Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/11375/14174
Title: | Imperialistic Myth and Iconography in Books I and II of The Faerie Queene |
Authors: | Bernhart, Barbara-Maria |
Advisor: | Cain, T.H. |
Department: | English |
Keywords: | English Language and Literature;English Language and Literature |
Publication Date: | Apr-1975 |
Abstract: | <p>The dissertation describes Tudor imperialism as a central theme in The Faerie Queene. In the poem, Spenser conceives of empire as having a two-fold purpose; the sacred goal of the restoration of the church; and the political goal of the establishment of the universal empire of which the medieval imperialists dreamed. The first is envisaged as an earthly type of the Heavenly Jerusalem perceived by Redcrosse under the guidance of Contemplation, while, politically, England's struggle with Rome provides the basis for that hero's adventures. The second goal is foreshadowed in a prophetic vision at the end of Book IV. Its achievement is equated with the restoration of the ancient heroic civilization of Troy and with England's rule over the American territories supposedly conquered by Arthur. The restoration of this two-fold ideal is attributed to Elizabeth as type of the imperial virgin of the Virgilian prophecy whose advent will bring England peace and plenty. This political goal is adumbrated in the poem by images of the queen's "fruitful virginity", a paradox reflecting the double roles of Astraea as virgin and figure of plenty combined with the analogous roles of Diana and Venus. In order to characterize England's two great political enemies of the time, Rome and Spain, as obstacles to the queen's providential role, Spenser has turned them into figures of monstrous theological and moral evil who appear as the reverse or antitypes of the sacred empire and the sacred imperial virgin.</p> <p>To discover the imperialistic meaning of Spenser's allegory, I have compared its mythological and iconographical details to contemporary symbolic expressions of imperialistic propaganda. These in turn derive from a traditional stock of symbolic expressions of imperial concepts. My starting point in Chapter I is the connection between the allegory of Book I and the development of medieval papalimperial relations which culminated in England in the struggle for supremacy. The description of Lucifera and her palace, the house built on sand, appears as Spenser's main image of papal imperialism from an English point of view. Chapter II-IV expand this reading of the Lucifera episode by consideration of various iconographic and mythological resources that complicate its satiric effect.</p> <p>In the second half of the dissertation, I describe those details of the allegory in Books II-IV which reflect a complementary aspect of the concept of the sacred empire, namely the idea of England's potential rule over the seas and of colonial expansion. In Chapter V, I argue that Dee's propaganda for an English navy and for the establishment of colonies is the impulse underlying Spenser's treatment of chronicle history in Books II-III. In Chapters VI and VII, I discuss details in the episode of Acrasia, the description of Florimell, and the visit to the Cave of Mammon in connection with the projects of the Tudor ventures, particularly Drake's West Indian raid and Raleigh's plans for the Virginia colony and the "Empire" of Guiana.</p> |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/14174 |
Identifier: | opendissertations/900 1698 949347 |
Appears in Collections: | Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
Files in This Item:
File | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|
fulltext.pdf | 16.79 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Items in MacSphere are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.