Spenser_Faerie Queene.ppt Spring2010EL202.ppt

1 1552 1599 2 spenser sbiography edmundspenserwasborntoalondonfamilyofmodestmeansaround1552 hewaseducatedinlondonatthemerchanttaylors school aftertakinghisb a 1573 andm a 1576 spenserleftcambridgeforkent whereheactedassecretaryforjohnyoung recentlycreatedbishopofrochester itwastherethatthepoetprobablycomposedtheshepheardescalender printedin1579 1579 spenserhadbeenacceptedintotheemploymentoftheearlofleicester duringleicester sservice spensermetsirphilipsidneyandsiredwarddyer withseveralothers thesemenseemtohaveconstitutedaninformalintellectualsocietycalledthe areopagus discussinglaw philosophy andpoetry injuly1580spenserwenttoireland intheserviceofthenewlyappointedlorddeputy arthurlordgreydewilton in1594 hemarriedelizabethboyle afterthetyronerebellionof1598 inwhichkilcolmancastlewasburned hereturnedtolondon wherehediedin1599inpoverty 3 influence spenserwashighlyinfluencedbygeoffreychaucer inhiswork hesynthesizedclassical medievalandrenaissancepredecessors heinfluencedenglishromanticssuchaswilliamwordsworth johnkeats lordbyronandalfredlordtennyson 4 importantworks shepheardescalender 1579 thefaeriequeenebooks1 3 publishedinlondon 1590 itwasraleghwho readingthroughspenser sdraftofthefaeriequeene encouragedhimtojoinhimonatriptolondonin1590 wherehepresentedspensertothequeen thepoemfoundsuchfavourwiththemonarchthatspenserwasgrantedapensionforlifeamountingto50poundsayear amoretti 1595 astrophelapastoralelegieuponthedeathofthemostnobleandvalorousknight sirphilipsidney 1595 faeriequeenebooks4 6reprintedbooks1 3 1596 aveweofthepresentstateofirelandeaprosetreatiseonthereformationofireland spenser sworkwasenteredintothestationer sregisterin1598andcirculatedinmanuscriptbutnotpublisheduntil1633 5 spenserusedadistinctiveverseform calledthespenserianstanzainseveralworks includingthefaeriequeene thestanza smainmeterisiambicpentameterwithafinallineiniambichexameter havingsixfeetorstresses knownasanalexandrine andtherhymeschemeisababbcbcc thespenseriansonnetisbasedonafusionofelementsofboththepetrarchansonnetandtheshakespeareansonnet itissimilartotheshakespearansonnetinthesensethatitssetupisbasedmoreonthe3quatrainsandacouplet asystemsetupbyshakespeare howeveritismorelikethepetrarchantraditioninthefactthattheconclusionfollowsfromtheargumentorissuesetupintheearlierquatrains spenserianstanza 6 titlepageofthefirsteditionofthefaeriequeene 1590 byedmundspenser 7 incompletelargelysymbolic thepoemfollowsseveralknightsinanexaminationofseveralvirtues booki holinesstheredcrossknight theknightofholinessbookii temperancebookiii chastitybookiv friendshipbookv justicebookvi courtesy 8 generalstructureofthefaeriequeene spenserplannedfor24books 12basedeachonadifferentknightwhoexemplifiedoneof12 privatevirtues andapossible12morecentredonkingarthurdisplayingtwelve publicvirtues spensernamesaristotleashissourceforthesevirtues inadditiontothesesixvirtues thelettertoraleighsuggeststhatarthurrepresentsthevirtueofmagnificenceandthatthefaeriequeeneherselfrepresentsglory hencehername gloriana seethelettertowalterralegh coursereader page40 dedicationandfirstnote 9 booki summary asspensertellsinhislettertoralegh thestory sactualbeginningisinbook12 whichwasneverwritten duringannualfeastsatthequeen spalace unavisitsthequeen tellsherthatherparentsareplaguedbyadragon asksherhelp thequeenassignsredcrossknightforthetask thequestisthatoftheredcrossknighttofreeuna sparentsandtheirlandfromtheoppressionofagreatdragon onanallegoricallevel redcrossrepresentstheindividualchristian insearchofholiness whenheiswithuna truth heovercomeserror whenheisseperated perilfromarchimago falsereligion rome duessa duplicity pagantrinity sansloj lawless sansjoy joyless sansfoy faithless thesettingis faerieland referstoengland onalargerscale itisafightbetweengoodandevil betweentheanglicanchurchandrome 