I believe that Katherine's thought-provoking observation about the representation of sexual acts in FQ is valid, so long as one insists on 'regular' heterosexuality. There is, of course, the mysterious instance of Venus' union with Adonis in III vi 46-48, which is irregular in two respects, being between a goddess and a transfigured mortal, and portraying the female as the active partner. On the other hand, it should be noted that Adonis' role, as his 'sweetness' is taken in by Venus (46.9), is that of 'the Father of all formes ... that liuing giues to all' (47.8-9).
I would suggest that it leads to a misreading of Spenser's myth, which pertains to the generation of "all things that are born to live and die" (30.5), if we read it as either a normative or a cautionary example of copulation between a man and a woman.
Cheers, Jon Quitslund (Geo. Washington U., retired)
|