Comic Spenser: Faith, Folly, and the Faerie Queene

Spenser's sense of humor is often underestimated and misunderstood, but this study argues that it is an expression of tolerance and faith as well as an instrument of satire. Victoria Coldham-Fussell demonstrates this by reinterpreting key episodes in The Faerie Queene and showing how humor relates to Spenser's moral and doctrinal preoccupations.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 18 October 2022
Publisher: Manchester University Press

Spenser, once renowned for his Protestant sobriety and moral idealism, has gained a more prominent reputation for his irony and elusive nature. However, this study contends that his sense of humor remains underestimated and misunderstood. Through a series of bold reinterpretations of key episodes in The Faerie Queene, Victoria Coldham-Fussell demonstrates that humor plays a central role in Spenser's moral and doctrinal preoccupations. She explores amusing discrepancies between the poem's ambitious and idealizing postures and its Protestant portrayal of corruptible human nature. At the same time, Coldham-Fussell argues that Spenserian humor encompasses expressions of tolerance and faith, as well as serving as a tool of satire.

This study's application of modern comic theory to a significant text of the English Renaissance and its comprehensive examination of the comic influences that shaped Spenser's literary milieu will be invaluable to teachers of the Renaissance period, students of comic literature, and established Spenserians. By delving into Spenser's use of humor, this study offers a fresh perspective on his works, shedding light on his complex and multifaceted literary legacy.

Weight: 332g
Dimension: 139 x 216 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781526167040