The Faerie Queene, Bk 2 - Edmund Spenser: Mammon's Cave

Of the Devil's Party

We continue to interrupt our regular service with discussion of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene.

Dr Peter Groves has kindly joined us to examine the epic poem in all its splendid detail and to continue our mission of making daunting texts accessible. There are also plenty of dark heroes who we will meet along the way.

Both roofe, and floore, and wals were all of gold,

But ouergrowne with dust and old decay,

And hid in darknesses, that none could behold

The hew thereof: for vew of chearefull day

Did neuer in that house it selfe display

This episode we continue with book 2 and discuss canto seven dedicated to Guyon's journey through Mammon's cave—a famous episode in the poem. Peter explains Early Modern conceptions of money and why you can't serve both God and Mammon, Alice marvels at the way Spenser borrows from Dante and Milton from Spenser, we consider the way Spenser presents the "lust of the eyes" and the effects of curiositas, and we have front row seats to Guyon's own vulnerability.

Rowan and I will continue our usual episodes and will be uploading a mix of both in the coming months.

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