The Faerie Queene, Edmund Spenser - Donald V. Stump (essay date 1991)
Donald V. Stump (essay date 1991)
SOURCE: Stump, Donald V. “The Two Deaths of Mary Stuart: Historical Allegory in Spenser's Book of Justice.” Spenser Studies: A Renaissance Poetry Annual, Vol. 9, edited by Patrick Cullen and Thomas P. Roche, Jr., pp. 81-105. New York: AMS Press, 1991.
[In the following essay, Stump discusses the role of Mary Stuart (also known as Mary Queen of Scots) in Book V of The Faerie Queene.]
Scholars seem to have reached a consensus on Spenser's treatment of Mary Queen of Scots in Book V of The Faerie Queene. The prevailing view is that she is represented twice: first as Radigund in Cantos iv-vii and then again as Duessa in Cantos ix-x.1 This is, I think, a useful insight. As it has usually been presented, however, the theory leads to at least one embarrassment: it requires Mary to die twice, once when Britomart cleaves her helmet in Canto vii and again when Mercilla sends her to be executed...
[The entire page is 10095 words long]
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