Department of English
University of Thessaloniki
ELit 6-363 Spenser and Milton: sex, power, and violence, 1550-1665
Dr. Karin Boklund-Lagopoulou
Office: 306B Office hours: Monday 13.00-15.00 and Wednesday 14.00-15.00
Fall term 2013
Course description
Although Spenser and Milton are acknowledged to be among the greatest poets to
write in the English language, although they were for centuries well-known not only to
the educated elite but to almost every English home, their work presents special
difficulties for the modern reader. They worked within a cultural tradition that has
since become almost completely foreign to us, but I believe many of the issues that
concerned them – the nature and limits of political power, the relationship between the
sexes, the role of sensuality, the link between sex, power, and violence – are as
relevant to today’s world as they were in the 16th and 17th centuries. This course is
designed to help students overcome that barrier and read the works of these two poets
with understanding and appreciation.
Reading list
The Sixteenth Century
Norton Anthology pp. 485-511
Edmund Spenser: Introduction
Selections from The Shepheardes’ Calendar
The Faerie Queene
Book I (all); Book II, Canto 12
Book III: Invocation, Summary, Cantos 6, 11, 12
Epithalamion
The Early Seventeenth Century
pp. 705-707
pp. 708-713
pp. 714-902
pp. 902-903, 907-916
Norton Anthology pp. 1235-1259
John Milton: Introduction
pp. 1785-1789
L’Allegro - Il Penseroso
pp. 1797-1805
Lycidas
pp. 1805-1811
Paradise Lost
pp. 1830-2055
Books 1, 2, 4 (lines 1-775), 9, 10 (706-end), 12 (552-end)
All of the texts are found in the Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol I.
Additional reading material will be on Reserve in the library.
Evaluation
If numbers permit, assessment will be in the form of a short researched essay in
addition to the final exam.
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
ELit 6-363 Spenser and Milton
Study Questions
1. Both Spenser and Milton wrote shorter poems in the pastoral tradition. Consider
how the two poets use elements from pastoral in The Shepheardes’ Calendar,
Epithalamion, Lycidas; how the pastoral elements vary depending on the purpose of
the poem; and how (and if) native English elements are integrated into the classical
pastoral.
2. Both Spenser and Milton were profoundly Christian poets educated in the classical
literary tradition. Examine how Christian and Classical elements coexist and interact
in their works. Consider both the shorter poems (imagery, for example) and the long
narrative poems (where the influences from classical epic coexist with biblical or
medieval narrative models). Are there differences between the two poets in this
respect?
3. The Faerie Queene is supposed to be both a tale of marvellous adventures and an
allegory. Consider how this double purpose influences the structure of Spenser’s
narrative. Are these two forms of story-telling compatible? What problems do they
create for Spenser? What are some of the devices he uses to reconcile them?
4. One of the central aspects of The Faerie Queene is the historical allegory. How, in
the historical allegory, can we see Spenser’s relationship to the Elizabethan age? what
elements of the poem are related to political, social, or religious issues of Spenser’s
times, and what position does he take on these issues through the poem?
5. The Romantics often said that the real hero of Paradise Lost is the Devil. Do you
agree? or would you argue that the hero is Adam? or Eve? or Christ?
6. Milton was profoundly involved in the complex politics of England during his
lifetime. Is there any evidence of this involvement in Paradise Lost?
7. Paradise Lost has a good deal to say about the nature of man, the relationship
between the sexes, the relationship between man and nature. Consider Milton’s
treatment of this topic both before and after the Fall: what sort of ideal of human
nature did Milton envisage? with what characteristics was man created, what are the
effects of sin on human nature, and what potentialities does Milton imagine postlapsarian man as having in this world?
8. Both Spenser and Milton are Protestants, Englishmen, and poets. From the writings
of the two poets, can you draw any conclusions on what it meant for Spenser to be a
patriotic protestant poet, and what it had come to mean in Milton’s day?
9. Why should anyone read Spenser or Milton today? Is their poetry relevant to our
world? Do they have anything to say to us, or is this a purely academic exercise?
Elit 6-363 Spenser and Milton
Possible Essay Topics
1. The pastoral tradition.
Consider how the poets use elements from pastoral in one or more of the shorter
poems. You can choose to compare the two poets; or see how the poems integrate
non-classical elements (Christian, English, Irish); or do some research on the Greek
and Latin pastoral and see how Spenser or Milton uses the classical pastoral.
2. Problems of being a Christian Humanist.
Both Spenser and Milton were profoundly Christian poets educated in the classical
literary tradition. Examine how Christian and Classical elements coexist and interact
in their work. Consider either some of the shorter poems (imagery, for example) or
one of the long narrative poems (where the influences from classical epic coexist with
biblical or medieval narrative models).
3. Sensuality and poetry
Both Spenser and Milton can at times be unexpectedly sensual poets. Choose either
one of the shorter poems or some specific passages from one of the long ones, and
examine the attitude of either Spenser or Milton to the pleasures of the senses.
4. The Faerie Queene as historical allegory
How, in the historical allegory of The Faerie Queene, can we see Spenser’s
relationship to the Elizabethan age? what elements of the poem are related to political,
social, or religious issues of Spenser’s times, and what position does he take on these
issues in the poem?
5. Paradise Lost and the Puritan Revolution
Milton was profoundly involved in the complex politics of England during his
lifetime. Is there any evidence of this involvement in Paradise Lost?
