Edmund Spenser's "Faerie Queene" and the Monomyth of Joseph Campbell: Essays in Interpretation - Studies in Comparative Literature No. 35 (Hardback)

This work subjects "The Faerie Queene" to an archetypal mode of analys is to extract a coherent meaning from the text. It establishes the monomythic model of Joseph Campbell as a context for evaluating the heroic dimensions of the questing knights Redcrosse, Guyon, Britomart and Calidore. The methodology proposes to liberate Spenser from allegory. The study promotes the quest paragim as a valid measure of characterization capable of generating interpretation across a wide spectrum of texts. Finally, the study suggests that Spenser - himself subjected to analysis following the model - abandons his ambitious self-appointed quest to complete "The Faeris queene" in favour of a modestly succesful completion of a surrogate quest to achieve personal and literary renown, a quest emboddied in the "Amoretti".