The Renaissance transformation of Eve

Abstract

Edmund Spenser (in The Faerie Queene) and John Milton (in Paradise Lost), both being in the mainstream of Renaissance humanism, reflect in their treatments of women--Amoret, Belphoebe, Florimell, Britomart, and Eve--the current of opinion regarding the place of women. Each affirms woman in her role as wife while establishing the integrity of her full humanity within the universal hierarchy. Both poets assert the central role of intellectual and spiritual compatibility, as well as friendship and goodwill, in their treatments of marriage. Love for men and women alike is an active virtue, reflecting cosmic harmony. Chapter One of this study examines the life of Renaissance women in the aspects of education, marriage, and the role of lady. While the Renaissance was not a time of revolutionary change in the status of women, there were stirrings of the concept of women as more fully human, of women using their talents and educations to further their own position and that of others. Chapter Two presents four of Spenser's ladies--Amoret, Belphoebe, Florimell, and Britomart--in the aspects of love and friendship they represent. Harmony within oneself and in relationship with others is a principle of cosmic order to be achieved by trial and error and results in a continuous perfecting of the individual as well as his or her relationships. Chapter Three considers Milton's treatment of Eve as companionable friend and helpmeet. Milton's views of marriage and the compatibility of marriage partners are examined through the Divorce Tracts as well as Paradise Lost. Spenser's ladies and Milton's Eve experience the same process of the evolution of love and the perfecting of relationship.