Mirror and Veil: The Historical Dimension of Spenser's Faerie Queene by Michael O'Connell (review)

MIRROR AND VEIL: THE HISTORICAL DIMENSION OF SPENSER'S FAERIE QUEENE BY MICHAEL O'CONNELL (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1977, xiii + 220 pages.) O'Connell begins his study of The Faerie Queene by distinguishing between what he calls the work's "historical dimension" and what is usually referred to as the work's "historical allegory." Objecting to the latter approach because of the "tenuous relation" between the supposed allegories and Spenser's work, O'Connell objects as well because the approach has assumed that through his historical allegory, Spenser sought only to "celebrate" Elizabeth's reign. O'Connell argues that Spenser, following the "moral stance" Vergil adopted in the Aeneid, sought not only to celebrate, but also to criticize the political world around him. What Spenser created in his epic, then, was not an "historical allegory"—a work that consistently refers to, and celebrates, contemporary history—"but a continuing meditation on the relation of poetry and political realities." Thus although The Faerie Queene begins as a celebration of Elizabeth, Spenser in the later books is less willing to celebrate the realities around him. Thanks to his experience in Ireland and to his having offended a powerful personage, Spenser by the work's conclusion has lost his "faith in the moral potential of political power." While the struggle for virtue remains an heroic struggle, that struggle becomes an individual, rather than a national, struggle and for O'Connell, The Faerie Queene "encapsulates the change from the outward-looking, socially engaged aesthetic of the humanists to the introverted and private aesthetic of the poets in the first half of the seventeenth century." To support his thesis, O'Connell relies on a close-reading of much of The Faerie Queene, and his readings are balanced, sensible, and perceptive. Throughout the book, O'Connell's style is lucid; his scholarship, while thorough, is not burdensome; and the work is a pleasure to read. Most importantly, O'Connell's discussion, particularly his treatment of the late books and the Mutability Cantos, focuses on some of the central questions about The Faerie Queene, and O'Connell has much that is new and valuable to say on those questions. OLIVER H. EVANS* •OLIVER H. EVANS is an assistant professor of English at Creighton University. He has published on both English and American literature and is presently completing a book on the American poet and playwright George Henry Boker. VOL. 33, NO. 4 (Fall 1979) ...