Spenser's Famous Flight
© 1993
In Spenser's famous Flight, Patrick Cheney challenges the received wisdom about the shape and goal of Spenser's literary career. He contends that Spenser's idea of a literary career is not strictly the convential Virgilian pattern of pastoral to epic, but a Christian revision of that pattern in light of Petrarch and the Reformation.
Cheney demonstrates that, far from changing his mind about his career as a result of disillusionment, Spenser embarks upon and completes a daring progress that secures his status as an Orphic poet.
In October, Spenser calls his idea of a literary career the 'famous flight.' Both classical and Christian culture has authorized the myth of the winged poet as a primary myth of fame and glory. Cheney shows that throughout his poetry Spenser relies on an image of flight to accomplish his highest goal.
Product Details
- Series: Heritage
- World Rights
- Page Count: 390 pages
- Dimensions: 5.9in x 1.0in x 9.0in
-
Author Information
Patrick Cheney is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Pennsylvania State University.
-
Subjects and Courses
