"Fore-conceit," autonomy, and Sidney's view of mimesis

In Sidney's conception of mimesis, a pyramid of autonomy exists with God as the ultimate artificer, and the succeeding levels peopled with human artificers, then fictional artificers. The autonomous character of each descending artificer connects one to the power of the heavenly maker. Sidney's use of mimesis argues for cognizance of our innate capacities, for which we are grateful solely to God. In creating the characters of The Old Arcadia, Sidney first endows them with the capacity for "fore-conceit," a necessary corollary to Free will, the essential aspect of man's condition as Sidney conceived it. By emphasizing the artificer/artifact relationship on successive levels, Sidney implies the focal importance of the creative process. Because Sidney's artifacts are constructed in the image of their maker, despite the limitations of an "infected will," they are also artificers themselves, at least insofar as they approach a true mimesis of the nature of man.