Pain of Reformation: Spenser, Vulnerability, and the Ethics of Masculinity

297 Pages·2011·2.549 MB·English

by  Joseph Campana

T H E PA I N O F
R E F O R M AT I O N
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THE PAIN OF
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REFORMATION
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spenser, vulnerabilit y,
and the ethics of masculinit y
joseph campana
❁
Fordham University Press, New York 2012
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Copyright © 2012 Fordham University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic,
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Fordham University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
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Fordham University Press also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Campana, Joseph.
Th e pain of Reformation : Spenser, vulnerability, and the ethics of masculinity /
Joseph Campana. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8232-3910-8
1. Spenser, Edmund, 1552?–1599. Faerie queene. 2. Masculinity in literature.
3. Senses and sensation in literature. 4. Ethics in literature.
5. Reformation—England. I. Title.
pr2358.c35 2012
821'.3—dc23
2011037020
Printed in the United States of America
14 13 12 5 4 3 2 1
First edition
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Contents
List of Figures vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
part i: the legend of holiness
1. Reading Bleeding Trees: Th e Poetics of Other People’s Pain 47
2. Spenser’s Dark Materials: Representation
in the Shadow of Christ 75
part ii: the legend of temperance
3. On Not Defending Poetry: Spenser, Suff ering,
and the Energy of Aff ect 107
4. Boy Toys and Liquid Joys: Pleasure and
Power in the Bower of Bliss 129
part iii: the legend of chastity
5. Vulnerable Subjects: Amoret’s Agony,
Britomart’s Battle for Chastity 163
6. Damaged Gods: Adonis and the Pain of Allegory 204
Conclusion 225
Notes 239
Index 275
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Figures
1 Th e Apotheosis of James I and Other Studies: Multiple Sketch for
the Banqueting House Ceiling, Whitehall 18
2 Peter Paul Rubens, Venus and Adonis, circa 1614 19
3 Peter Paul Rubens, Venus and Adonis, mid-or late 1630s 19
4 Peter Paul Rubens, Venus Lamenting over the Dead Adonis 20
5 Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder, Th e Return
from War: Mars Disarmed by Venus, 1610–12 21
6 Peter Paul Rubens, Mars and Venus, 1618–1620 22
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Acknowledgments
Writing accumulates not merely words but also debt—happily so.
Since this is a study of a poem characterized by errancy, it was inevi-
table that its development would be characterized by straying through a
variety of times, places, and institutions. My fascination with Th e Faerie
Queene began in the classroom of the incomparable Sherron Knopp at
Williams College. Th ere I had the good fortune of learning from Karen
Swann, Anita Sokolsky, Louise Glück, Clara Park, Kathryn Kent, Chris
Waters, Regina Kunzel, David Eppel, and many others. Th is project
incubated with mentoring from Jonathan Dollimore at the University
of Sussex where I also had the pleasure of studying with Mandy Merck.
Later, Gordon Teskey, now of Harvard University, proved an utterly
singular example in his own scholarship and an unfl agging supporter
of mine. At Cornell, I had the privilege of working with him and with
Winthrop Wetherbee, Mary Jacobus, Debra Fried, Reeve Parker, Scott
McMillin, Barbara Correll, Alice Fulton, Roger Gilbert, and others.
My colleagues at Kenyon College and Rice University have been un-
stintingly giving of their time and support. I thank both institutions
for ample research funding and leave time. At Rice, the help of talented
research assistants was vital; thanks to Anna Dodson, Nicholas Grant-
Collins, Joanna O’Leary, Samitha Murthy, and Suzanne Rindell. Spe-
cial thanks to Terry Munstieri for her extraordinary editing skills. Th e
support of my Rice colleagues Helena Michie, Robert Patten, Caroline
Levander, Rosemary Hennessy, Cary Wolfe, Alexander Regier, Edward
Anderson, and Diane Wolfthal has been invaluable.
In the course of writing this book I have been humbled by the
generosity of those initially unknown to me. Anonymity and distance
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