While perhaps not as well known as the great William Shakespeare, the author Edmund Spenser was influential in more ways than one. The Renaissance was a time of discovery and economic and artistic blossoming. After a challenging time, England was finally beginning to thrive. However, the creative influence of the Renaissance did not seem to reach them. While other countries, such as Italy, were artistically blossoming, England lacked motivation. But, once Edmund Spenser’s works began to be publicized, his ideas sparked change. Edmund Spenser’s writings not only influenced authors of his era, but also helped spread Renaissance beliefs such as monarchism, protestantism, rationalism, and anti-catholicism.
Edmund Spenser influenced the writing …show more content…
During the sixteenth century, many people were coming to terms with the corruption of the church. This realization led to anti-catholicism, or an opposition to the catholic church. Once this idea took hold, people began to trust in rationalism, which is displayed in Spenser’s works by his reminiscence of Roman literature themes. Spenser further showed his disdain for Catholicism by writing about the negative effects it has on one in his poetry (Hager). In The Faerie Queene, Spenser negatively portrays the Catholic church as a monster called Errour. He writes that Errour vomit is “...full of books and papers” (I.XX.178). These books and papers are representative of Catholic texts (Hager). Additionally, The Faerie Queene is described as. “...An epic of Protestant nationalism in which the villains are infidels or papists, the hero is King Arthur, and the central value is married chastity” (Beadle et al.). As a person prominent in society, Edmund Spenser’s religious beliefs, or lack thereof, motivated individuals to seek out their own truths and place their beliefs in those other than the