Literature & Literary Studies

Spenserian satire

A tradition of indirection

Series edited by J. B. Lethbridge, Rachel Hile, Joshua Samuel Reid

Description

Scholars of Edmund Spenser have focused much more on his accomplishments in epic and pastoral than his work in satire. Scholars of early modern English satire almost never discuss Spenser. However, these critical gaps stem from later developments in the canon rather than any insignificance in Spenser's accomplishments and influence on satiric poetry. This book argues that the indirect form of satire developed by Spenser served during and after Spenser's lifetime as an important model for other poets who wished to convey satirical messages with some degree of safety. The book connects key Spenserian texts in The Shepheardes Calender and the Complaints volume with poems by a range of authors in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, including Joseph Hall, Thomas Nashe, Tailboys Dymoke, Thomas Middleton and George Wither, to advance the thesis that Spenser was seen by his contemporaries as highly relevant to satire in Elizabethan England.

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Author Biography

J.B. Lethbridge is Lecturer in English at Tübingen University. Rachel E. Hile is Associate Professor of English at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

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Bibliographic Information

  • Publisher Manchester University Press
  • Publication Date January 2017
  • Orginal LanguageEnglish
  • ISBN/Identifier 9780719088087
  • Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
  • FormatHardback
  • Primary Price 70 GBP
  • Pages216
  • ReadershipGeneral
  • Publish StatusPublished
  • Dimensions216 x 138 mm
  • Biblio NotesIntroduction 1. Indirect satire: theory and Spenserian practice 2. Spenser's satire of indirection: affiliation, allusion, allegory 3. Spenser and the English literary system in the 1590s 4. Spenserian "entry codes" to indirect satire 5. Thomas Middleton's satires before and after the Bishops' Ban 6. After the Bishops' Ban: imitation of Spenserian satire Conclusion Index
  • SeriesThe Manchester Spenser

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