Literature: history & criticism
Spenserian allegory and Elizabethan biblical exegesis
A context for The Faerie Queene
Series edited by J. B. Lethbridge, Margaret Christian
Description
Edmund Spenser famously conceded to his friend Walter Raleigh that his method in The Faerie Queene 'will seeme displeasaunt' to those who would 'rather have good discipline delivered plainly in way of precepts, or sermoned at large'. Spenser's allegory and Elizabethan biblical exegesis is the first book-length study to clarify Spenser's comparison by introducing readers to the biblical typologies of contemporary sermons and liturgies. The result demonstrates that 'precepts ... sermoned at large' from lecterns and pulpits were themselves often 'clowdily enwrapped in allegoricall devises'. In effect, routine churchgoing prepared Spenser's first readers to enjoy and interpret The Faerie Queene. A wealth of relevant quotations invites readers to adopt an Elizabethan mindset and encounter the poem afresh. The 'chronicle history' cantos, Florimell's adventures, the Souldan episode, Mercilla's judgment on Duessa and even the two stanzas that close the Mutabilitie fragment, all come into sharper focus when juxtaposed with contemporary religious rhetoric.
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Typological reading, a strategy for biblical exegesis developed in ancient times and practiced through the medieval period, was alive and well - indeed, inescapable - in Elizabethan sermons and liturgies. Spenserian allegory and Elizabethan biblical exegesis is the first book to show the relevance of this cultural habit to The Faerie Queene. A wealth of quotations from contemporary sources transports readers into the mindset of Elizabethans to allow an encounter with The Faerie Queene in a fresh and genuine way. Preachers and liturgists mined the Bible for parallels of Elizabeth Tudor and other figures from current events. This study juxtaposes these biblical types with characters from Spenser's epic, offering fresh interpretations of the 'chronicle history' cantos, Florimell's adventures, the Souldan episode, Mercilla's judgment on Duessa, and even the two stanzas that close the Mutabilitie fragment. Spenserian allegory and Elizabethan biblical exegesis will be of interest to students of Reformation theology and hermeneutics, students and scholars of Spenser's poetry, and those interested in the expanding field of sermon studies.
Author Biography
J.B. Lethbridge is Lecturer in English at Tübingen University. Margaret Christian is Associate Professor of English at the Pennsylvania State University, Lehigh Valley Campus.
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View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Publisher Manchester University Press
- Publication Date September 2016
- Orginal LanguageEnglish
- ISBN/Identifier 9780719083846
- Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
- FormatHardback
- Primary Price 70 GBP
- Pages272
- ReadershipGeneral
- Publish StatusPublished
- Dimensions216 x 138 mm
- Illustration1 black & white illustration
- Biblio NotesIntroduction: A context for The Faerie Queene Part I: Backgrounds: allegorical reading in Spenser's England 1. Traditional scriptural interpretation and sixteenth-century allegoresis: old and new 2. Allegorical reading in occasional Elizabethan liturgies 3. Allegorical reading in sermon references to history and current events Part II: The preachers' Bible and Spenser's Faerie Queene: alternate allegories 4. 'The ground of Storie': genealogy in biblical exegesis and the Legend of Temperance 5. 'Waues of weary wretchednesse': Florimell and the sea 6. Saracens, Assyrians and Spaniards: allegories of the Armada 7. 'a goodly amiable name for mildness': Mercilla and other Elizabethan types 8. Court and courtesy: sermon contexts for Spenser's Book VI 9. 'Now lettest thou thy servant depart': scriptural tradition and the close of The Faerie Queene Conclusion Works cited Index
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