First Advisor

Anthony Wolk

Term of Graduation

Fall 2000

Date of Publication

11-7-2000

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.) in English

Department

English

Language

English

Subjects

Courtesy in literature, Edmund Spenser (1552?-1599). Faerie queen, Edmund Spenser (1552?-1599) -- Criticism and interpretation

Physical Description

1 online resource (iii, 107 pages)

Abstract

Book VI of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, with its chivalric and pastoral characteristics, has confounded critics for several generations. This thesis provides a chronological reading of Book VI that addresses many of its problems in the context of conduct manuals such as Baldassare Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier and Stefano Guazzo's Civile Conversation. Rather than dismiss many of the tensions and contradictions in the text, this study seeks to embrace them by interpreting them with Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of dialogism as expressed in The Dialogic Imagination.

In chapter one, connections are made between the opening cantos of Book VI and the courtesy manuals that share similar stylistic and thematic traits, including the tendency for discussions about conduct to feature a remarkable range of social and political criticism. The proem in particular features dialogic tensions that set the tone for the episodes that follow it. In chapter two, the emphasis is on explicating the scenes in the middle cantos that deal with the allegory of Walter Ralegh. Central to these cantos is how Spenser treats Ralegh's scandalous marriage to Elizabeth Throckmorton, which proved offensive to Queen Elizabeth, who imprisoned both Ralegh and his wife. In the allegory, Spenser clearly serves as a mediator between his friend and the Queen, and he uses the marriage to make important statements about the tenuous boundary between courtesy and discourtesy. The third and final chapter addresses Spenser's curious mixture of chivalric and pastoral themes at the end of Book VI. Of particular importance is what Calidore's decision to forego his quest for the Blatant Beast means for Spenser's treatment of courtesy. In these final cantos, Calidore's inability to attain pastoral legitimacy ultimately has Spenser redirecting his hero and his reader back to a chivalric conception of courtesy that emphasizes the virtues of the active life.

Rights

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Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44593

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