Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2015 The Alchemy of Sexuality in Early Modern English Lyric Poetry Lisa Gay Jennings Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE ALCHEMY OF SEXUALITY IN EARLY MODERN ENGLISH LYRIC POETRY By LISA GAY JENNINGS A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2015 © 2015 Lisa Gay Jennings Lisa Gay Jennings defended this dissertation on February 4, 2015. The members of the supervisory committee were: Bruce Boehrer Professor Directing Dissertation Charles Upchurch University Representative Anne Coldiron Committee Member David Johnson Committee Member Daniel Vitkus Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii For my father, Dalrick Jennings, who never saw the end, but who always believed in my beginning. Death is just “a pageant to keep us in false gaze.” iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In Matthew 17 of the Gospels Jesus performs a miracle where he casts out a demon from a little boy. His disciples inspired and a little envious of this show of power demanded why they were not able to cast out the demon. Jesus responds, “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” This dissertation came about much in the same manner. It did not materialize out of a moment of envy or frenzied inspiration but by an excruciating amount of sweat, tears, hard work, and some amount of dare I say, blood. And like the disciples, I had the best of guides to lead, nurture, support, inspire and educate me. First, I would like to thank Professor Daniel Vitkus who served as my dissertation supervisor until his recent appointment at the University of California-San Diego. Professor Vitkus has worked tirelessly to help make this dissertation a reality. He read and commented on various drafts of the chapters, and he was always available to meet to discuss and encourage my progress. Additionally, Professor Vitkus encouraged me to explore all of my ideas. But, like any good dissertation director he taught me how to parse and identify the best of those ideas. He also inculcated a sense of academic rigor in me and greatly fostered my love of scholarship. I was blessed to have Professor Vitkus as my former director, and I have been just as blessed to have Professor Bruce Boehrer as my new director. Professor Boehrer graciously took up where Professor Vitkus left off, and he has helped me to overcome the last of the dissertation demons. Professor Boehrer carefully examined each draft of the chapters, and unflinchingly guided me to revision and completion. He has been patient in the extreme as well as unfailingly supportive. iv My blessings did not stop with the support from either Professor Vitkus or Professor Boehrer. Each member of my dissertation committee has been incredibly supportive and engaged with my work. I would like to thank Professor Anne Coldiron, Professor David Johnson, and finally Professor Charles Upchurch. I would like to thank Professor Coldiron for her detailed comments on the drafts of my chapters. Professor Coldiron not only gave constructive criticism, but she continoulsy applauded me for each hurdle that I crossed. I am deeply appreciative of her investment in my success. And I would like to also thank Professor Johnson who graciously agreed to join the committee despite the inconvenience to him. Professor Johnson too lauded my efforts as each chapter was produced. Finally, I would like to thank Professor Upchurch for his contributions to my success. Professor Upchurch made numerous suggestions about scholars that would be worthy of consulting, and his suggestions have added depth to my work. I am forever grateful to each member of the committee for selflessly sharing their time, scholarship and energies. My friends and family have also made this moment possible. I would like to thank my Mom for showering me with love and for sending assorted sweets and prayers my way, as well as constantly inquiring about the perils of my “desertation.” Each time I was tempted to give in to despair her question reminded me that I was not alone. Indeed, I had my partner Sean to send moral support via Skype and weekend visits to Tallahassee, Florida. Sean was not only morally supportive, but he was a rock who gave of himself unquestioningly. How do you put into words the sacrifices that someone has made so that you may succeed? Additionally, my very best of friends, Alex, Angelita, Hyun-Sue, Kelly, and Naimah kept reminding me that they were there for me although we were divided by geography. Each selflessly gave of their time through telephone calls, daily gossip, gift packages, and letters of love. I must also mention my dearest v friend and colleague Dr. Tonya Strickland. My father died last year during the last stages of my dissertation. Tonya selflessly offered me spiritual and physical sustenance through prayer and delicious weekly lunches at the local café. Without her support, my father’s untimely