Spenser and the discourses of Reformation England
By: Richard Mallette.
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Lincoln
Language: eng
Number of pages: 289
Subjects: Spenser, Edmund, 1552?-1599; Spenser, Edmund, 1552?-1599 -- Religion; Christianity and literature -- England -- History -- 16th century; Protestantism and literature -- History -- 16th century; Epic poetry, English -- History and criticism; Reformation -- England
Description: Spenser and the Discourses of Reformation England is a wide-ranging exploration of the relationships among literature, religion, and politics in Renaissance England. Richard Mallette demonstrates how one of the great masterpieces of English literature, Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, reproduces, criticizes, parodies, and transforms the discourses of England during that remarkable political and literary era.

According to Mallette, The Faerie Queene not only represents Reformation values but also challenges, questions, and frequently undermines Protestant assumptions. Building upon recent scholarship, particularly new historicism, Protestant poetics, feminism, and gender theory, this ambitious study traces The Faerie Queene's linkage of religion to political and social realms.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-278) and index.