Spenser’s Heavenly Elizabeth

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

   PDF

2. Spenser’s Method and Artistry

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Introduction to Spenser’s Art of Royal Encomium

      • Donald Stump

      Pages 3-34

   3. Spenser, Elizabeth, and the Problem of Flattery

      • Donald Stump

      Pages 35-68

   4. Gloriana, Biblical Typology, and Moral Transfiguration

      • Donald Stump

      Pages 69-101

3. Spenser’s Elizabeth

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 103-103

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   2. Una and the English Reformation

      • Donald Stump

      Pages 105-160

   3. The Maturation of the Queen

      • Donald Stump

      Pages 161-215

   4. The Queen in Her Glory

      • Donald Stump

      Pages 217-270

4. The Faerie Queene in Context

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 271-271

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   2. Una, Mercilla, and the Elizabethan Apocalypse

      • Donald Stump

      Pages 273-305

   3. Sidney, Spenser, and the Queen

      • Donald Stump

      Pages 307-328

5. Back Matter

   Pages 329-337

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This book reveals the queen behind Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. Placing Spenser’s epic poem in the context of the tumultuous sixteenth century, Donald Stump offers a groundbreaking reading of the poem as an allegory of Elizabeth I’s life. By narrating the loves and wars of an Arthurian realm that mirrors Elizabethan England, Spenser explores the crises that shaped Elizabeth’s reign: her break with the pope to create a reformed English Church, her standoff with Mary, Queen of Scots, offensives against Irish rebels and Spanish troops, confrontations with assassins and foreign invaders, and the apocalyptic expectations of the English people in a time of national transformation. Brilliantly reconciling moral and historicist readings, this volume offers a major new interpretation of The Faerie Queene.

• Edmund Spenser
• The Faerie Queen
• Queen Elizabeth I of England
• Elizabeth I
• Karl Marx
• Gloriana
• allegorical representations of Elizabeth
• New Heaven
• Book of Revelation
• English Protestants
• John Bale
• John Fox
• Henry Bullinger
• Millenarian movement
• Spenser's apocalypticism
• Patristic tradition
• Elizabethan history
• Sir Phillip Sydney

“Spenser's Heavenly Elizabeth will be of interest to all those who see Spenser's epic poem as preoccupied primarily with royalty and providential history. … His delicate handling of the poetry achieves a fine balance between textuality and topicality. … Through his editorial and bibliographical energies he has been an enabler of decisive work on the image of Elizabeth. This magisterial monograph affords him the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his own unsurpassed expertise.” (Willy Maley, Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 74 (3), 2021)

“Spenser’s Heavenly Elizabeth is a tour de force and a gift to the Renaissance scholarly community. It provides a rich and detailed analysis of Spenser’s magnum opus while at the same time, providing a rich historical narrative of the English Reformation(s).” (Jesse Russell, Christianity & Literature, Vol. 70 (3), September, 2021)
“Seldom have I read a book on Spenser's Faerie Queene so erudite, adroit, and able to correct our usual readings of Spenser's treatment of Elizabeth and the Reformation. Beautifully written, this is a book to treasure.” (Anne Lake Prescott, Helen Goodhart Altschul Professor of English Emerita, Barnard College, USA)

“A remarkable study. Stump’s refusal of simplistic explanations allows the reader to reach a real understanding both of the Queen, and of Spenser’s motivation and method in portraying her. Scrupulous and detailed, Stump’s book shows us Elizabeth’s England as interpreted by the only poet she—rightly—rewarded with a pension.” (Roger Kuin, Professor of English Emeritus, York University, UK)

“This book makes an original, penetrating case for reading The Faerie Queene as a historical allegory. It’s the most persuasive and illuminating attempt I’ve seen to understand the poem as an historically specific document, and it should become an essentialresource for understanding Spenser’s account of sixteenth-century history.” (William A. Oram, Helen Means Professor of English Emeritus, Smith College, USA)

“This book reveals the queen behind Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene. Placing Spenser’s epic poem in the context of the tumultuous sixteenth century, Donald Stump offers a groundbreaking reading of the poem as an allegory of Elizabeth I’s life. By narrating the loves and wars of an Arthurian realm that mirrors Elizabethan England, Spenser explores the crises that shaped Elizabeth’s reign: her break with the pope to create a reformed English Church, her standoff with Mary, Queen of Scots, offensives against Irish rebels and Spanish troops, confrontations with assassins and foreign invaders, and the apocalyptic expectations of the English people in a time of national transformation. Brilliantly reconciling moral and historicist readings, this volume offers a major new interpretation of The Faerie Queene.” (Donald Stump is Professor of English at Saint Louis University, USA)

 

• Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, USA

  Donald Stump

Donald Stump is Professor of English at Saint Louis University, USA. His publications include Elizabeth I and Her Age and Elizabeth I and the ‘Sovereign Arts,’ along with numerous articles on Renaissance literature and the Spenser and Sidney World Bibliographies. With Carole Levin, he founded the Queen Elizabeth I Society.

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