Monsters and the Poetic Imagination in the Faerie Queene

Maik Goth is a Research Assistant at Ruhr-Universität Bochum

'A great strength of Goth's study is its multiple appeal. This weighty contribution to literary studies will interest historians of fantasy, horror and the grotesque, of disability and of teratology, as well as specialists in Spenser, the literary debates of his time, or monsters in fiction. Supporting his text with a wealth of notes, identifying many unexpected contributions and references as well as most of the usual suspects, Goth reliably signposts the complex range of English and European monster traditions, myths and texts, raided, paraded, and upgraded by Spenser for his monsters.'M A Katritzky, The Open University, The Spenser Review, May 2016‘Goth's significant inquiry on monsters in Spenser's Faerie Queene sheds new light on therepresentation of monstrosity in the Renaissance.’Daniela Carpi, Anglistik – International Journal of English Studies 27.2 September 2016‘My wanting more is ultimately a sign of the book’s virtues: it is at once learned and engaging. In looking away from the allegorical heroes to consider its varied monsters, it offers a rich new perspective.’Kenneth Hodges, University of Oklahoma

• IntroductionPart I: ‘Complicated monsters head and tail’: A primer in Spenser, monsters, and teratology1. The Faerie Queene – A poem of monsters?2. The monstrous in the early modern period3. Historical perspectives on the monstrous 4. How to read monsters: A survey of Spenser studies, and teratologyPart II: Reading the monster: Taxonomy 5. Taxonomic considerations6. Monsters and monstrous beings in The Faerie Queene7. Monstrous animals (1): dragons8. Monstrous animals (2): four-footed beasts 9. Human-animal composites 10. Giants11. Monstrous humans 12. Automata13. Taxonomy reconsideredPart III: Making monsters: The monstrous imagination and the poet’s autonomy in The Faerie Queene14. The problem of the literary monster in the discourse of the poetic imagination 15. The monstrous and the literary heterocosm16. In Phantastes’s chamber17. Animating the monstrous imagination in The Faerie Queene18. Poetic creation: Spenser as Prometheus19. The poet’s autonomy and the use of the monstrous imagination20. Interpreting the monstrousConclusionBibliography Index