Answer:
Evolving dedication
Explanation:
Little is known about the relationship, or rather the lack thereof, between Francesco Petrarca and the ever-elusive “Laura”. In fact, it is unsure to many scholars that Laura even existed. Nevertheless, Francesco Petrarca dedicated nearly his entire literary life to a woman whom he could never have. Petrarch’s Canzoniere is one of the most recognizable texts from this era of Italian literature and surely Petrarch’s most famous work. Composed of 366 poems, the Canzoniere is a highly influential writing both within Italian literature and across the world. While it may be assumed that out of 366 poems the Canzoniere would address various, almost endless themes, it focuses almost singularly on Petrarch’s love for Laura, a woman he may not have even met, only seen from afar in a church. This, however, was enough for Petrarch to dedicate his greatest work to one woman. It is important then, to examine and analyze a selection of poems from the Canzoniere which depict Petrarch’s love, obsession, regret, shame, and evolution of feeling toward Laura, Petrarch’s greatest unachievable monument.
