ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Laura has traditionally been identified as Laura de Noves of Avignon (now in France), a married woman and a mother; but since Petrarch gives no clues as to who she was, several other Lauras have also been suggested, and some critics believe there was no actual Laura at all.

Detailed explanation-2: -It is surmised the mysterious Laura, was the wife of the Count Hugues de Sade (an ancestor of the Marquis de Sade). If indeed the object of Petrarch’s affections is Laura de Sade-the woman was married at the age of 15, and by the time Petrarca saw her, was already a wife and mother of several children.

Detailed explanation-3: -There is no evidence to suggest that Laura and Petrarch had a relationship, or that they were even acquaintances. At this estate, for the next three years, he wrote numerous sonnets in her praise. Petrarch’s Canzoniere (Songbook) is the lyrics to her in the troubadour tradition of courtly love.

Detailed explanation-4: -"Laura", a sonnet written by Petrarch, is a poem about love. The poet expresses his love for Laura in the sonnet and likens it to the arrival of spring and happiness in the world. His love is not returned however and it brings him great sorrow.

Detailed explanation-5: -Laura married soon after that first meeting with Petrarch; scholars identify her husband as an ancestor of the Marquis de Sade, who wrote about the torments of love in a distinctly carnal mode. Laura died a few years later, a victim of the Black Death, but Petrarch, and his love, lived on for a quarter of a century.