SOURCE: Sensabaugh, George F. “Platonic Love in Shirley's The Lady of Pleasure.” In A Tribute to George Coffin Taylor: Studies and Essays, Chiefly Elizabethan, edited by Arnold Williams, pp. 168-77. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1952.

In the following essay, Sensabaugh discusses The Lady of Pleasure in light of the courtly cult of platonic love popularized by Queen Henrietta Maria. Tracing the theme of platonic love in the relationship between Lord A and Celestina, Sensabaugh suggests that Shirley portrayed the platonic lovers sympathetically as part of his bid for advancement at court.

James Shirley, in The Lady of Pleasure, sharply satirized Caroline manners and morals in both town and court. Through Scentlove and Frederick, he made fun of fops and affected behavior; through the sordid assignation of Aretina and Kickshaw he laid bare lasciviousness in high quarters. Indeed, the main plot centers in Lord Bornwell's attempt to...