The Multifold Whole and the Feminine: Reading Books III and IV of Spenser’s The Faerie Queene

This dissertation aims at explicating the complex structure of Books III and IV of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. One of the main objectives is to delineate the dialectical interactions between romance and allegory of the poem; the other is to enquire into the feminine structure of Spenser’s allegorical poetics. Chapter 1 deals with an intense literary debate in the sixteenth-century Italy. Two poets involved in the debate, Ariosto and Tasso, and the sway of Aristotelianism are the central subjects of this chapter. The aim is to illustrate Spenser’s differences from both the two poets and the Aristotelian vein. Chapter 2 deals with Spenser’s eclecticism by exploring his relationships with Virgil and the Virgilian-Landinian exegetical tradition. The aim is to show that The Aeneid and the Neoplatonist tradition contribute to Spenser’s ability to combine a large, complicated allegorical system with an extended narrative. Besides, Spenser’s divergence from Virgil is also discussed. Chapter 3 deals with the peculiar design of The Faerie Queene in order to specify the generic mixture of the poem. Spenser’s continuation and divergence from the Arthurian romance tradition are discussed in order to clarify the dialectical equiponderant relationship between romance and allegory of the poem. Chapter 4 describes the Gothic structure of Spenser’s poem by way of discussing two principles of Gothic architectonics. The purpose is to clarify how the Spenserian Gothic space mediates and joins romance with allegory or sensual materialization with spiritual dematerialization. Chapter 5 constructs a dialogue between Spenser and the (post)modern literary theories of Derrida, Benjamin, and Lacan in order to explore the possible significance of Spenser for our age. Deconstructionists’ politics of the infinite play of language may result into a vicious infinity of antagonistic and evasive politics. Britomart’s engagement with Busirane’s art is discussed in order to show how she de-deconstructively returns to the reality of love and initiates ethical practices. Benjamin’s theory of allegory and Lacan’s theory of the feminine are enlisted to clarify Spenser’s practice, via Britomart, of a materialist, feminine allegory.