Yes, true. Or alternatively, the whole work is written deliberately
back-to-front - preposterously. And just possibly, Prays-desire could be
equated with someone in another romance, Philo-clea, or even Cleo-phila.
Penny
-----Original Message-----
From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of James C. Nohrnberg
Sent: 20 December 2009 03:55
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Raleigh/Timias/Palmer
Yes. We don't even know that the
Squire attached to Arthur in Books I
and II is named Timias (or, more
correctly, is going to be named
Timias), until the 18th stanza of Book
III; Timias figures notably in the
sequel, Book IV, but the name does not
come up in Book V, any more than it
did in Book II; yet it/he returns in
Book VI, in connection with the kind
of troubles Timias had in Book III.
One reason I cite Arthur's squire in
the Maleger episode is to suggest that
the temporal suggestion in the future
name foreshadows -- arrives (eagerly
and impatiently?) in the text before
-- the name itself. The honors spoken
of inside Mammon's realm (Philotime's)
and the interior paramour Prays-desire
have both come even before that, but
the proper personal name only appears
when it's a woman's honor that has
moved to center-stage, in the Legend
of Chastity. -- Jim N.
On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:11:01 -0500
"Judith H. Anderson"
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> What seems to me most interesting
>about figures who recur in different
>books
> of Spenser's epic is the way in
>which and the extent to which their
> significances develop and change.
> Arthur and, for a screaming example,
>Sans
> Loy. But also the Queen (addressee
>or referent) and Belphoebe. Figures
> like Britomart and Artegall develop,
>too, but not, as it were, by a stroke
> of the pen, since they are
>progressively and extensively
>embedded/embodied
> in the narrative.
>
> Taking an exclusively vertical view
>of any figure in the FQ would be a
> distortion; they all exist to a
>greater or lesser extent in the
>horizontal
> dimension as well--that of cursive
>narrative. No figure can be isolated
>in
> itself. All relate definitively to
>other figures and to the development
>of
> the episode in which they appear.
>
> I fear I'm uttering commonplaces,
>but I'm moved to do so by the
>exchanges so
> far.
>
> Judith
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of James C. Nohrnberg
> Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2009
>4:59 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Raleigh/Timias/Palmer
>
> I meant to note, (and did, before a
> local power failure erased me!), re
> Impatience and Impotence and
> philotimia, that it is Arthur's
>Squire
> (= Timias) who reanimates --
>rekindles
> -- Arthur's ardor in the Maleger
> episode; the Squire's example
>revives
> in the Prince "thought of glorie and
> of fame" (II.xi.31). Jim N.
>
> On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:35:29 -0500
> "James C. Nohrnberg"
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Notes re
>>Raleigh/Timias/Philotime/Time/Palmer
>>
>> Leaving Raleigh out of Timias'
>>make-up might be like leaving
>>Elizabeth out of The Faerie Queene,
>>since her type in Spenser's Belphoebe
>>was confessedly inspired by Raleigh's
>>Cynthia, according to the Letter to
>>Raleigh, Cynthia being the two
>>courtiers' queen. Timias has
>>enemies, and doubtless overcoming
>>lust-of-the-eyes, lust-of-the-flesh,
>>and the pride of life is not a
>>challenge peculiar to Raleigh, but
>>surely he could be called upon to
>>illustrate its difficulty.
>>
>> Raleigh is the servant of the
>>great-doing Arthur of the Letter, or
>>the British ideal, and the
>>inner-Arthur is the anima-figure
>>Desire-of-Praise; her hellish
>>counterpart is Philotime, an
>>Aristotelian-Scholastic term for
>>ambitious desire or love of acquiring
>>honors*: besides his knighthood,
>>"[a]mong offices and titles Rale[i]gh
>>held were these: Captain of the
>>Guard, Lord Warden of the Stanneries,
>>Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall,
>>Vice-Admiral of Devon and Cornwall,
>>Ranger of Gillingham Forest, Captain
>>of Portland Castle, and Governor of
>>the Island of Jersey." (George
>>Garrett, Death of the Fox, 345).
>>Raleigh inscribed on a window "Fain
>>would I climb, yet fear I to fall,"
>>and Elizabeth wrote back,"If thy
>>heart fail thee, climb not at all";
>>but she should have written, "learn
>>to climb by learning to crawl." For
>>where Timias painfully wallows in
>>Book III, in Book IV he madly
>>grovels: "the ground he kist"
>>(IV.vii.46). But his titles,
>>emoulements, monopolies, and grants
>>were probably worth it-i.e., to the
>>time-serving opportunist, alternately
>>beset by Impatience and Impotence.
