Skelton, John | David A. Loewenstein (essay date 1984)
David A. Loewenstein (essay date 1984)
SOURCE: Loewenstein, David A. “Skelton's Triumph: The Garland of Laurel and Literary Fame.” Neophilologus 68, No. 4 (October 1984): 611-22.
[In the following essay, Loewenstein maintains that the Garland of Laurel uses self-parody and exaggeration to evaluate, question, and celebrate Skelton's poetic character and literary fame.]
Skelton's Garland of Laurel has received less critical consideration and praise than his other major works.1 Yet the poem deserves attention because it evaluates, in a lively and imaginative manner, Skelton's poetic career and the meaning of literary fame.2 Like Chaucer in the House of Fame, to which the Garland is indebted, Skelton takes a skeptical view of Fame and her favors; but unlike his master, he finally celebrates his own apotheosis with the spirit of a Renaissance poet.
The Garland, as A. C....
[The entire page is 5782 words long]
Navigate
