The Gentleman and the Circle of Courtesy in Edmund Spenser's The

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The Gentleman and the Circle of Courtesy in Edmund Spenser's The A National Library Biblioth?gue nationale CANADIAN THESES TH~~~ESCANA~IENNES" of .Canada du Canada ON MICROFICHE SUR MICROFICHE li , . r. lx-,;on IS Reray granted to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF C'autoris~tionest, 'par fa prt!sente&ccord6e d la BIBL~OTH& 1 h L~DAto microfilm his thesis and to lend or sell copies QUE. NATIONALE DU CANADA de rnic@iJm cetre rhPse et . -s: t e f~lrn. de p&er ou de vendre des exemplains du film. & :t~!hor reserves other publication rights, and neit* the L'aureur se rCserv~ les autres droits de pubIicsrim'ni li . ~.L . , ;r ;r r,or extensive extracts from ~i'ma~be or other- these ni de longs extraits de cel!e:ci ne dohetit &re imprim& . .. k I. i ~~6rwo;ucedwithout the auihor's written permission. ou arrtrement reprodwits. sans I'aurorisatiw, Crif e raureir: . $ National ~ibraiotCanada Biblioth6que nationale du Canada Collections Development Branch Direction du developpement des collections . Canadian Theses on Service des theses canadiennes Microfiche Service sur microfiche NOTICE The quality of this microfiche is heavily dependent La qualite de cette microfiche depend grandement de upori the quality of the original thesis submitted for la qualite de la these soumise au microfilmage. Nous microfilming. Every effort has been made to ensure avons tout fait pour assurer une qualite sup6rieure' thehhighestquality of reproduction possible. de reproduction. I If pages are,missing, contact the university which S'il ma.nque des pages, veuillez communiquel granted the degree. avec I'universite qui a confkre le grade. 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THIS DISSERTATION LA THESE A ETE . ' - - ' HAS BEEN MICROFILMED MICROFILMEE TELLE QUE . EXACTLY AS RECEIVED NOUS L'AVONS RECUE - ; e Ottawa, Canad% KlAON4 \ NL-339 (Rev. 8/80) ' THE FAElUE QUEENE '/ Peter Bernard Murphy LYLns. Simon Fraser university, 1975 c \ A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF - THE REQUIRFMENTS FOR THE DEGREE "OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department 0 f 1. En91ish , Peter Bernard Murphy 1981 I SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy %orother means, without permission of the author. DEGREE : Ester of -4rts a TITLE OF THESIS: The Gentlaan and the Circle of Courtrtsy in . .-d .-d Spmser's The Faerie we. Chairperson: Dr. Paul klany -" . f V -r Professor John lfills, Senior Sqe.r&30r, 'Pmfess~rof Ewlish. , Professor med Gmdelaria, Professor of EiilFsh. PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE C, I hereby grant to Sinion Fraser University the right to l end* rny'thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which .is shown below) to users o the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make part al or. single copies only for such users or ih response to a reqhest from tKe library of any other university, or other,educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users,: I further agree .that permission ' for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted . by me or the Dea? of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication'of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed - without my written permission. 4 , ' rn T i t I e of Thes i s/Project/ExteAnded -Essay . (name) - t (date) AB STRACT 0 L. Can The Faerie Queene be considered a finished work? This thesis proposes that the poem can be read as complete, even though Spenser's alleged designfor it will remain for ever unfinished. A sense of completeness in the work arises .' because it adheres to and acecrmplishes its major theme of courtesy. In doing . sb, it' fvlfi1s"Spenser's~central , ambition. that it would "fashion a gentleman". I ' - J Whil,e the, thde of courtesy is an :obvious one, it has been generally overlooked . I by critics as a unifying and defining force in the poem. Early criticism . regarded The aerie Queene as incomplete because it fajled to meet the formulae . 