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English Language and Literature

University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well

Spenser, Edmund, 1552?-1599. Faerie Queene

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A Giant Problem In Book Five Of The Faerie Queene, Corinne Mccumber Feb 2019

A Giant Problem In Book Five Of The Faerie Queene, Corinne Mccumber

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

In Book Five of The Faerie Queene, Edmund Spenser has no qualms about killing giants, who appear at multiple points in the text. Spenser has his narrator explicitly call three foes giants: the Egalitarian “Gyant,” (V.ii.30.1), Geryoneo (V.xi.9.5), and Grantorto (V.xii.15.2). Other giants weave through the text, and all perish--though their deaths signal more than simple defeat in combat. Previous scholarly examinations have linked giants to classical and biblical usurpers of both God and the State. Yet giants are also, as I show, uniquely connected to Ireland. Because of this connection, I argue that the giants of Book Five are …


Bodies, Blood, And Manure: The Rhetoric Of Nutrient Cycling In Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene And A View Of The State Of Ireland, Bailey Kemp Feb 2019

Bodies, Blood, And Manure: The Rhetoric Of Nutrient Cycling In Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene And A View Of The State Of Ireland, Bailey Kemp

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

Although the term “ecology” did not exist when Edmund Spenser was writing, forms of ecological understanding were present during Spenser’s time. Therefore, the modern phrase “nutrient cycling” provides a useful vocabulary with which to discuss two of Spenser’s most prominent works: The Faerie Queene and A View of the State of Ireland. Throughout these texts, Spenser exhibits an awareness of the cyclical patterns that govern the natural world, especially regarding the rich Irish soil. While emphasizing the fertility of the Irish landscape serves to advance his colonial agenda, Spenser’s apparent ecological awareness also poses a paradox: the valuable soil …