Description
Book SynopsisConcentrating on major figures of women in The Faerie Queene, together with the figures constellated around them, Anderson's Narrative Figuration explores the contribution of Spenser's epic romance to an appreciation of women's plights and possibilities in the age of Elizabeth. Taken together, their stories have a meaningful tale to tell about the function of narrative, which proves central to figuration in the still moving, metamorphic poem that Spenser created.
Trade Review"I've rarely read a critical work on Spenser that offers more page-by-page illumination of the text it treats. The interpretation is supported by a magisterial command of the scholarship, and of the theoretical work that has enabled us to understand what 'character' can mean to Spenser and other Renaissance writers. It's simply the best treatment I've seen of women in The Faerie Queene." William A. Oram, Smith College "Once again, Judith Anderson proves herself to be one of the supplest readers of allegory among us. It is not chiefly for its local insights, though they are luminous, that I treasure this book: it is for its poised and subtle lessons in method. 'Figuration' in these pages captures the very essence of Spenserian technique: its affective, philosophical, and representational mobility." Linda Gregerson, University of Michigan
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Spenser's Narrative Figuration of Women
1. Parody and Perfection: Spenser's Una
2. Belphoebe's "mirrours more then one": History's Interlude
3. Britomart: Inside and Outside the Armor
4. Phantasies, Pains, and Punishments: A Still-Moving Coda
Notes
Index
