Platonic Female Friendship

Katherine Phillips or Orinda was an Anglo-Welsh poet who gained her reputation in 1651 from her same-sex love poem, “To My Excellent Lucasia, on our Friendship. ” Although, she explained the friendship made her happy. She was thought to be a lesbian because of her affectionate word choice describing her friend in the poem. Same sex friendship does not have to be portrayed as erotic; males and females should be able to have earthly platonic love without being sexually involved. Katherine Phillips was born in London and attended a Presbyterian school were she learned to love poetry and began writing of her verses. Taylor religious thinking highlighted traditional roles of a woman could only be used to catering to a man’s comfort on a domestic or sexual level and women was not capable of catering to another woman’s comfort.

However, Philips responds after Taylor’s statement possibly in her poem, ‘A friend’ If Soules no Sexes have, for Men t’exclude Women from Friendship’s vast capacity, Is a Design injurious or rude, Onely maintain’d by partial tyranny”. During Phillips time period people treated friendship as challenging subject of moral Philosophy and Phillips participated in that disclosure making new or secret information known to people. Historically, in marriage men was where considered a different class than women and were considered superior to women. A male and female friendship was acceptable only if they were married. At the same time, if we take its political implications seriously. women's friendship also poses explicit threats both to heterosexual marriage and to the very myth of political stability it initially figures.

” She portrays female friendship as one that aims at political gains. Though one may be swayed to believe her reading Philips poems explain how friendship was that of love. The kind that existed before the society. Same sex relationships might have been hidden for a long time now in the closets to avoid discrimination by the society. Contrary to the statement anyone can have a platonic love being sexually involved, Philips work on friendship is that of faithfulness. Taylor seems to be summarizing the many themes of Philips works when he writes of friendship as greatest love and usefulness accompanied by sincerity and truth. This explains friendship as platonic love and does not include sexual relations. Platonic love cannot be accompanied by sexual relations.

She makes it somehow not clear whether her friendships were erotic or platonic. But whether they were platonic or erotic one thing is clear, it is that friendship to Philip was her most treasured asset because that is what made her feel alive and worthy. In conclusion, the above points show how important and the joy friendship can bring to someone’s life. Sometimes all we need is a good and supportive faithful friend to stand with us in the difficult times. Philips appreciation of friendship enlightens us not to be ignorant to the usefulness of having people close to us whom we can call friends. COM. Llewellyn, Mark. "Katherine Philips: Friendship, Poetry and Neo-Platonic Thought in Seventeenth Century England. " Philological Quarterly 81.