularly relevant term for Arcadia, where a change in costume or clothing amounts to a transformation of identity rather than the simple adoption of one; clothing and appearance are therefore important in the sense that they are the main deciding factor in how each character is approached and treated by the others. In Book I, both princes adopt different identities as a means to woo Pamela and Philoclea, bypassing the Duke's identity. refusal to allow nobles near his daughters. Musidorus remains male but wears a shepherd's clothes and becomes "Dorus", while Pyrocles wears "female clothes" and becomes "Cleophila". Sidney describes at length the different parts of Pyrocles' costume, and declares once she has finished dressing: "and so Pyrocles became Cleophila." This statement is boldly declarative and uses “become” rather than an alternative such as “assumed the appearance of,” making the link between appearance and identity emphatic. In this case, Pirocles wearing a woman's clothes makes him a woman, and the sense of this is continued by Sidney wherever he uses the female pronouns "she" and "her" throughout Pirocles' disguise. Winfried Schleiner notes in his essay on cross-dressing in Renaissance romanticism that "cross-dressing [...] highlights, perhaps in all literary periods, male-female differences and cultural gender stereotypes" and that this is most evident "when such garments are worn." and when they will be removed." Indeed, Pyrocles' dressing in "women's clothing" is significant in the attitudes he projects toward female identity. Once Pyrocles "became" Cleophilia, Musidorus "could not content himself with looking at him, so he found his excellent beauty enhanced by this new change, like a diamond set in a more advantageous form." Sidney's "diamond" simile suggests that while Pyrocles possessed good qualities as a male, his beauty is fully realized only in adoption of a female identity. However, even more revealing is that Musidorus is unable to "satisfy himself with looking at [Pyrocles/Cleophila.]" "Satisfy" has an overtly sexual connotation and, combined with "looking at", objectifies Cleophila. Pyrocles was decorated with finery to become a woman, "velvet buskins", "a very rich jewel", and in doing so he became a kind of decoration; Musidorus instantly objectifies Cleophila where Pyrocles would not. The importance of costume here lies, therefore, not only in its ability to completely alter identity, but also in revealing cultural attitudes towards gender. Furthermore, Pamela and Philoclea's appearances and clothing are the frontal characteristics attributed to them by Sidney, with very little other than this revealed about them. Above all, Pyrocles and Musidorus fall in love with the simple images of the two women before actually having themmet or encountered: "she [Philoclea] drew as well as it was possible for art to counterfeit so perfect a work of nature." Even after the princes meet the women, Philoclea is described as the "beloved image" of Pyrocles, an "image" which contributes to the impression that Philoclea is decorative and is to be appreciated visually, rather than existing in its own right. In Arcadia, these two women are praised above all for their physical appearance, not telling us, perhaps, the importance of this in the story, but showing us once again a reflection of the importance and emphasis placed on the appearance of women in Sydney era, in which women's appearance was considered the most important part of their identity. While costume and disguise may seem intrinsic to identity, the relationship between appearance and attractiveness is slightly different. There are hints of attraction between Phioclea and Cleophila at their first meeting despite Philoclea having the impression of being a woman, where her cheeks blush and she is said to have "already […] conceived the pleasure of Cleophila's presence". Since the reader is aware of Cleophila's intent to woo Philoclea, the word "already" used here allows us to assume that this moment in the book marks the beginning of Philoclea's attraction to Cleophila/Pyrocles. Likewise, Gynecia falls in love with Cleophila while she is dressed as a woman, although she knows that she is actually disgusted Pyrocles: "have mercy on me, O Cleophila, but not as Cleophila, and do not disguise yourself with me in words, as I know you do in clothing." While it could be argued that Gynecia's attraction here is to the male Pyrocles and not the female Cleophila, it is fair to appreciate that she fell in love despite Pyrocles' feminine disguise, suggesting that clothing and appearance are not necessarily important in its relationship with attraction. However, in most cases, the love or attraction that various characters feel for each other cannot be truly expressed or realized until the true identity is revealed. For example, in Book II, Philoclea states: "O Cleophilia (for so I love to call you, for in that name my love began, and in the shadow of that name my love will be better hidden[.])" Here, while Philoclea admits that it was while Pirocles was acting as Cleophilia that she fell in love, this realization comes chronologically after she discovers that her true identity is that of Prince Pirocles. The effect of this is that Sidney avoids the hypothesis of homosexual love between Philoclea and Cleophila, a highly controversial topic due to the heteronormative climate of the Renaissance era. Because the two princes in the book alter their appearance and identity as a means to win over or woo their daughters, the Duke's appearance and clothing in the book are naturally linked to deception. From the beginning of Book I, the reader is introduced to the princes as virtuous and noble characters with "all the good internal and external qualities" who defended the ladies "from wrongs" and restored the rights to the "disinherited", establishing from the I begin the reader's expectations for his behavior and future endeavors. Despite this, Blair Worden states in The Sound of Virtue that "[The Princes] face a test that confounds the expectation of chivalric adventure that our introduction to the princes has created in us." Indeed, in the very act of disguising their true identity, the princes behave in a deceptive manner. However, the final act of deception appears when Dorus/Musidorus tricks Dametus, Mopsa, and Miso almost simultaneously in Book III to escape with Pamela. Although this appears to be deceptive and therefore contradictory to the apparent virtue of the principles, the reader is encouraged to support their intentions as they are.