Allegory, Space and the Material World in the Writings of Edmund Spenser (Studies in Renaissance Literature)

275 Pages·2006·1.69 MB·English

by  Christopher Burlinson

Allegory, Space and the Material
World in the Writings of
Edmund Spenser

Christopher Burlinson

Studies in Renaissance Literature
Studies in Renaissance Literature
Volume 17
ALLEGORY, SPACE AND
THE MATERIAL WORLD IN
THE WRITINGS OF EDMUND SPENSER
This book provides a radical reassessment of Spenserian allegory, in
particularofSpenser’spoem,TheFaerieQueene,inthelightofcontem-
poraryhistoricalandtheoreticalinterestsinspaceandmaterialculture.It
explorestheambiguousandfluctuatingattentiontomateriality,objects,
andsubstanceinthepoeticsofTheFaerieQueene,anddiscussestheway
thatSpenser’screationofallegoricalmeaningmakesuseofthismateri-
ality,andtransformsit.Itsuggestsfurtherthatacriticalengagementwith
materiality (which has been so important to the recent study of early
moderndrama)mustcome,inthecaseofallegoricalnarrative,througha
study of narrative and physical space, and in this context it goes on to
provide a reading of the spatial dimensions of the poem – quests and
battles, forests, castles and hovels – and the spatial characteristics of
Spenser’sotherwritings.ThebookreaffirmstheneedtoplaceSpenserin
hishistoricalcontexts–philosophicalandscientific,militaryandarchi-
tectural – in early modern England, Ireland, and Europe, but also
provides a critical reassessment of this literary historicism.
DRCHRISTOPHERBURLINSONisaResearchFellowinEnglishatEmmanuel
College,Cambridge.
Studies in Renaissance Literature
ISSN 1465–6310
General Editors
David Colclough
Raphael Lyne
StudiesinRenaissanceLiteratureoffersinvestigationsoftopicsinEnglishliterature
focussedinthesixteenthandseventeenthcenturies;itsscopeextendsfromearly
Tudorwriting,includingworksreflectingmedievalconcerns,totheRestoration
period. Studies exploring the interplay between the literature of the English
Renaissance and its cultural history are particularly welcomed.
Proposalsorqueriesshouldbesentinthefirstinstancetotheeditors,ortothe
publisher, at the addresses given below; all submissions receive prompt and
informed consideration.
Dr David Colclough, School of English and Drama, Queen Mary, University of
London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS
Dr Raphael Lyne, New Hall, Cambridge, CB3 0DF
Boydell & Brewer Ltd, PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
Previously published volumes in this series are listed at the back of this volume
ALLEGORY, SPACE AND
THE MATERIAL WORLD IN
THE WRITINGS OF EDMUND SPENSER
Christopher Burlinson
D. S. BREWER
© Christopher Burlinson 2006
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
First published 2006
D. S. Brewer, Cambridge
ISBN 1 84384 078 2
D. S. Brewer is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A catalogue record for this title is available
from the British Library
This publication is printed on acid-free paper
Typeset by Pru Harrison, Hacheston, Suffolk
Printed in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgements xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Preface xv
PartI: SpaceandMaterialityintheRealmofAllegoricalRomance
1. Accounting for the Material in Spenser’s Allegory 3
2. Space, Place, and Location: Inside and Outside the Poem 22
Part II: Architectural Space and the Status of the Object in
TheFaerieQueene
3. Galleries: Space, Mythography, and the Object 47
4. Royal Chambers: Space and Presence 73
PartIII: BeleagueredSpaces
5. ‘Goodly Workemanship’: Fortifications and the Body 97
6. Defended Spaces, Fast Spaces, Proper Spaces 128
7. The Stones of Kilcolman: Spenserian Biography, the Ruin, and 149
the Material Fragment
PartIV: ThePhysicalandAllegorizedLandscape
8. Deforestation and the Spenserian Wood 167
9. The Houses of the Poor 195
Conclusion 220
Bibliography 223
Index 247

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Robert Glover,Nobilitas Politica vel Civilis(1608) 88
2. John Derricke,The Image of Irelande with a Discouerie of Woodkarne, 91
ed. by John Small (Edinburgh: Black, 1883), plate 12
3. Balthazar Gerbier,The Interpreter of the Academie for Forrain 107
Languages, and Noble Sciences, and Exercises(London, 1648)
4. J. Errard de Bar-le-Duc,La fortification redvicte en art(Paris, 1594; 121
repr. Frankfurt a. M., 1604)
5. N. P. Willis and J. S. Coyne,The Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland, 156
2 vols (1842), vol. 2
The illustrations are reproduced by permission of the
Syndics of Cambridge University Library.
DidtheyoftenthinkofthepartIrelandhadplayedinthepoetryas
wellasthelifeofthisnewarrivalatcourt?Didtheyrealisethatthe
mountains and forests, the clay cottages, the lonely castles, the
crudelyarmedmobs,evenperhapsthebloodandcrimeandfamine
owed often a vague yet undoubted obligation to Ireland?
Alexander C. Judson,The Life of Edmund Spenser
“Inmyaccount,forwhosemanyfailingsIbegyourpardon,thelife
cycleofthefrogmaysoundallegorical,buttothefrogsthemselvesit
is no allegory, it is the thing itself, the only thing.”
J. M. Coetzee,Elizabeth Costello
For Elizabeth Anne Burlinson
(1951–2002)