Edmund Spenser: Life, Works, and Influence on English Literature
Edmund Spenser: Life and Work
Edmund Spenser is one of the most influential writers in poetry, not only in literature but also in culture and society. Ironically, despite being the most influential poet at court, little is known about his life. In the previous period, authors were very well known, but now people valued the text and its meaning more than the poet. Born in London and educated at Cambridge University, Spenser was considered an intellectual writer. He served as Secretary to the Lord Deputy and wrote A View of the Present State of Ireland. He represented the Queen because he was under royal authority. His political involvement and experience negatively influenced his poetry because this political ideology altered Spenser’s imagination.
Spenser and Protestant Politics
Spenser held a Protestant position, and he was a defender of Protestantism, as observed in The Faerie Queene. His writing was meant to contribute to the new faith of Protestantism.
His Linguistic Position: Purity of Diction
Other languages were fashionable and popular among writers in England. He sought to return to the original English language of Chaucer to create his poetic achievements. This is why Spenser is difficult to read because the language he used was very different from the contemporary one. He strived for purity of English, a language without corruptions.
Two Metrical Forms
He devised two metrical forms: the Spenserian sonnet and the Spenserian stanza. The Spenserian stanza consists of nine iambic lines, the first eight being pentameters, and the ninth is a longer line known either as an iambic hexameter or as an alexandrine, rhyming ABA / BBC / BCC. He created new poetical patterns, such as the sonnet. He invented a new form for the sonnet, which was more complex, called the Spenserian sonnet. The new stanza is very important because he used it in his work The Faerie Queene.
The Faerie Queene
Spenser teaches through this allegorical poem, which has a didactic aim. This poem was epic because it had a different scope. There are references to Vergil, indicating that he was inspired by classical poets. He contributed to the creation of a new literature in England, separate from classical literature. References to medieval romances, knights, and adventures had a romantic structure used by him in The Faerie Queene.
The allegorical dimension presented in the poem includes characters who are personifications of real historical figures. Queen Elizabeth I appears in the poem as the Faerie Queene. Allegory serves as a didactic tool.
Aims
- Create a body of poetry excelling in moral and Christian virtue.
- Establish English literature among the leading literature of Europe.
Influences
He tried to create the fairyland of an idealized world, showing a Platonic influence. There is an allegorical presentation of virtues and vices. New languages became important to represent the literatures of different countries, but Spenser wanted to create the most important literature in the world, with a Platonic influence. There is also a political influence because Queen Elizabeth I is represented by different characters.
The Faerie Queene was to consist of 12 books, but it is ultimately composed of six books and fragments of a seventh (The Mutabilitie Cantos). Each book contains 12 cantos and deals with the adventures of a particular knight who represents virtue. Arthur did not exist, so he was a fantastic character and an important myth for the English monarchy, central to English identity. King Arthur married Gloriana, representing the political affairs of the Queen and the people’s desire for Elizabeth to marry, although she never did.
Features
- Reference to contemporary politics: Gloriana is Queen Elizabeth. There is a political dimension throughout the poem.
- Stylistic features: written in Spenserian stanza, alliteration, elaborate style.
- The oral dimension of the poem was central because poetry was meant to be spoken since many people were illiterate.
- He used many rhetorical devices and stylistic features to make the language difficult and distorted (elaborate style).
Book 1, Canto 1
The first book deals with Redcrosse, who represents the Christian in his quest for salvation. This reflects the allegorical moral intention of Spenser to teach moral and Christian values through the characters via the adventures of Redcrosse. It refers to the spiritual drama of salvation.
Characters:
- Redcrosse: the Christian prototype
- Una: Truth
- Duessa: Deceit
Redcrosse is the prototype of the Christians. Book I is related to Christian salvation, which defends that people should follow virtue in their lives to be saved. However, Redcrosse encounters opposing characters such as Una, representing truth, and Duessa, representing deceit. Duessa appears dressed in scarlet clothes, representing the punishment of adultery and prostitution. Redcrosse follows Duessa at the beginning because he feels attracted to her, representing the sins of Christian people and their justification. In medieval literature, monsters signify the presence of evil, so powerful that it is impossible to eliminate them. This represents the difficulty Redcrosse faces in achieving salvation due to the presence of monsters such as the snake and the dragon. In the end, Saint George appears in the poem. Thus, the poem has political connotations because Saint George is the patron of England, and Spenser uses him to show the political influence of the country. The final victory of Redcrosse against the dragon shows God’s grace, presenting Protestantism in the poem in this way.
Recent Criticism of The Faerie Queene
Recent criticism of The Faerie Queene has been preoccupied with two major issues: the poem’s politics and its sexual politics. The poem is often seen as a work that luxuriates in imperialism and celebrates the absolute authority of its queen. It is also often seen as a poem founded on the dominance of the male, treating women with suspicion.
There is a predominance of male characters in the poem since Redcrosse is the central character, and Una and Duessa depend on his decisions. This reflects the social context of that age, in which women depended on men. Besides, the poem was written to praise Elizabeth I, so the secondary position of women in the poem is not as appreciated. Thus, there are many interpretations of women in the poem.