6. Paradise Lost and what it means to be human
Paradise Lost has a good deal to say about the nature of man, the relationship between
the sexes, the relationship between man and nature. Consider Milton’s treatment of
one of these topics both before and after the Fall. What sort of ideal of human nature
did Milton envisage? with what characteristics was man created, what are the effects
of sin on human nature, and what potentialities does Milton imagine post-lapsarian
man as having in this world?
7. A feminist reading of Spenser / or of Milton
The role of women and the relationship between the sexes in either The Faierie
Queene or Paradise Lost.
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
ELit 6-363 Spenser and Milton
The following books are on Reserve in the English Department library.
Barker, Arthur E. Milton and the Puritan Dilemma. Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 1942.
Barnes, T.R. English Verse: Voice and Movement from Wyatt to Yeats. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1967.
Bernard, John D. Ceremonies of Innocence: Pastoralism in the Poetry of Edmund
Spenser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Bieman, Elizabeth. Plato Baptized: Towards the Interpretation of Spenser’s Mimetic
Fictions. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988.
Brisman, Leslie. Milton’s Poetry of Choice and its Romantic Heirs. Ithaca, NY:
Cornell University Press, 1973.
Demaray, John D. Milton’s Theatrical Epic. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 1980.
Empson, W. Some Versions of Pastoral. London: Chatto and Windus, 1979.
Fish, Stanley. Surprised by Sin: The Reader in Paradise Lost. Basingstoke,
Hampshire: Macmillan, 1997.
Griffin, Dustin. Regaining Paradise: Milton and the Eighteenth Century. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Hadfield, Andrew. Spenser’s Irish Experience. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997.
Hadfield, Andrew, ed. Edmund Spenser: Criticism and Interpretation. London:
Longman, 1996.
Hamilton, A.C., ed. Essential Articles for the Study of Edmund Spenser. Hamden, CT:
Archon, 1972.
Heale, Elizabeth. The Faerie Queene: A Reader’s Guide. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1987.
Herron, Thomas. Spenser’s Irish Work: Poetry, Plantation, and Colonial
Reformation.
Hill, Ch. Milton and the English Revolution. London: Faber, 1977.
Hill, Ch. The Century of Revolution, 1603-1714. London: Van Nostrand Reinhold,
1980 (1st edition 1961).
Hill, J.S. John Milton: Poet, Priest and Prophet. London: Macmillan, 1979.
Hughes, Merritt Y. Virgil and Spenser. Originally published Berkeley 1929. Reprinted
Ney York: AMS Press, 1971.
Kane, Sean. Spenser’s Moral Allegory. Toronto, etc.: University of Toronto Press,
1989.
Kendrick, Christopher. Milton: A Study in Ideology and Form. New York and
London: Methuen, 1986.
Leslie, Michael. Spenser’s “Fierce Warres and Faithfull Loves”: Martial and
Chivalric Symbolism in The Faerie Queene. Cambridge: Brewer, 1983.
Lewis, C.S. English Literature in the Sixteenth Century excluding Drama. Oxford
History of English Literature Series. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954.
MacCaffrey, Isabel G. Spenser’s Allegory: The Anatomy of Imagination. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton Univerisyt Press, 1976.
McEachem, Claire, and Delora Shuger, eds. Religion and Culture in Renaissance
England. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Malley, Willy. Salvaging Spenser: Colonialism, Culture, and Identity. New York,
NY: St Martin’s Press, 1997.
Nelson, William. The Poetry of Edmund Spenser: A Study. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1963.
O’Connell, Michael. Mirror and Veil: The Historical Dimension of Spenser’s Faerie
Queene. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1977.
Patrides, C.A. “Lycidas”: The Tradition and the Poem. New York: Holt Rinehard,
1961.
Patrides, C.A. Milton and the Christian Tradition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966.
Rajan, B. Paradise Lost and the Seventeenth Century Reader. Ann Arbor, MI:
University of Michigan Press, 1967 (1st edition 1947)
Rambuss, Richard. Spenser’s Secret Career. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1993.
Revard, Stella Purce. Milton and the Tangles of Neaera’s Hair. Columbia, MO:
University of Missouri Press.
Ruddick, W. Milton, Paradise Lost I and II. Notes on English Literature Series.
Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1969.
Stein, Arnold. Answerable Style: Essays on Paradise Lost. Seattle and London:
University of Washington Press, 1953.
Thorpe, J., ed. Milton Criticism. London: Routledge, 1951.
Tillyard, E.M.W. Milton. Harmondsworth: Peregrine, 1968 (1st edition 1930).
Wittreich, J.A., Jr. Milton and the Line of Vision. Madison, WI: University of
Wisconsin Press, 1975.
Wood, Rufus. Metaphor and Belief in The Faerie Queene. New York, NY: Longman,
1996.
In addition, students will find material on Spenser and Milton in the New Pelican
Guide to English Literature volumes 2 and 3.
Available in the library, though not on Reserve:
The standard edition of Spenser’s works (edited by J. C. Smith and E. de Selincourt,
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912), the complete prose works of John Milton, W.R.
Parker’s biography of Milton (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968), and Spenser’s
discussion of his government’s policy in Ireland, A View of the Present State of
Ireland (edited by W.L. Renwick, published 1934, reprinted 1971).