Conceiving Desire in Lyly and Shakespeare offers a fresh perspective for studies of cognition and sexuality by extending the scope of cognitive linguistics to accommodate the erotic. Knoll applies the “cognitive metaphor theory” of George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, and Mark Turner to the metaphors by which characters on the early modern stage “think and imagine and desire” (2). For Knoll, metaphors are the “building blocks for erotic experience” (19) as well as the means of accessing that experience.
Three types of “fundamental” metaphors are selected for exploration: motion (related to sensation and arousal), space (to intimacy and sensation), and creativity (to building a relationship). At each stage in the argument, these metaphors are related to their often complex philosophical underpinnings. For parallels and analogies Knoll draws upon an extensive array of sources, from classical and early modern thinkers to more recent theorists and commentators.
Knoll's analysis of the language of desire is wide-ranging: there are chapters on Lyly's Endymion and Campaspe, and on Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and The Taming of the Shrew, as well as extended commentary on Lyly's Galathea and Sappho and Phao, and on Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure, Othello, and Twelfth Night. Other mentions include Midsummer Night's Dream, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Romeo and Juliet.
One feature of the book is that Shakespeare is not privileged above Lyly: the older writer is not, as often, “just one . . . glorified pit-stop on the Bard Highway” (17). Rather, the plays of both are selected for “their linguistic potential for dramatising erotic experience” (17). Knoll's interest is in language and character, in (for instance) exploring how Lyly's Galathea and Phillida conceptualize and experience desire rather than in allegorizing or historicizing their relationship.
Conceiving Desire is structured in three parts, named after the key metaphors. Each part consists of an introduction followed by two chapters, the first on Lyly's plays, the second, on Shakespeare's. Part 1 (“Motion”) considers metaphors of erotic desire as expressed in terms of stasis and motion. The first chapter identifies the erotic potential of idleness in Lyly's plays, most notably in Galathea, with its sexual awakening and deferring of closure. The second chapter discusses several Shakespearean characters, including Angelo and Othello, whose erotic processes move from immobility to frenzied action.
Part 2 (“Space”), perhaps the book's most intriguing section, deals with metaphors of permeability and containment. Lyly's Endymion, in love with the moon, finds the pleasures of the imagination to be profoundly erotic (129). Antony and Cleopatra respond to an awareness of infinite space by offering each other “ecstatic images of sexual bondage” (157). Part 3 (“Creativity”) explores the role of erotic “instruments” in creating relationships. Lyly's Campaspe and Apelles fall in love through sharing art; Petruchio and Katherine construct their marriage through a process of storytelling, creating a “private imaginary” with “erotic lies” (223).
Conceiving Desire opens a path for exploration of other characters and other plays; and, although it is concerned with words and philosophies, the approach is potentially of interest to performers. Setting the plays of Lyly and Shakespeare side by side demonstrates cogently that the language of desire is always variable, with the metaphors of desire always prone to shifting and layering. Knoll also notes the erotic potential of deferral and restraint, in experiences which are suggestive of “edging” (54) and masochism (142).
Apart from its value as a study of cognition and sexuality, Conceiving Desire is an important contribution to Lyly studies. It is the first full-length study of the two authors since Leah Scragg's 1982 monograph on Shakespeare's “creative adaptation” of Galathea. More significantly, Knoll challenges the conventional reputation of Lyly's plays as being static and undramatic. In her lengthy analyses, she urges their broad range of erotic experiences, their “vibrant, frenzied action” on stage (15), and the “active properties of their dramatic language” (16). In this, she endorses the views of Kent Cartwright and Andy Kesson, as well as the results of recent theatrical experimentation (16). For those who study Lyly's plays, Conceiving Desire in Lyly and Shakespeare should be required reading.
