From the Garden to the Grove: Aemilia Lanyer, Andrew Marvell, and the Pursuit of Privacy

From the Garden to the Grove: Aemilia Lanyer, Andrew Marvell, and the Pursuit of Privacy

英國號稱是「隱私的起源地」，歷史學家也認為現代所認定的隱私在前現代英國社會非隨手可得的奢侈品，這種情況在當時鄉村莊園的別墅更是如此。然而，鄉村別墅中之所以缺乏隱私並非因其為私領域，而是因為其建築空間的設計規劃是為了鞏固性別與階級之架構。相對之下，雖然莊園中其他如花園與樹林等之戶外空間亦為人造的產物，卻沒有如實體建築那樣有著難以逾越的界線，其空間動線有較多變化的可能，置身其中的個人也因此較得以暫時擺脫階級與性別差異的箝制，而不必像在室內一樣，舉手投足或日常互動都得小心翼翼，深怕逾矩跨界。也因此，花園與樹林似乎比鄉村別墅提供了較多隱私的可能。雖然相對於鄉村別墅，花園與樹林較不受既有社會架構的約制，但並非因此免於其他社會文化之傳統習俗的影響。當時的戲劇與情詩就常常以花園為場景，使得文藝復興時期的花園常常被等同為情人偷情幽會的場所。當花園成為掩飾脫序性愛的潛在幫兇，不管其所提供的隱密空間有多麼有助於心靈的修養與淨化，不免引發可疑曖昧的連想。相對之下，由於樹林向來是特權顯貴彰顯地位、娛樂狩獵的場所，當時社會對其所提供的隱私亦有較正面的看法。透過探討花園與樹林在當時的呈現與文化脈絡，本文旨在檢視隱私的多重意義與性別、階級關係之間的互動。除了討論當時對花園中的隱私之曖眛態度對兩性不同的影響，同時探討蘭諾與馬莫如何在其的莊園詩中將樹林建構成另類的社會環境，且將隱私與文化活動習俗結合為一體。不同於現代隱私的概念，雖然兩詩所追尋的隱私形式因性別差異而有所不同，然而兩者都不完全是為了強調個人獨立的空間，而是為了能讓個人能脫離邊緣位置，而在主流社會中佔有一席之地。

Although England is claimed to be “the birth place of privacy,” historians also suggest that privacy as we know it today was difficult, if not virtually impossible, to attain in early modern England, especially in the country house. The lack of privacy in the country house resulted not so much from its conflation with domesticity as from the hierarchical social relations that both informed and were strengthened by architectural plans. In contrast, the garden and grove in the country estate, due to their lack of solid boundaries and rigid spatial organizations, were less restrictive, albeit no less artificial, spaces than the country house. They could also release the individual temporarily from the domestic hierarchy that regulated and monitored his conduct and interactions with others, and hence provide the opportunities for alternative forms of privacy that were unavailable in the country house. Although relatively free from the hierarchical structure that rules the country house, the garden and grove were subject to the influences of other social and cultural customs or traditions. As illustrated in drama and love poetry, renaissance gardens had the reputation of being the site of erotic encounters. By shielding potential sexual misdeeds from the public view, the garden constituted an ambivalent space whose privacy, however spiritually rewarding it might be, was simultaneously suspicious, if not dangerous, to the community. On the contrary, the grove due to its association with social rank and class privileges served as a better place where privacy could be constructed. By exploring the different social contexts of the garden and the grove, this article aims to examine the multiple meanings of privacy in different class and gender relations. While attending to the ambivalent representation of privacy in the garden, I hope to unveil the ways in which both Aemilia Lanyer’s “The Description of Cooke-ham” and Andrew Marvell’s “Upon Appleton House” locate privacy in the wood by construing it as a dimension of certain social practices in alternative social environments. Despite their different emphasis, the pursuit of privacy is not to assert the individual’s right to be left alone, but to pave the way back to the community.