>>
>> Aristotle's love of honour,
>>philotimia, earns billing with
>>liberality, magnanimity and
>>magnificence in Aquinas, ST, II-I, q.
>>60, art. 5; Braggadochio's
>>glory-seeking vanity is a morally
>>dubious double for magnificent
>>Arthur's baffled animus Prays-desire.
>>Raleigh's relation to Philotime in
>>Mammon's underworld is strongly,
>>inversely suggested by Raleigh's poem
>>"Giue me my Scallop shell of quiet,"
>>which imagines a final pilgrimage
>>attaining to "heauens bribeless hall,
>>/ Where no corrupted voyces brall; /
>>No Conscience molten into god; / Nor
>>forg'd accusers bought and sold; / No
>>cause deferd, nor vaine spent Iorney,
>>/ For there Christ is the Kings
>>Atturney: / Who pleades for all
>>without degrees, / And he hath
>>Angells, but no fees." (Ll. 35-42,
>>Latham edn., Poems, pp. 50-51.) The
>>relation between Braggadochio and
>>Timias is given by means of the canto
>>schema in AnFQ 597. At least three
>>characters besides Timias can figure
>>Raleigh in Spenser, but that's for
>>another time.
>>
>> The control of time and tempering of
>>occasion is a special function of the
>>Palmer, in the narrative pertaining
>>to Guyon, and is a part of the
>>cardinal virtue of prudence.
>>"Prudence is . the special virtue of
>>the Palmer, and within this virtue
>>the Palmer's assistance might
>>especially recall the Aristotelian
>>habit of euboulia, "a habit whereby
>>we take good counsel" (Nic. Ethics
>>VI.9). Since it belongs to prudence
>>to do this also (Nic. Ethics VI.5),
>>Aquinas comments that "it might seem
>>that euboulia is not a virtue annexed
>>to prudence, but rather prudence
>>itself"; he responds that prudence
>>excels in commanding, and that
>>euboulia is rather a secondary virtue
>>of prudence that perfects counsel."
>> [AnFQ 323] The Palmer is dressed in
>>black, which is "staid Wisdom's hue"
>>in Milton, in his poem on The
>>Thoughtful One. -- Jim N
>>
>>
>> On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:20:10 -0600
>> Donald Stump <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> I like Jon's point about not
>>>divorcing this subject from Ralegh.
>>>Spenser was
>>> remarkable among epic writers in
>>>weaving contmporary figures into the
>>>action
>>> of his allegory, as if he saw the
>>>great drama of divine action upon the
>>> human sphere being played out, not
>>>only in the distant past, but also in
>>>the
>>> present.
>>>
>>> His allegory of the Apocalypse in
>>>Books I and V suggests that he saw
>>>the
>>> "English moment" that had arrived in
>>>his own day as one of the major
>>>turning
>>> points in salvation history, making
>>>Elizabeth and Ralegh and the rest of
>>>the
>>> members of the English court players
>>>on a very grand stage indeed.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Dec 18, 2009 at 12:34 PM,
>>><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dear Stuart, & other colleagues,
>>>>
>>>> With our approach to Christmas, "in
>>>>solstitio brumali, 'the very dead of
>>>> winter'" (as Spenser's colleague
>>>>Lancelot Andrewes put it), it's a
>>>>good time
>>>> to consider soteriology in the FQ.
>>>>
>>>> I don't doubt that Spenser's
>>>>interest in salvation extends beyond
>>>>the first
>>>> book, and for him, the plain pathway
>>>>to salvation must be through faith in
>>>> God -- specifically, the God of
>>>>Christianity. Just how Christian and
>>>> "Christianised" doctrines and
>>>>concepts are related in FQ to
>>>>characters and
>>>> images that hark back to
>>>>non-Christian texts and traditions --
>>>>isn't that a
>>>> matter that clearly fascinated
>>>>Spenser? Does he ever settle the
>>>>matter,
>>>> making it easy for us to put
>>>>Christian and non-Christian things in
>>>>separate
>>>> boxes? I think he wondered, more
>>>>than he worried, about affiliations
>>>>and
>>>> distinctions in the various
>>>>traditions to which he appeals.
>>>>
>>>> There is much to be gained from
>>>>focusing first on the Palmer, then on
>>>> Timias. Does the distinction
>>>>between scientia and sapientia come
>>>>into the
>>>> discussion of the Palmer? He sounds
>>>>more like an embodiment of scientia,
>>>> but his identity as a pilgrim who
>>>>has already been to Jerusalem argues
>>>>for
>>>> the perfecting of science with
>>>>wisdom.
