A reinvestigation of the Harvey-Spenser friendship and possible influences upon the shepheardes calender.

Abstract

This thesis began as a search for information about Gabriel Harvey, the nature of his relationship to Edmund Spenser, and the nature and extent of influence which Harvey mayor may not have had upon Spenser. One may easily be sidetracked, however, as Harvey is quite an interesting and complex person: one wonders why a man of such intellect and understanding of people should have such difficulty in his relations with his peers. Another distraction is the intrigue of Queen Elizabeth and her Court. One encounters, also, certain difficulties in researching this era. Because of the political dangers, the writers apparently wrote in "code:" i.e., they often used an alias for themselves and for their friends, causing the reader difficulty in ascertaining the identity of the person or persons being discussed. The message conveyed is similarly ambiguous. In summary, because of the ambiguity one often encounters, one finds himself grateful for the abundant commentary available on this subject. The result of this study is as follows: (1) a compilation of the documented evidences of Spenser and Harvey's friendship; (2) the study of their literary views as expressed in their published correspondence; (3) the presentation of evidences of the influences of Harvey's teaching and personality on The Shepheardes Calender. For insights on the personalities of Spenser and Harvey, one finds G. C. Moore Smith's comments on Harvey's life in Gabriel Harvey's Marginalia and A. C. Judson's comments on Spenser's life in The Life of Edmund Spenser invaluable. The author of this present study is also indebted to E. De Selincourt, G. R. Hibbard, Paul McLane and others for their insights and opinions about Spenser and Harvey. For material concerning Spenser's The Shepheardes Calender, this writer is especially indebted to the editors of the Spenser Variorum: Edwin Greenlaw, Charles Grosvenor Osgood, Frederick Morgan Padelford, and Ray Heffner. In addition to thanking the scholars whose published works have helped me, I would like to express my appreciation of the people who have personally helped me with this thesis. I am indebted to Dr. Charles Walton for the initial idea for this study and for his continuing encouragement and suggestions. I would like to thank Mr. Richard Roahen for reading this thesis. I would like to thank Mrs. Kate Weigand for typing this work so conscientiously. For the permission to use the library on the University of Missouri, Kansas City, campus, I would like to thank Mr. Philip Tompkins; for their courteous help, I would like to thank the staff of that library. I would like to thank my husband, Bill, for his constant encouragement and understanding during the course of this study. August, 1975 c. L. D. Emporia, Kansas