The Subversive Dialectical Construction of Subjectivity in Spenser's "Aprill," "Maye," and "October"

• Main Authors: Wen-chai Chen, 陳文財
• Other Authors: David B. Arnett
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 1999
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/27174766479771732365

碩士 === 國立中山大學 === 外國語文學系 === 87 === This thesis aims at demonstrating the subversive implications of Spenser's fashioning of his political, religious, and poetic identity in his first major literary text, The Shepheardes Calender. Through the process of self-creation, Spenser undercuts Queen Elizabeth's claim to absolute power. The introduction offers a theoretical frame for the body of this thesis. The concept of subjectivity proposed by Louis Montrose, one of the most famous New Historicists, is fully exploited in my interpretation of The Shepheardes Calender. It is in the Elizabethan age that Spenser, as a poet-subject, constructs his subjectivity dialectically and subversively. Chapter one deals with the dialectical relationship between Spenser and Queen Elizabeth I in the April eclogue. Chapter two focuses on the religious conflicts between Catholicism and Protestantism portrayed in the May eclogue and how Spenser through the conflicts defines his role as a Protestant humanist. Chapter three emphasizes the way Spenser fashions in the October eclogue his role as a new poet against the authoritative royal power in the Elizabethan age. The conclusion highlights Spenser's subversive construction of subjectivity in relation to the Elizabethan age.