Spenser's Famous Flight

by Patrick Cheney

Overview

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

ISBN-13:	9781487596477
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	12/15/1993
Series:	Heritage
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	390
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Patrick Cheney is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Pennsylvania State University.

Editorial Reviews

Contends that Edmund Spenser's (1552-99) idea of a perfect literary career was not strictly the conventional Virgilian pattern of pastoral to epic, but a Christian revision of that pattern in light of Petrarch and the Reformation. He sought to combine Virgil's value on fame with Augustine's on glory, bridged by Petrarchan erotic love lyrics, says Cheney (English and comparative literature, Pennsylvania State U.), and relied heavily on the image of the winged poet authorized by both Classical and Christian cultures. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)\

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