death during the writing of my dissertation would have been unbearable. I would like to also acknowledge my colleagues, friends and students at Bainbridge State College. They too lovingly supported the task at hand with constant questions of progress and glorious stories of success and endurance. I would like to especially thank “prayer warrior” Mrs. Brenda Akins, Ms. Elwanda Coston, Dr. Dave Nelson, Dr. Patrick Smith, Dr. Michael Kirkland, Dr. Patrick Stewart, Mr. Wesley Whitehead, Ms. Melissa Harrell, Mr. Harold McCray, and Ms. Erica Simmons. Last and certainly not least, I would like to thank my writing coach and therapist Dr. Alyssa Roberts. Dr. Roberts is like unto the Faire Britomart who braved the gates and fires of hell to rescue me. Dr. Roberts believed unconditionally in my ability to finish this dissertation. She believed in me even when I had lost my faith and thought that the completion of my dissertation was just a pipe dream. I will be the first person in my family to attain a doctoral degree, and it is not an exaggeration to state that it would not have been possible without the brilliant and magnificent help of Dr. Roberts. When I was a little girl growing up in Jamaica my father sometimes took me on his postal rounds. He would introduce me to everyone and proudly declare, “A mi dawta dis yu no.” This dissertation is for my father who always believed. And this dissertation, this “kind” goeth out because of every person mentioned here. I stand here because of everyone who helped me to distill the very best of myself. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………….viii CHAPTER ONE – A True Sexual Alchemy in Early Modern English Lyric Poetry…………….1 CHAPTER TWO – “A quintessence even from nothingnesse”: The Alchemy of Sexuality and Decay in the Poetry of John Donne………………………………………………………….…..36 CHAPTER THREE – “That Wanton Lady with Her Lover Lose”: Reading the Aesthetics of Alchemy and Passionate Discourse in Books 2 and 3 of The Faerie Queene…………………...72 CHAPTER FOUR – “One Thing To My Purpose Nothing”: Alchemy’s Procreative Imperatives in Shakespeare’s Sonnets……………………………………………………………………….109 CHAPTER FIVE – “Thus Hath My Penne Presum’d To Please My Friend”: Alchemy and the Sensuous Production of Labor in Thomas Carew’s “A Rapture” and Thomas Nashe’s “The Choise of Valentines”………………………………………………………………………..…132 CHAPTER SIX – Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..150 REFERENCES – ……………………………………………………………………………....155 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH – ………………………………………………………………...168 vii ABSTRACT My dissertation, The Alchemy of Sexuality in Early Modern English Lyric Poetry examines the complex relationship of poetry, sexuality and religion to alchemy in early modern England. I analyze poetic representations of transgressive sexuality by William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, John Donne, Thomas Nashe, and Thomas Carew. What emerges from my study is the profound link between alchemical metaphors and poetic expressions of sexuality. These poetic expressions of sexuality develop the poets’ interrogation of gender hierarchy in early modern England. This dissertation has theoretical implications for how we read early modern English poetry, but there are also physiological dimensions. I examine representations of sex and the disciplined Foucauldian early modern body. Notwithstanding, my primary focus of this disciplined body are the humoral processes that were thought to govern early modern physiology and their Galenic ties to alchemy. As my study makes clear, alchemy represents an interventionist conjunction within the Galenic-Humoral economy that predominated in early modern England. In each chapter I illuminate the means by which the poets utilize alchemical iconography to codify a transgressive body and therefore illuminate an illicit sexuality. In the introductory chapter, I outline the history of alchemy and its relationship to sexuality and religion, and by extension to the early modern body. I end the introduction by asserting that the poets’ use of alchemy is not only a symbol of the creative imagination, but also an attempt to map the contours of desire and the poetic mind. Chapter two focuses on books 2 and 3 of Spenser’s epic, The Faerie Queene. In this chapter I seek to develop a theory which will account for the excessive erotica found in these books. At first glance the anachronistic term of pornography would seem to account for the viii sexual activity found in these books. Nonetheless, pornography’s contextual later development, and the slipperiness of the term fail to accommodate early modern theories of erotic reading and the disruptive emotions engendered by such readings. Therefore, I suggest the term of passionate discourse which more fully explains the voyeuristic nature of Spenser’s epic and his ability to suspend the assault on the body which erotica could potentially provoke.