“The world is runne out of square”: Spenser and the decline of the domestic economy
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to analyze how Edmund Spenser uses The Faerie Queene as a medium for thinking about the simultaneous decline of the feudal economy and the rise of capitalism. My discussion begins with Marx's observation that the shift from a feudal economy based within the household to a capitalist economy based within the market originated in 16th---Century England. Edmund Spenser, in The Faerie Queene, sensed the transition, but as one lacking the benefit of our modern tools of economic analysis, he could not fully comprehend the changes. He uses his text as a way of thinking through the exact nature and implications of the economic developments. The varied households that populate Faerieland provide the most explicit and telling evidence of Spenser's perception of economic and social change. Moreover, they offer insight into his own situation as a householder, Irish colonialist, and servant of the Queen. My project also considers the ways in which Spenser's London origins and his later tenure in Ireland influenced his perception of the growing urban market economy and the diminishing role of the noble household.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Ross, Purdue University.
Subject Area
British and Irish literature
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