Wanton Eyes and Chaste Desires: Female Sexuality in the Faerie Queene

by Sheila T. Cavanagh

"... very readable, lucid, intriguing study... " -- Spenser Newsletter "... a very thoroughgoing inventory of the cruel male fantasies and nightmares imposed on... female-gendered figures... " -- Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 "Cavanagh has managed to give an almost entirely new reading of [ The Faerie Queene]; it is the first feminist rereading of the entire epic, and it reshapes the contours of the huge poem in often startling and remarkable ways." -- Maureen Quilligan, University of Pennsylvania

226 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[Rickey McKown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting perspective, certainly bringing out the ways that women in the poem are subordinated to men, although some of the arguments appear to have been taken to extremes:

- Mirabella is certainly subjected to (mostly) verbal and (some) physical abuse by Disdain and Scorn, but to then speak of Mirabella's mistreatment in terms of "rape" and "sadomasochism", and to compare it to "The Story of O", goes far beyond anything in the text, especially given that the squire Timias (a male), after attempting to rescue Mirabella, is similarly physically mistreated.

- Britomart is repeatedly taken to task for displaying "dim-witted" behaviour that is little different than the behaviour displayed by the other titular knights (the Red Crosse Knight certainly comes to mind), and for having "a conflicted relationship with her assigned virtue" (pg 171) even when it is acknowledged that this is also true of the other titular knights. Further, in discussing Britomart's "ignorance", it is argued (pg 141) that to uphold her version of chastity "Britomart cannot acquire insight or understanding', but then it is acknowledged (pg 167) that Britomart is able to overcome her despair "because she discovers her mistakes." It seems that Britomart is not as dense as the main argument would have it.