Spenserian Moments

From the distinguished literary scholar Gordon Teskey comes an essay collection that restores Spenser to his rightful prominence in Renaissance studies, opening up the epic of The Faerie Queene as a grand, improvisatory project on human nature, and arguing―controversially―that it is Spenser, not Milton, who is the more important and relevant poet for the modern world. There is more adventure in The Faerie Queene than in any other major English poem. But the epic of Arthurian knights, ladies, and dragons in Faerie Land, beloved by C. S. Lewis, is often regarded as quaint and obscure, and few critics have analyzed the poem as an experiment in open thinking. In this remarkable collection, the renowned literary scholar Gordon Teskey examines the masterwork with care and imagination, explaining the theory of allegory―now and in Edmund Spenser’s Elizabethan age―and illuminating the poem’s improvisatory moments as it embarks upon fairy tale, myth, and enchantment. Milton, often considered the greatest English poet after Shakespeare, called Spenser his “original.” But Teskey argues that while Milton’s rigid ideology in Paradise Lost has failed the test of time, Spenser’s allegory invites engagement on contemporary terms ranging from power, gender, violence, and virtue ethics, to mobility, the posthuman, and the future of the planet. The Faerie Queene was unfinished when Spenser died in his forties. It is the brilliant work of a poet of youthful energy and philosophical vision who opens up new questions instead of answering old ones. The epic’s grand finale, “The Mutabilitie Cantos,” delivers a vision of human life as dizzyingly turbulent and constantly changing, leaving a future open to everything.

From the distinguished literary scholar Gordon Teskeycomes an essay collection that restores Spenser to his rightfulprominence in Renaissance studies, opening up the epic of TheFaerie Queene as a grand, improvisatory project on humannature, and arguing-controversially-that it is Spenser, not Milton,who is the more important and relevant poet for the modernworld. There is more adventure in The FaerieQueene than in any other major English poem. But the epic ofArthurian knights, ladies, and dragons in Faerie Land, beloved byC. S. Lewis, is often regarded as quaint and obscure, and fewcritics have analyzed the poem as an experiment in open thinking.In this remarkable collection, the renowned literary scholar GordonTeskey examines the masterwork with care and imagination,explaining the theory of allegory-now and in Edmund Spenser'sElizabethan age-and illuminating the poem's improvisatory momentsas it embarks upon fairy tale, myth, and enchantment. Milton, oftenconsidered the greatest English poet after Shakespeare, calledSpenser his "original." But Teskey argues that while Milton's rigidideology in Paradise Lost has failed the test of time,Spenser's allegory invites engagement on contemporary terms rangingfrom power, gender, violence, and virtue ethics, to mobility, theposthuman, and the future of the planet. The Faerie Queenewas unfinished when Spenser died in his forties. It is thebrilliant work of a poet of youthful energy and philosophicalvision who opens up new questions instead of answering old ones.The epic's grand finale, "The Mutabilitie Cantos," delivers avision of human life as dizzyingly turbulent and constantlychanging, leaving a future open to everything.

"There is more adventure in The Faerie Queene than in any other major English poem, and more various and delightful poetic effects. We descend into an alluring-alarming world of fairy tale, myth, and enchantment, the realm of pre-philosophical ideation, acoustically charged by those magical, knot-like Spenserian stanzas. In this wide-ranging book, which follows Spenser's exploratory method, Gordon Teskey illuminates the structure of the poem and explains the theory of allegory now, and in the poet's day. He examines the poem in the light of philosophy and art, and he accounts for the "sunset of idealism" in the poem's later, political books. In one chapter he discusses the allegorical paintings and sculptures at the French Colonial Exhibition of 1931, exposing the material motives behind Spenser's own engagements as a colonial administrator in Ireland. He concludes with The Faerie Queene's magnificent finale, "The Mutabilitie Cantos," a vision of life as dizzying, turbulent change"-- Provided by publisher Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Note on References, Texts, and Quotations Epigraphs Introduction Part One: On Spenser 1. Other Poets 2. Toward Fairy Land 3. In Ireland 4. A Survey of The Faerie Queene Part Two: On Allegory 5. Allegory in The Faerie Queene 6. For a General Theory of Allegory 7. Death in an Allegory 8. Positioning Spenser’s Letter to Raleigh 9. Allegory and Renaissance Critical Theory 10. A Field Theory of Allegory Part Three: On Thinking 11. From Moment to Moment 12. Thinking Moments in The Faerie Queene 13. Courtesy and Thinking 14. The Thinking of History in Spenserian Romance Part Four: On Change 15. Colonial Allegories in Paris 16. Courtesy and the Graces 17. Night Thoughts on Mutability 18. Mutability Ascendant Afterword: The Colossi of Memnon Notes Acknowledgments Credits Index Gordon Teskey restores Edmund Spenser to prominence, revealing his epic The Faerie Queene as a grand, improvisatory project on human nature. Teskey compares Spenser to Milton, an avowed follower. While Milton’s rigid ideology is now stale, Spenser’s allegories remain vital, inviting new questions and visions, heralding a constantly changing future.