Edmund Spenser Research Paper

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Edmund Spenser was a well-known poet during the 1500s, who greatly influenced the way poetry was written. There is not a lot to know about Spenser’s childhood life, but many people have heard of him because of his unique writing style. During the 1500s many poems were written in Petrarchan or Shakespearean sonnet form, but Spenser chose a different form to use. Spenser used a very creative style known as the Spenserian sonnet; Spenser’s poems were based on romance since his wife, Elizabeth Boyle, was his inspiration. Not much is known about Spenser’s childhood since his documents were burned in the Great Fire in 1666. However, it is known that Spenser was born in London to a John and Elizabeth Spenser. Spenser’s birthdate is unknown, but his school records showed he was in his last year in 1569, so it was easy to assume he was around 16 or 17 during that year. Spenser’s parents did him a huge favor when they enrolled him into the Merchant Taylors’ school in London. Spenser was taught by professor Richard Mulcaster, a humanist educator. In 1569, Spenser transferred from Merchant Taylors’ school to Pembroke College. Before the move to Pembroke, Spenser was already composing poetry and had caught the attention of many …show more content…

Love as a theme is seen in many of Spenser’s works, he uses it to describe romance, heartbreak, and sexual desire within “The Faerie Queene”. Spenser used appearance as a theme for this work because within the story characters, like Redcrosse, are tricked by other characters appearances. Morality was used by Spenser to show gentlemanliness, and Spenser had also thought it was important to act with high morals and to be a true gentleman. Religion almost always played as a theme in poetry during the 1500s, and Spenser used this theme to support his belief that Protestant principles were above Catholic principles ("The Faerie Queene

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