Milton's Spenser: The Politics of Reading"Maureen Quilligan here examines Spenser's Faerie Queene and Milton's Paradise Lost in an attempt to define the means by which they move their readers, through the power of language, to make ethical and political choices. Quilligan addresses questions that deepen our understanding of the social instrumentality of these epic poems: How do the writers make rhetorical appeals to their readers? How can the reader's interpreting presence be detected in the text? How do Spenser and Milton address arguments to readers specifically in terms of their gender? Asserting that Milton and Spenser were extraordinarily sensitive to the presence of the reader in their construction of narrative, Quilligan looks closely at Milton's appropriation of Spenser's techniques for implicating the reader's self-consciousness in the interpretation of the text. She demonstrates that both Milton and Spenser address specific political arguments to an identifiably female reader, and elevate sexual intimacy to the status of an epic subject"--Jacket. |
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Page 198
... response to that fantasy ) , then canto xii of Book III may well be Spenser's version of a female pornographic fantasy - such , at least , is sug- gested by the line about " wavering wemens wit . " But Britomart's response to this ...
... response to that fantasy ) , then canto xii of Book III may well be Spenser's version of a female pornographic fantasy - such , at least , is sug- gested by the line about " wavering wemens wit . " But Britomart's response to this ...
Page 228
... responses as wrong ( and her first responses in the temptation scene are right ) , Eve's prelapsarian experiences do ... response and Adam's interpretation of it prove it to be so . Eve is , as she was made to be , a good listener . In ...
... responses as wrong ( and her first responses in the temptation scene are right ) , Eve's prelapsarian experiences do ... response and Adam's interpretation of it prove it to be so . Eve is , as she was made to be , a good listener . In ...
Page 249
... response , 234 ; and Sin , 84-98 ; transformation vs. Malbec- co's , 14 , 108-25 Scripture : and allegory , 14 ; authority of , 29 , 110 , 148 ; and FQ , 81-82 , 133-34 , 157-59 ; Milton and inter- pretation of , 88 , 109-114 , 118-119 ...
... response , 234 ; and Sin , 84-98 ; transformation vs. Malbec- co's , 14 , 108-25 Scripture : and allegory , 14 ; authority of , 29 , 110 , 148 ; and FQ , 81-82 , 133-34 , 157-59 ; Milton and inter- pretation of , 88 , 109-114 , 118-119 ...
Contents
Acknowledgments | 9 |
The Rhetoric of Reading | 19 |
The Sin of Originality and the Problem of Fiction | 79 |
Copyright | |
2 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
Adam addressed allegory allow appears argues argument authority become beginning Book canto character choice choose close course critical crucial death describes desire directly discussion divine effect Elizabeth English epic Eve's evil experience eyes fact Faerie Queene fall fallen female fiction figure finally further give Guyon heaven hell human immediately insists inspiration interpretation issue kind Knight knowledge labor language less light literal literary look male meaning merely Milton narrative nature offers opening original Paradise Lost play poem poet poetic poetry political position potential present problem proem question reader reading relations remarks Renaissance response rhetorical sacred Satan seems sense serpent sexual specifically Spenser story suggests tells things thou tion tradition transformation true truth turned University Press virgin vision woman women York