The Faerie Queene Group

Question:

i
i
Student
Graduate School

What is Dark conceit??

This is the term which is used in the Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene. Kindly explain that term along with Examples.

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Posted by i on Monday March 5, 2007 at 12:23 AM and tagged with edmund spenser, the faerie queene.

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  1. blazedale

    eNotes Editor

    By this I believe Spenser meant an allegory, in other words the Faerie Queen is meant to be read as an entertainment that also has a purpose. I found the following quote on enotes:

    according to Spenser, the point of the "Dark conceit" and the book itself is “to fashion a gentleman or noble person in vertuous and gentle discipline.” The Faerie Queene thus functions as a conduct book used to train a perfect courtier. Each of the six books is devoted to the exploits of a knight who represents a particular virtue: holiness, temperance, chastity, friendship, justice, and courtesy.

    Sources:
    http://history.enotes.com/salem-history/edmund-spenser

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    Posted by blazedale on Monday March 5, 2007 at 10:46 AM