Discordant Poetics: Spenser to Milton
type: CreativeWork
description: Much attention has been devoted to the importance of harmony as an organising principle in early modern conceptions of art and the universe, and to its influence on the literary production of the time. The opposing concept of discord, however, has only received limited critical consideration. This thesis offers a sustained exploration of this concept as a significant aesthetic principle in early modern culture, investigating its influence on English epic writing in particular. By way of introduction, the first chapter investigates how discord functioned as an effective expressive technique across the different arts—from music and poetry, to architecture and painting. I show that early modern theorists did not merely engage with classical ideas of variety and contrast, but viewed discord as a productive aesthetic tool in its own right. In the subsequent chapters of the thesis, I go on to demonstrate the prominence of this principle in early modern literature by way of four case studies: Edmund Spenser, Michael Drayton, William Davenant, and John Milton. The second chapter looks at Spenser’s Faerie Queene. I argue that Spenser was influenced by Tasso’s arguments regarding the importance of discord as a key aspect of epic form, which informs his Gerusalemme Liberata at the various levels of style, vocabulary, and narrative. I contend that this context is important for interpreting the acoustic moments of strife that recur stylistically and narratively throughout The Faerie Queene, revealing their theological and hermeneutic implications. The third chapter analyses Drayton’s Barons Warres and Poly- Olbion, showing how these works negotiate the discords of history by means of their form; I pay special attention to the role of typographic elements such as hyphens, brackets, and printed marginal notes in visually destabilising a harmonious reading of the text. The fourth chapter turns to Davenant’s Gondibert, where the forceful reconciliation of discordant elements becomes…
abstract: Much attention has been devoted to the importance of harmony as an organising principle in early modern conceptions of art and the universe, and to its influence on the literary production of the time. The opposing concept of discord, however, has only received limited critical consideration. This thesis offers a sustained exploration of this concept as a significant aesthetic principle in early modern culture, investigating its influence on English epic writing in particular. By way of introduction, the first chapter investigates how discord functioned as an effective expressive technique across the different arts—from music and poetry, to architecture and painting. I show that early modern theorists did not merely engage with classical ideas of variety and contrast, but viewed discord as a productive aesthetic tool in its own right. In the subsequent chapters of the thesis, I go on to demonstrate the prominence of this principle in early modern literature by way of four case studies: Edmund Spenser, Michael Drayton, William Davenant, and John Milton. The second chapter looks at Spenser’s Faerie Queene. I argue that Spenser was influenced by Tasso’s arguments regarding the importance of discord as a key aspect of epic form, which informs his Gerusalemme Liberata at the various levels of style, vocabulary, and narrative. I contend that this context is important for interpreting the acoustic moments of strife that recur stylistically and narratively throughout The Faerie Queene, revealing their theological and hermeneutic implications. The third chapter analyses Drayton’s Barons Warres and Poly- Olbion, showing how these works negotiate the discords of history by means of their form; I pay special attention to the role of typographic elements such as hyphens, brackets, and printed marginal notes in visually destabilising a harmonious reading of the text. The fourth chapter turns to Davenant’s Gondibert, where the forceful reconciliation of discordant elements becomes…
author: Eynard, Jean David
language: eng
keywords: discord, English literature, epic, Edmund Spenser, Michael Drayton, William Davenant, John Milton, poetics
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/09d423c0-aa77-45b7-be5d-163475ceeba6/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2023-07-31
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:07Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.108897