Spenser’s Heavenly Elizabeth

This book reveals the queen behind Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. Placing Spenser’s epic poem in the context of the tumultuous sixteenth century, Donald Stump offers a groundbreaking reading of the poem as an allegory of Elizabeth I’s life. By narrating the loves and wars of an Arthurian realm that mirrors Elizabethan England, Spenser explores the crises that shaped Elizabeth’s reign: her break with the pope to create a reformed English Church, her standoff with Mary, Queen of Scots, offensives against Irish rebels and Spanish troops, confrontations with assassins and foreign invaders, and the apocalyptic expectations of the English people in a time of national transformation. Brilliantly reconciling moral and historicist readings, this volume offers a major new interpretation of The Faerie Queene.

Donald Stump is Professor of English at Saint Louis University, USA. His publications include Elizabeth I and Her Age and Elizabeth I and the ‘Sovereign Arts,’ along with numerous articles on Renaissance literature and the Spenser and Sidney World Bibliographies. With Carole Levin, he founded the Queen Elizabeth I Society.

“Seldom have I read a book on Spenser's Faerie Queene so erudite, adroit, and able to correct our usual readings of Spenser's treatment of Elizabeth and the Reformation. Beautifully written, this is a book to treasure.” (Anne Lake Prescott, Helen Goodhart Altschul Professor of English Emerita, Barnard College, USA)

“A remarkable study. Stump’s refusal of simplistic explanations allows the reader to reach a real understanding both of the Queen, and of Spenser’s motivation and method in portraying her. Scrupulous and detailed, Stump’s book shows us Elizabeth’s England as interpreted by the only poet she—rightly—rewarded with a pension.” (Roger Kuin, Professor of English Emeritus, York University, UK)

“This book makes an original, penetrating case for reading The Faerie Queene as a historical allegory. It’s the most persuasive and illuminating attempt I’ve seen to understand the poem as an historically specific document, and it should become an essential resource for understanding Spenser’s account of sixteenth-century history.” (William A. Oram, Helen Means Professor of English Emeritus, Smith College, USA)

“This book reveals the queen behind Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene. Placing Spenser’s epic poem in the context of the tumultuous sixteenth century, Donald Stump offers a groundbreaking reading of the poem as an allegory of Elizabeth I’s life. By narrating the loves and wars of an Arthurian realm that mirrors Elizabethan England, Spenser explores the crises that shaped Elizabeth’s reign: her break with the pope to create a reformed English Church, her standoff with Mary, Queen of Scots, offensives against Irish rebels and Spanish troops, confrontations with assassins and foreign invaders, and the apocalyptic expectations of the English people in a time of national transformation. Brilliantly reconciling moral and historicist readings, this volume offers a major new interpretation of The Faerie Queene.” (Donald Stump is Professor of English at Saint Louis University, USA)