Description
Book SynopsisThe Pain of Reformation argues that Edmund Spenser’s 1590
Faerie Queene examines emerging notions of vulnerability in Renaissance England. This book approaches sensation through the aesthetics of the vulnerable body, explores the emergence of notions of shared vulnerability, and illuminates a constellation of masculinity, sexuality, and ethics in post-Reformation England.
Trade Review"A brilliant, bold, generous, and moving book. Campana makes powerful contributions in ethics, gender and sexuality, and the narrative imagination in Spenser’s Reformation culture.”
---—Theresa Krier, Macalester CollegeCampana makes a highly compelling case for his claims, and this accomplished and ambitious book will undoubtedly provoke a great deal of lively discussion for years to come. * —Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 *
. . . This book will hearten anyone seeking an alternative to overly pious or hegemonic readings of 'The Faerie Queene'. * —Renaissance Quarterly *
“This splendid book makes a fresh and original entry into the burgeoning criticism on Renaissance selfhood. Campana brilliantly links the motif of vulnerability to the social and physiological precariousness of early modern masculinity.”
---—Michael Schoenfeldt, The University of MichiganTable of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Part 1: The Legend of Holiness 1. Reading Bleeding Trees: Th e Poetics of Other People's Pain 2. Spenser's Dark Materials: Representation in the Shadow of Christ Part II: The Legend of Temperance 3. On Not Defending Poetry: Spenser, Suff ering, and the Energy of Aff ect 4. Boy Toys and Liquid Joys: Pleasure and Power in the Bower of Bliss Part III: The Legend of Chastity 5. Vulnerable Subjects: Amoret's Agony, Britomart's Battle for Chastity 6. Damaged Gods: Adonis and the Pain of Allegory Conclusion Notes 000 Index 000