>>>>
>>>> Why has there been little
>>>>examination of Timias "in his own
>>>>right"? Is
>>>> this only because he is a minor
>>>>character? I don't think so. His
>>>> separation from Arthur bears
>>>>interpretation; he has a place in the
>>>>narrative
>>>> "in his own right" (or wrong, as the
>>>>case may be). But I question the
>>>>value
>>>> of determining the significance of a
>>>>character -- major or minor --
>>>>outside
>>>> of relationships, independent of the
>>>>dynamics of specific episodes. In
>>>> Timias's relationship(s) with
>>>>Belphoebe, the state of his soul is
>>>>clearly at
>>>> stake, not least in his own acute
>>>>introspection, verging upon despair.
>>>>
>>>> Spenser's allusions to Ralegh's
>>>>honor and Ralegh's fortunes at court
>>>>won't
>>>> be central to this inquiry, but I
>>>>think they shouldn't be set too far
>>>>off to
>>>> the side. Ralegh's own writings
>>>>have much to say about honor, and
>>>>about the
>>>> nature and destiny of the immortal
>>>>soul.
>>>>
>>>> Jon Quitslund
>>>>
>>>> -------------- Original message from
>>>>Stuart Hart <[log in to unmask]>:
>>>> --------------
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> > Dear Colleagues,
>>>> > I am currently a doctoral
>>>>researcher at the University of
>>>>Birmingham,
>>>> writing
>>>> > about soteriology in the FQ. My
>>>>research aims to highlight how
>>>>Spenser's
>>>> > interest in the doctrine of
>>>>salvation extends beyond the first
>>>>book. In
>>>> my first
>>>> > chapter, I examinaed the role of
>>>>the Palmer, whom I argued was the
>>>> > embodiment of sapientia, one of
>>>>the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit of
>>>> Isa. 11:
>>>> > 2-3. I proposed that his guidance
>>>>of Guyon towards temperance, may be
>>>> read
>>>> > as the praxis of God's imputed
>>>>grace working within the elect to
>>>>steer
>>>> him
>>>> > away from carnal depravity. To
>>>>this end, I tried to show how
>>>>early-modern
>>>>
>>>> > readers might adopt such
>>>>strategies to reconcile the
>>>>previously polarised
>>>>
>>>> > orders of nature and grace.
>>>> >
>>>> > In my second chapter, I am again
>>>>focusing on a seemingly minor
>>>>character,
>>>> Timias. I believe that Timias'
>>>>significance is greater than his part
>>>>in
>>>> > allegorising the perilious
>>>>fortunes of Renaissance courtiers,
>>>>and Raleigh
>>>> in particular. I
>>>> > will
>>>> > argue that his trials and
>>>>tribulations are indeed those of the
>>>> Christianised
>>>> > soul
>>>> > seeking to find honour. To this
>>>>end, I am reading him as the
>>>>embodiment
>>>> of
>>>> > Christianised honour. In proposing
>>>>this argument, I will draw greatly
>>>> upon
>>>> > Robert Ashley's 'Of Honour', which
>>>>although written circa. 1596, is
>>>> germain to
>>>> > thought of the time.
>>>> >
>>>> > In researching the figure of
>>>>Timias, I have found very few
>>>>critical
>>>> sources
>>>> > which examine him in his own
>>>>right; he is always defined by his
>>>> relationship to
>>>> > others, or the ways in which he
>>>>illuminates the qualities of the more
>>>> major
>>>> > characters. Moreover, there
>>>>doesn't appear to be a great deal of
>>>>research
>>>>
>>>> > which examines him as the
>>>>personification of Christianised
>>>>honour. To
>>>> this end,
>>>> > I wondered whether there are any
>>>>colleagues who could possibly point
>>>>me
>>>> in
>>>> > the right direction of some little
>>>>known, or more widely known sources,
>>>> that I
>>>> > have foolishly overlooked.
>>>> >
>>>> > Kind regards to you all at this
>>>>festive time,
>>>> >
>>>> > Stuart Hart
>>>> > University of Birmingham
>>>> > England.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Donald Stump
>>> Professor of English
>>> English Undergraduate Director and
>>> Director of the Micah Program
>>> 229 Humanities
>>> Saint Louis University
>>> St. Louis, MO 63103
>>> (314) 977-3009
>>
>> [log in to unmask]
>> James Nohrnberg
>> Dept. of English, Bryan Hall 219
>> Univ. of Virginia
>> P.O Box 400121
>> Charlottesville, VA 22904-4121
>
> [log in to unmask]
> James Nohrnberg
> Dept. of English, Bryan Hall 219
> Univ. of Virginia
> P.O Box 400121
> Charlottesville, VA 22904-4121
[log in to unmask]
James Nohrnberg
Dept. of English, Bryan Hall 219
Univ. of Virginia
P.O Box 400121
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4121
|