INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter fiice, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photogrqihs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., nuqis, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Hgher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Beil & Howell Information Company 300 North Zed) Road, Ann Aihor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE A Reconsideration of "Christian Humanism" in the English Renaissance: Historicizing More, Elyot, and Spenser with a Focus on Tudor Nationalism A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By I ! Kyong-hahn Kim Norman, Oklahoma 1997 UMI Number: 9817714 UMI Microform 9817714 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. Ail rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Titie 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 A Reconsideration of "Christian Humanism" in the English Renaissance: Historicizing More, Elyot, and Spenser with a Focus on Tudor Nationalism A Dissertation APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH BY 'Aja.ox^ © Copyright by Kyong-hahn Kim 1997 All Rights Reserved Acknowledgments I would like to take this opportunity to give my public thanks to a large number of people for their support and encouragement over the course of my work. This dissertation is the net result of my studies over the graduate years under the direction of Hunter Cadzow, my adviser, to whom I am first and most grateful. He took me into the fascinating recent literary trend of New Historicism and the dazzling ideas of Michel Foucault. From my long struggle with Foucault's thought, I have learned the lesson of the necessity to historicize or rethink human practices, institutions, or even literary terms beyond stereotyped perspectives. The dissertation reflects my concern to reconsider the term "Christian humanism." During the process of writing, I benefited from e-mail communication via the Internet in staking out the groimd for my study. Among many online scholarly forums, 1 am most indebted toFICINO , a list group fw Renaissance and Reformation studies. I have enjoyed the discussion with Peter C. Herman and W. L. Godshalk, who gave me valuable bibliographical data about Renaissance humanism and insight into this project of rethinking a literary stock term. I have also enjoyed academic exchanges with my online friends. Brother Anthony, who made suggestions about the scope of my study, and Suh Hong- won, whose comments over the past few years helped me clarify my ideas. I cannot thank my committee enough for their profitable and informed reading of the final drafts. I received my most valuable criticism from Gwenn Davis, whose response to each individual chapter gave the dissertation a living structure. I thank Alan Velie for his professional readings throughout, which helped to locate the points that were logically incongruent or most in need of further discussion. With a sharp historical perception, James Hart strengthened my second and third chapters in many ways in the final stages of revision. Warm thanks to David Gross for his encouragement and ever-present personal generosity. I would like to extend my thanks to various others who were instrumental in completing this study. I remain grateful to: Clarissa Carr, graduate secretary, who made easy my long-distance enrollment over the phone every semester; Hong Ki-chang and Kim Kil-joong, my former academic mentors, for their unfailing support; and James Yoon for his kindness and academic tips via e-mail. As always, 1 thank my wife, Mee-jin, for much patience and helpful criticism and, above all, for giving me a son, Ui-chang, in the final year of my dissertation, who sustains me with his inspiration and unfailing love. Iv Table of Contents Page Acknowledgments.................................................................................................iv Table of Contents ....................................................... -.......... v Abstract .......................................................................................................... vi Chapter One: Return to the Origin: "Christian Humanism" in Its Historical Context—........... — .......................................1 1. Ideological Bearings— ———......................................... 12 2. Harmony Theory................................................................18 3. Continuity Theory...................-— ....................................28 Chapter Two: A Reconsideration of More's Catholic Humanism in l//o|»ia— — — — — — — — — — ——— — —------ 56 Chapter Three: Catholic Humanism in Transition: Elyot'sThe Book Named the Governor in a Nationalist Framework------92 Chapter Four: Spenserian Humanist License: The Nationalist Drive of Protestant Humanism in The Faerie Queene-...............127 Epilogue- ........................................................................................................172 Bibliography...................................................................................................... 17 8 A Reconsideration o f "Christian Humanism" in the English Renaissance: Historicizing More, Elyot, and Spenser with a Focus on Tudor Nationalism Abstract I expect this dissertation to make a case for the necessity of historicizing the term "Christian humanism” to accurately appreciate the achievements of Tudor humanists— More, Elyot, and Spenser. As a way of approaching the term. Chapter One tracks down its origin in the twentieth century and resituates its ideological freight in the English Renaissance by reviewing some of its important ideas. Christian humanism tiums out to be an ideology in our time to identify Christianity in humanism, divinity or spirituality in man. The notion of human divinity evolves into a theory of human dignity, human cooperation with divine grace in salvation, and even political radicalism when applied to the Renaissance humanist. At the same time, the enterprise to subsume Renaissance humanism under the umbrella term "Christian" fails to identify the peculiar historical situations of the period. It erases the very real difference between various forms of cultural representation of Christianity in the Renaissance. Christianity had undergone a long journey of transformation in the English I Renaissance, from the old Catholicism, to the Henrician Reformation, to the Elizabethan I Protestantism, and to the Puritan Revolution. To avoid the ahistrxical sense associated with 1 the term and to specify each individual condition in the evolution of Christian humanism, I I propose a differentiation between both the humanist and theological nature of Christian I hiunanism in each distinct period. I Chapter Two addresses Sir Thomas More as a Catholic humanist, who represents I English humanism before the Henrician Reformation and nationalism. Henry's break with f Rrxne gave momentum to the development of Tudor dynastic nationalism largely centered I I aroimd the monarch. It played a key role in transfcxming the cause of Cathdic humanism in [ the interest of the nation. t Chapter Three sets up Sir Thomas Hyot as a transitional figure in terms of English ! humanism, caught in the religious and political drive of Henrician nationalism. He is basically Catholic but desires to take a vital role in nation-making. Elyot demonstrates the Morean Catholic humanism in transition. Chapter Foiur defines Edmund Spenser as a Protestant humanist, whose nationalist cause is responsible for the Protestant cooptation of humanism in his work. In the age when the universal Church broke down and when the role of secular rulers became more and more central to national affairs, humanist participation in national government was indispensable to create the mystique of monarchy and thus the unity of the nation. These hiunanists, who each fell under particular pcditical, theological, and cultural regimes, reveal disparate strategies of Christian humanism. As the conclusion of the study, the epilogue offers a siunmary assessment of the previous chapters and suggests the possibility of further reconsideration of Christian humanists in the seventeenth century Hire Donne and Milton. vii Chapter One Return to the Origin: "Christian Humanism" in Its Historical Context "[SJince he has killed God, it is he himscif who most answer for his own nnitude; but since it is in the death