Topics in Spenser and Milton
Maureen Quilligan profile
TR 1:30-3
Even though it went against the authority of Aristotle (who made drama
the focus of the Poetics), Renaissance critical theory held epic to be
the genre of highest status in the Renaissance. We will try to
understand why by reading closely two English Renaissance epics, The
Faerie Queene (Books II, III, V, and VI), and Paradise Lost, placing
each text within its historical moment in the formation of the English
nation state. Both Spenser and Milton were active as agents of their
respective governments, Spenser a colonialist ruler in violence-torn
Ireland and Milton as Latin secretary for Cromwell's Commonwealth and
an apologist for regicide. We will be comparing and contrasting their
respective positions (as reflected in the poems and selected prose)
within these traumatic political environments, paying particular
attention to issues of labor, enfranchisement, power, and gender
(Spenser wrote for Elizabeth I and Milton wrote in favor of divorce).
One short paper (8-10 pp.) to be circulated to and read by other class
members, a critique of another student's paper, one report, and one
longer paper (15-20 pp.). No exam.
updated 2006-10-17