8 of classical design. &st later critics,: while not submitting to this dogmatic approach, have nevertheless agreed,with its conclusion, usually on the basi.s < of external evidence such as Spenser's plan for the poem contained in his. letter to Sir alter Raleigh, or theexistence of the "Mutabilitie Cantos". Acwmledging the contributions of several recent cr$ics, I propose that The Faerie Queene is complete by the end of its sixth book, which because it is entirely concerned with courtesy, , provides an appxopriate-place for &he study,: to begin. In relation to this, however, it has also been necessary to outline. + ' the philosophical -..concepts behind Spenser ' s theme, and to show his familiarity with them as demonstrated in his other works, me ~h-epheardesCalendar, -Th'e Farre Hymnes, and ~olinClout's Come*Home Againe. By compa&n; these works to The Faerie Queene it is possible to deduce that Spenser's gentleman was inspired * adfashioned by the ppwer of love, which7,was described by Plato and by ~eoc-1 platonic philosophers as the motivating force of the cosmos. The Platonic,. ? - love process follows a circular pattern, the Creator's love moving conti~uously from Him to His creation, and back again. According to ~enaissancethoughb, 1 . the process could be observed in the, world in the actions,of..good men,. adwas ;; ' 3- .v 1 i? , a . \ *I . iii . - . ., P ff * swlized, syncretically, by the classical symbol of the Dance of the Graces, * j. --which depicts love be- freely given, received and returned, Such+.rocesses- - Z 'may be seen to be at work in Book VI of The aerie Queene, especially in the actions of Calidore,.' the Knight bf Courtesy, and symbol of Spenser's ideal /' / ' On another plane, however, the same processes work to give The'Faerie < -. peene 'itself an appearance of circularity. Evidence for this lies in the man2 paralleis found in its first book, "Holinesse", and its sixth, "Courtesy". d The two virtues seem to be so related as to be interdependent, and it is this 7 very quality that suggests Books I and VI form a beginning and conclusion to the work. Spenser may not have completed the plan for his great poem.out- 7 Ii ' 'lined, somewhat ambiguously, in the letter to Raleigh, but 0.n the basis of the phiiosdphical concepts employed with continuity in Books I and VI, his design of The Faerie Queene is complete at the end of Calidorels.adventures. I MY CHILDREN CONTENTS I:. AB S TRACT iii DEDICATION LIST 'OF REFERENCES WORKS CONSULTED I C, - PREFACE '_. - F s . - d t - - -- - - - - -- In this study I propose that The Faerie ,Queene, although an unfinished + work, may be read as complete. Reasons' for this, simply stated, are that - ..' > *, = Spenser's overall theme for the work i's courtesy, and by the-endm& the poem's sixth book, which deals with that subject, the &thor has provided enough i L : material to achieve his ahi of "fashi,oning a gentledan". In _order@for the r c, . - reader to understand how this occurs, it is necessary that he or she bq acquainted with theJYphilosophic,alconceits that underlie The Faerie Queene ' s - .. design and purpose. The Rbnaissance beliefs, a mixture of christian and classical phiiosophies, are evident in other poems written by Spenser which - - e 'predate, or are contemporary with The Faerie Queene, and his understan ing of f - $ them can. thus '6e readily and reliably established. His application of these t' 4 1 * ideas to The Faerie Quegne , hiWreateste work ands the longe;t poem in English, . q is, therefore a logics1 progression. A * \ i This thesis is divided into three chapters. Chapter One provides back- I ,. \ ground to the poem, first discussing previous literary criticism relating to its unity,; then outlining the concepts that influenced Spenser and .demonstrating ' his use of them in The. Foore' &es , The Shepheardes Calendar, and Colin clout s) . > ~ome*HomeAgaine, to show how and why these concepts apply to The aerie ~ueeno. - ' / . The second' chapter concerns itself with courte.sy as it 'is presented .in *- * the >,/ ) * .poem's sixth book. *Aft-erdiscussing Elizabethan ideas concerning the gehtlernan, the very expression of courtesy, this chapter looks principally at the adventures . - - 1 of &lidore, that virtue's exemplar. ALtikktional chafacters both rpajor and minor, *. -. ,whose actions parallel- or are directly related to Widore's; are also examined. Among these are Calepine and Serena, Melike-, Pastorella, and, of course, the ~l~tant'Beast, Calidore ' s and courtesy's mortal enemy. In con junction, with this, a ,.. vii - Chapter Two aTso discusses the symbol of the three Graces, whosec~culardice . expresses the platonic love concept or'giFing, receiving, and returnl'ng B (* which was thought to motivate the coAs , and .'is itself essential.to, under- standing The Faerie QueenL.
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