ABSTRACT
Isabella Whitney begins her collection of poetry, A Sweet Nosgay, by evoking personal failure, sickness, and isolation, as many critical studies have observed. Laurie Ellinghausen argues that Whitney's 'writing is predicated on her isolation from service, family, and textual communities'. This chapter suggests that Whitney mitigates this isolation with her depictions of friendship and her inclusion of letters to and from friends and kin. The counsel-giving function of friendship coincides nicely with the advisory nature of the adages, and, indeed, Whitney's collection of adages begins with friendship rather than with love. Laurie Ellinghausen argues that the format of the complaint only reveals the inadequacies of Whitney's textual friendships and claims that the letters leave the impression that the medium of exchange ultimately cannot mitigate Whitney's situation. Ultimately, Whitney's view of friendship is positive but also realistic; her poetic persona is that of a woman who lives in the real world.
