Spensers Heavenly Elizabeth: Providential History in The Faerie Queene (Queenship and Power)

This book reveals the queen behind Edmund Spenser’s __The Faerie Queene__. Placing Spenser’s epic poem in the context of the tumultuous sixteenth century, Donald Stump offers a groundbreaking reading of the poem as an allegory of Elizabeth I’s life. By narrating the loves and wars of an Arthurian realm that mirrors Elizabethan England, Spenser explores the crises that shaped Elizabeth’s reign: her break with the pope to create a reformed English Church, her standoff with Mary, Queen of Scots, offensives against Irish rebels and Spanish troops, confrontations with assassins and foreign invaders, and the apocalyptic expectations of the English people in a time of national transformation. Brilliantly reconciling moral and historicist readings, this volume offers a major new interpretation of __The Faerie Queene__. Preface 7 Contents 10 List of Figures 13 Part I Spenser’s Method and Artistry 14 Chapter 1 Introduction to Spenser’s Art of Royal Encomium 15 1 Heavenly Queen: The Problem of Over-Idealization 18 2 The Humanists: Moral Instruction and the Uses of History 22 3 The Poet: Fictional History as Ethical Allegory 24 4 The Queen: Elizabeth as Gloriana 25 5 The Critics: The Faerie Queene as “Continued Allegory” 27 6 Terms: Those Used in This Study in Special Senses 38 7 The Reign: Elizabeth’s Life and Providential History 40 Bibliography 44 Chapter 2 Spenser, Elizabeth, and the Problem of Flattery 47 1 Karl Marx: The Ethics of Spenser’s Praise for the Queen 49 2 Protestant Humanists: Roots of the Elizabethan Revulsion Against Flattery 50 3 The Shorter Poems: Spenser’s Testimony in His Own Defense 59 4 The Amoretti: A Case Study in True and False Praise 63 5 The Faerie Queene: The Paradox of Deprecatory Idealization 72 Bibliography 77 Chapter 3 Gloriana, Biblical Typology, and Moral Transfiguration 81 1 Gloriana and Elizabeth: Arthurian “History” and Reformation England 85 2 Virgil and the Bible: Models of Spenserian Typology 89 3 Moses and Elizabeth: Detailed and Extended Types 93 4 Elijah and Elizabeth: Fragmentary and Discontinuous Types 98 5 Virgil and Spenser: Providential Acts of Imperfect Agents 101 6 Elizabeth and Christ: Two Solutions to the Problem of Flattery 105 Bibliography 111 Part II Spenser’s Elizabeth 114 Chapter 4 Una and the English Reformation 115 1 Errour: Henry, Anne, and the Early Reformation 119 2 Sansloy: Edward, Mary, and Religious Violence 133 3 Satyrs: Elizabeth, the Commons, and Marian Persecution 136 4 Duessa: Catholic Retrenchment and Protestant Revolt 140 5 Despair: Religious Turncoats and the Problem of Unforgivable Sin 145 6 The Dragon: Catholic Lords and the Elizabethan Settlement 150 7 The Cross of St. George: Spenser and the Power of Holy Things 164 Bibliography 167 Chapter 5 The Maturation of the Queen 171 1 Duessa and Archimago: Elizabeth and the Unfinished Reformation 172 2 Britomart, Malecasta, and Merlin: Elizabeth’s Calling 180 3 Belphoebe and Braggadocchio: Flirting with a French Marriage 187 4 Florimell, Braggadocchio, and Britomart: Critiquing Elizabeth’s Court of Love 191 5 Belphoebe and Timias: Inflamed Desire and the Virgin Queen 203 6 Florimell and Marinell: English Economies of Land and Sea 213 Bibliography 222 Chapter 6 The Queen in Her Glory 226 1 Britomart and Paridell: Sexual Ethics and National Destiny 229 2 Duessa and Mercilla: Elizabeth, Mary, and English Hegemony 240 3 Adicia and Mercilla: Elizabeth, the Armada, and Monarchial Republicanism 251 4 Cynthia and Dame Nature: Elizabeth, Mutabilitie, and the End of the Reign 266 Bibliography 275 Part III The Faerie Queene in Context 280 Chapter 7 Una, Mercilla, and the Elizabethan Apocalypse 281 1 Una and Redcrosse: Two Dragons, the Rider, and the Woman Clothed with the Sun 285 2 Mercilla and Belge: The Netherlands and the Second Apocalypse 296 3 Faerie Apocalypse: Spenser’s Theology of the End Times 303 Bibliography 312 Chapter 8 Sidney, Spenser, and the Queen 314 1 Sources of Discontent: Sidney’s Quarrel with Elizabeth 315 2 Divergences: Sidney’s Elizabeth, Spenser’s Queen 319 3 Matters of Faith: History and Divine Providence 325 Bibliography 334 Index 336 This book reveals the queen behind Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene. Placing Spenser's epic poem in the context of the tumultuous sixteenth century, Donald Stump offers a groundbreaking reading of the poem as an allegory of Elizabeth I's life. By narrating the loves and wars of an Arthurian realm that mirrors Elizabethan England, Spenser explores the crises that shaped Elizabeth's reign: her break with the pope to create a reformed English Church, her standoff with Mary, Queen of Scots, offensives against Irish rebels and Spanish troops, confrontations with assassins and foreign invaders, and the apocalyptic expectations of the English people in a time of national transformation. Brilliantly reconciling moral and historicist readings, this volume offers a major new interpretation of The Faerie Queene.-- Provided by publisher "This book reveals the queen behind Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene. Placing Spenser's epic poem in the context of the tumultuous sixteenth century, Donald Stump offers a groundbreaking reading of the poem as an allegory of Elizabeth I's life. By narrating the loves and wars of an Arthurian realm that mirrors Elizabethan England, Spenser explores the crises that shaped Elizabeth's reign: her break with the pope to create a reformed English Church, her standoff with Mary, Queen of Scots, offensives against Irish rebels and Spanish troops, confrontations with assassins and foreign invaders, and the apocalyptic expectations of the English people in a time of national transformation. Brilliantly reconciling moral and historicist readings, this volume offers a major new interpretation of The Faerie Queene."-- Back cover Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Introduction to Spenser’s Art of Royal Encomium (Donald Stump)....Pages 3-34 Spenser, Elizabeth, and the Problem of Flattery (Donald Stump)....Pages 35-68 Gloriana, Biblical Typology, and Moral Transfiguration (Donald Stump)....Pages 69-101 Front Matter ....Pages 103-103 Una and the English Reformation (Donald Stump)....Pages 105-160 The Maturation of the Queen (Donald Stump)....Pages 161-215 The Queen in Her Glory (Donald Stump)....Pages 217-270 Front Matter ....Pages 271-271 Una, Mercilla, and the Elizabethan Apocalypse (Donald Stump)....Pages 273-305 Sidney, Spenser, and the Queen (Donald Stump)....Pages 307-328 Back Matter ....Pages 329-337