Further on the subject of the heart and its blood,
adding to what Gary Ettari and Peter Herman have said.
To the work of Gail Paster already referenced, I would
add the essay on blood and the nervous system in The
Body in Parts, ed. Carla Mazzio & ?? Gail may have
published further along the same lines, or have
something about to come out. The trouble, for
Spenserians, with her piece in the Mazzio collection, is
that almost all its source texts are from the 17th c.
There's an earlier history that I've explored in work
just about to be published.
Medical and philosophical authorities in the 16th and
17th cc., both before and after Harvey's study of the
circulatory system, understood the heart to be central
to the making and moving of a soul-like but material
(or 'organic') 'spirit,' active in perception,
imagination, all the emotions and thus in bodily
activity, and image-related memory. For a comprehensive
discussion, see the article on 'The Organic Soul' in the
Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy.
In Spenser's lexicon, the terms 'spright' and 'spirit'
are much more common than 'soul' and 'mind.' I believe
that Spenser links not only emotional life but moral
character more with the heart-based 'spright,'
understood as an instrument of the soul, than with the
immortal and immaterial soul itself. And the 'spright'
seems to enjoy some sort of life after separation from
the body that dies when the spirit leaves it: I think
Carol Kaske understands this better than I do.
The fight between Britomart and Arthegall offers a good
instance of the organic 'spright' in action, tending to
over-rule, because of love, Britomart's and Arthegall's
vengeful intentions.
That's impromptu, and written without recourse to my
more extensive and orderly treatment of a big subject.
Jon Quitslund
> Just catching up on e-mail and reading quickly, so forgive me if I am
> simply repeating what others have said. On hearts: if I were into hearts
> I'd look particularly hard at emblem books. Wasn't there a Dutch
> (?) one with
> lots of Cupids and hearts. A man with a name iwth "veen" in it? In any
> case hearts were big in emblem books--bleeding, glowing, whatever. Hearts
> are also interesting in terms of early modern notions of blood
> circulation and whether or not some of our mental or emotional processes
> were located there or elsewhere. I assume that Spenser feels
> "heart-robbing gladness" when Elizabeth Boyle is nice to him because a
> happy heart sends blood to the surface whereas a pained one needs blood to
> succor it? Or is that backwards? On lions: I've spent fruitless time
> wondering if Spenser could possibly have known the romance by Chretien de
> Troyes with a knight and a lion. It's a nice lion, too. Anne.
>
> On Tue, 13 Nov 2001, Matthew STEGGLE(SCS) wrote:
>
> > There is a thing about the Lion being a symbol of England, isn't there?
> >
> > According to Brewer's Dict. of Phrase and Fable
> > http://www.bartleby.com/81/10346.html
> > the Lion represents England. See also
> > http://www.bibliomania.com/2/3/174/1122/14804/1/frameset.html
> > http://www.bootlegbooks.com/Reference/PhraseAndFable/data/761.html
> >
> > - and what about that nursery rhyme about the lion and the unicorn, which
> > represent the English and the Scottish monarchies.
> >
> > It's still with us as a national symbol - 3 lions on the chest of the English
> > football team shirt - and a little lion is printed on English hen's eggs -
> > hurrah!
> > see http://www.britegg.co.uk/homepage/index2.htm for details.
> >
> > That's about as far as I can take the idea off the top of my head.
> >
> > All the best,
> >
> > Matt.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -
> >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---
> > Dr Matthew Steggle
> > Lecturer in English, Sheffield Hallam University
> > Montgomery House, 32 Collegiate Crescent, Collegiate Campus
> > Sheffield S10 2BJ - UNITED KINGDOM
> > Tel: (+44) 114 225 4350
> > Home: http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/cs/teaching/ms/index.html
> > EMLS: http://purl.oclc.org/emls/emlshome.html
> >
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