Play of Double Senses Spenser's Faerie Queene [Paperback]

My hope has been to provide students (and teachers) of Spenser's epic with ways of approaching the poem. The first part of the book is concerned with contextsthe life of Spenser, some forms the epic took before (and after) his own, the pervasiveness of certain literary figures (like Chaucer) and figures from literature (like Arthur) during his time. In discussing these topics, I have also tried to place Spenser's text itself. The chapter on overall structure, where others have preceded me, is intended to fasten on the whole poem. The next, on Pageantry, is my own foray into the subject and strategems of Allegory, though I have chosen to speak of Allegory in terms the poem (and not simply the A balanced, coherent reading that is both enlightening and full of delight.