Harold L. Weatherby

"Much has been written about Spenser's theological allegory and its sources but, until now, no one has suggested sustained patristic influence. Harold Weatherby argues that taking patristic theology as a measure for certain episodes in The Faerie Queene affords more convincing evidence than the familiar (usually Protestant) references. He shows that sixteenth-century editions of the works of the principal Fathers were available to Spenser, and that, in addition, there appeared to be considerable interest in the Fathers at Spenser's college, Pembroke. With the additional evidence of the poem itself, Weatherby introduces the theory that patristic theology affected the poet's understanding of Christianity." "To demonstrate, the author examines seven allegorical episodes in The Faerie Queene, each of which has had extensive previous interpretive attention, quite different from the approach taken here. He looks closely at the dragon fight and the figure of St George; the subsequent nuptial celebration with Una and Red Crosse; the role of Belphoebe as an emblem of temperance (as the Fathers conceive temperance); Guyon's descent into Mammon's cave; Guyon's encounter with Mordant, Amavia, and Ruddymane, and his futile effort to cleanse the child's hands; Arthur's defeat of Maleger; and the presentation of Dame Nature. In each of these episodes, patristic thought is seen to have significantly shaped the allegory." "The epilogue suggests how patristic thought influenced Spenser's presentation of eros in Books III and IV, introducing a new hypothesis about these books and about Spenser's conception of chastity."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Patristic Theology in Spenser's Allegory

Mirrors of Celestial Grace

His Place in English Theology and Literature

Cardinal Newman in His Age

Walter Sullivan

George Core

H. L. Weatherby

This collection of essays devoted to the centrality of place in the short stories and novels of some of the twentieth century's most famous American writers was conceived as a way to honor the life and career of Walter Sullivan, an author for whom place was central both in his fiction and in his critical writing. The works explored in this volume range from the Middle West realism of Fitzgerald and Powers to the wilderness vision of Faulkner and the historical and political fiction of Warren. In "Imagination in Place" Wendell Berry describes how place in the context of local geography, local culture, and agriculture influenced his writings. Thomas Bontly's "Wallace Stegner's Lyrical Realism"explains the importance not only of a person's securing his or her place but of an author's doing so as well. Eudora Welty is the pivotal figure in this book, and her "Place in Fiction" is considered in this collection time and again by many of the contributors. Both Lewis Simpson and Denis Donoghue choose her story "No Place for You, My Love" to demonstrate place and its effect on the outside world. Donoghue stresses Welty's imagery emphasizing the occasional and emblematic nature of the local image. In following the logic of his reflections he decides that Welty's focus on place constitutes a theory of pastoral. Lewis Simpson also stresses the importance of place as the essential element in the same story and discusses the mysterious relationship between the two unnamed principals, but Simpson goes on to show the importance of time in fiction, especially the novel; and he reveals the linkage that connects time to memory, specifically to what he deems "the culture of memory" in Faulkner and Welty. Place, as Eudora Welty declares, is "where [the writer] has his roots, place is where he stands; in his experience out of which he writes, it provides the base of reference; in his work, the point of view." "Fiction," she continues, "depends for its life on place." These essays, whose authors include Joseph Blotner, Scott Donaldson, Charles East, George Garrett, Louis D. Rubin, Jr., and Elizabeth Spencer, prove the truth of that dictum.

Excursions and Explorations

Place in American Fiction

Harold L. Weatherby

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