10 thedocumentsuggestedbritainshouldmarkthevisitbyaskingthepopetoopenanabortionclinic blessagaymarriageandlauncharangeofbenedict brandedcondoms itsaidthepopecouldshowhishardlineontheissueofchildabuseallegationsagainstromancatholicpriestsby sackingdodgybishops andlaunchingahelplineforabusedchildren theforeignofficeissuedanapologyforthememo whichwasleakedtothesundaytelegraph describingthesuggestionsas ill judged naiveanddisrespectful 11 maincharactersinbooki redcrossknightunaduessaarchimagoorgogliopagantrinity sansloj sansjoy sansfoy kingarthurthedragonthelionluciferasirsatyrane 12 detailedanalysisofcharactersinbooki redcrossknight howisredcrossknightusedasacharacter asanallegoricalcharacter holiness churchofengland religioussymbol asst george thepatronsaintofengland historical nationalsymbol asanindividualbeing achristianlookingforgraceinthisfallenworld individualfigure hegetsintotroublebecauseheisnotvirtuousenough hisquestistobeunitedwithuna truth andkillthedragon readthefirst3stanzasincanto1 13 illustrationfromaneditionofedmundspenser sthefaeriequeene 14 a15th centuryiconofst george 15 detailedanalysisofcharactersinbooki una unaistruthanglicanchurchreadstanza4 5 6 canto1ridesanasse truthisslow herfaceiscovered truthisnotobvious notinplainsight dressedinablackrobeaccompaniedbyawhitelamb innocence alsoaccompaniedbyadwarf commonsense 16 unadeliveringtheredcrossknightfromthecaveofdespair canto9 c 1830bysircharleslockeastlake 17 detailedanalysisofcharactersinbooki archimago readstanza29 canto1means arch image referstotheexcessiveuseofimages idolsinthecatholicchurchherepresentsevil theeviloffalseness deceipt andhypocrisykingphilipiiofspaincatholicchurchheisasorcerer canchangehisandothers appearance intheend hismagicfails thehermitage thesacredwell theholy things hisofficesanddevotions and inthenextstanza thetalesofsaintsandpopesandtheslightingreferencetohisstrewingof ave marys afterandbefore pointthisclearly questiontoponder howdoyoucomparehismagicwiththatofprospero s andaswewillreaddr faustus 18 detailedanalysisofcharactersinbooki duessa sherepresentsfalsehood deceptionmaryqueenofscots catholic catholicchurch 19 etchingtitled thecombatofstgeorgeandsansfoy theoriginaletchingfortheillustrationof bookone canto2 bygeorgepercyr e 1884 20 duessauna dressedinredborrowslightduplicityalwayscomplainingattacks findsfaultsshowsoffstarts causesfight dressedinwhitehasinwardlighttruthnevercomplainsall forgivingcoversherfacetriestopreventfights 21 twomajorcharacterswhoarecrucialinallsixbooks kingarthur queenelizabeth andtheirmarriage 22 queenelizabeth 1533 1603 queenelizabethisgloriana representingglory sheneverappearsinthepoem hercastleisthefinaldestinationinbook12 whichwasneverwritten itwascourtfashiontoaddressthevirginqueenundersuchsymbolicnamesasgloriana oriana diana cynthia 23 kingarthur kingofbritonsin5thand6thcenturya d wasarthuratrue historicalfigureoronlyaherooflegend thisistrulyuptoeachandeveryoneofustodecideforourselves arthurrepresentsamanwhowastheepitomeofgoodagainstevil lightagainstdarkness andthateternal never endingstrugglebetweenwhatisrightandthatwhichiswrong 24 marriageofkingarthurandguinevere duringrenaissancearthur shistoricitywasvigorouslydefended partlybecausethetudormonarchstracedtheirlineagetoarthurandusedthatconnectionasajustificationfortheirreign modernscholarshiphasgenerallyassumedthattherewassomeactualpersonattheheartofthelegends thoughnotofcourseakingwithabandofknightsinshiningarmor 25 arthurinthefaeriequeene arthurrepresentsthevirtueofmagnificence sointhepersonofprincearthureisetteforthmagnificenceinparticular whichvirtueforthat accordingtoaristotleandtherest itistheperfectionofalltherest andconteinethinitthemall thereforeinthewholecouseimentionthedeedesofarthureapplyabletothatvertue whichiwriteofinthatbooke butofthe12othervertues imake12otherk