Central to my teaching of Book I is the division of the story into discrete
episodes. Absorbing the whole, or even a canto at a time can be
overwhelming to a survey student just coming away from Everyman and the
Canterbury Tales. I risk the prospect of altering and simplifying the
poem's original form to help students digest the basic narrative, and as
you can see below, I use the mini-titles as a comprehension aid also, again
at some risk [but a good exercise can have students interogate/retitle
these sections themselves... something like "Error Defeats Redcrosse"!]. [I
also skip over Una's part in the narrative to focus mainly on Redcrosse, at
least until Arthur's arrival] Preparing students to read Book I in these
small sections has helped invite them into the narrative, one which the
vast majority can readily digest once they realize that they don't have to
absorb it canto by canto. I liberally compare FQ Book I to Everyman, which
we contrast not only in theology (works vs. grace), but also in allegorical
characterization (an evil character in Everyman, such as "Goods," tells him
that he is evil and exactly why he is evil vs. Archimago and co., who are
much more prone to deception).


Introduction + Redcrosse, Una, and a Dwarf, Canto 1.1-6
Redcrosse Defeats Error, Canto 1.7-27
Archimago Attacks Redcrosse with an Erotic Dream, Canto 1.28-55
Redcrosse Deceived into Thinking Una Faithless, Canto 2.1-11
Redcrosse Defeats Sans Foy; Becomes the Protector of Duessa (“Fidessa”)
Canto 2.12-27

Redcrosse and Duessa encounter Fraudubio , Canto 2.28-45
Summary of Canto 3
Redcrosse and Duessa Visit the House of Pride, Canto 4.1-37
Sans Joy Challenges Redcrosse to Avenge Sans Foy’s Death, Canto 4.38-51
Duel: Redcrosse Defeats Sans Joy, Canto 5.1-18 
Summary of Canto 5.19-44
Dwarf Warns Redcrosse; They Leave the House of Pride Canto 5.45-53

Summary of Canto 6
Redcrosse Delights with Duessa; Is Captured by Orgoglio, Canto 7.1-18
The Dwarf finds Una and Relates Redcrosse’s Fate, Canto 7.19-28
Prince Arthur Arrives as the Image of Grace, Canto 7.29-52
Arthur Defeats Orgoglio, Canto 8.1-28
Arthur Releases Redcrosse from the Dungeon of Pride Canto 8.29-44
The Spoiling of Duessa, Canto 8.45-50


> [Original Message]
> From: anne prescott <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 10/30/2008 1:30:30 PM
> Subject: Re: Book I in survey courses, plot, and two pedagogical
suggestions
>
> I've just finished teaching Book I in a survey of English Renaissance  
> lit., and if they don't like it they don't dare say so to my face,  
> perhaps because I assign my own edition--and give each of them a  
> dollar bill to replace my royalty, which is not just honest but more  
> to the point is great theater.  I distribute--handout and e-mail--a  
> quickie three-page guide to the Reformation, tell them a few truly  
> horrific things that were being said against Catholics (one polemical  
> pamphlet tells how the dead Pope, now a whore, bleeds into a chalice  
> then used in an infernal mass--boy, does that get their attention) to  
> show that Spenser wasn't the worst of the lot, remind them of what  
> Kaske and others (including me) have said about Spenser's  
> appropriation of some Catholic stuff, and say a word about allegory.
>          My main contribution in terms of plot and allegory, I think,  
> is to note that a) Spenser is exploring virtues and not illustrating  
> them, that b) he is mixing a whole lot of genres and traditions from  
> Ovidian tree-catalogues to Virgil (read in the MA as allegory of the  
> wandering soul) to the chic Italians to Bale-like polemic to  
> pilgrimage allegory as in Erasmus et al. with a dragon fight recalling  
> Hawes (thanks, Carol Kaske), and that c) [this is one pedagogical  
> suggestion) the basic structure through the house of Holiness is very  
> well anticipated and explained by the allegorized parable by St.  
> Bernard, very well known in Spenser's England, that describes a young  
> man on a feisty horse named Desire or Will who gets off the path into  
> Error, then falls into Pride, then into Despair, and then goes to a  
> sort of hospital to get better. Identical to Spenser--but in the  
> original (and in it's later versions by Jean Cartigny and Olivier de  
> la Marche as trans. Stephen Batman) he die, whereas in Spenser he has  
> to fight the dragon and then go back to work. Now, Batman's version  
> has lots and lots of illustrations, so I photocopy them and hand them  
> out, showing Will the Horse and the knight dressed in Pauline armor.  
> No Una, but there is a female Memory a nice Reason the Palmer. I also  
> hand out copies of Durer's pilgrim knight as well as Peacham's  
> pictures, based on Spenser, of Archimago and a Philautia that works  
> with Lucifera. Oh, and a Wither showing that "all flesh is grass," as  
> in being poured out on it.
>        The stuff from Bat(e)man is in an essay I did, but if anyone  
> doesn't have EEBO and wants a TIFF or PDF of some of the pictures,  
> just ask. I really do think that Bernard's structure as redone, with  
> pictures, by Renaissance allegorists, works well to explain the basic  
> plot/pattern up to the dragon fight, and pictures are good to have.  
> (There's also a very funny little one, from the MA, of some poor monk  
> staring at the whole armor of Christ and clutching his head, probably  
> wondering how the Hell he's going ti put it on.)
>       My other pedagogical suggestion is that although there's no  
> avoiding the religious background (and my students are ignorant even  
> when, as they often are even here in NYC, pious--ignorance doesn't  
> correlate with practice) Book I works fairly well in secular  
> psychological terms, too--not to believe you are loved and accepted or  
> at least worth being alive is not uncommon. Many struggle with being  
> "too solemn sad" and Despair is a version of clinical depression (I  
> also tell them about the physics of melancholia, which amuses them).
>        Anne.
>
> On Oct 29, 2008, at 11:23 AM, Germaine Warkentin wrote:
>
> > The question really is, "where does the 'plot' LIE?" It's hard to  
> > adapt to the fact that the plot *is* in the "description." They need  
> > contemporary comparisons to help them. I don't know if you get BBC  
> > America where you are, but I enjoy their techno-thrillers, like for  
> > example "Spooks" -- known in the US as MI5. Anybody who watches it  
> > gets almost more action than they can cope with, but what fascinates  
> > me is the way Spooks turns the visual scene of London into an aspect  
> > of the plot: dark, mordant, incredibly urban and modern. Of course  
> > those of you versed in the repertoire of current noir movies and  
> > digital games will have better examples. One of my English relatives  
> > was stunned and shocked to learn of my fascination with Spooks!  
> > Elderly lady professors are supposed to prefer Jane Austen (I like  
> > her too). Speaking of visuals that tell the story, has anybody here  
> > seen "The Duchess"? I'm interested in it because of course the  
> > Duchess in question is a lineal descendant of the Sidneys. But that  
> > very high-end chick flick is expert at creating an aspect of plot  
> > out of costumes, rural vistas, etc. Germaine.
> >
> > -- 
> > ***********************************************************************
> > Germaine Warkentin // English (Emeritus)
> > VC 205, Victoria College (University of Toronto),
> > 73 Queen's Park Crescent East, Toronto, Ont. M5S 1K7, CANADA
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> > “The primary rule of intellectual life: when puzzled, it never hurts  
> > to read the primary documents” (Stephen Jay Gould)
> > ***********************************************************************