The charismatic queen and the centrality of self-love

Abstract

Two distinct portraits of a ‘fairy queen’imply contrary views of human natureand contrary aesthetics.In Spenser’s epic a mystic Glorianadrawsnoble heroes to realise the twelve virtues, perfecting the soul in Godlikeness. In Shakespeare’s comic stage-play asensually potent Titania evokes a different fairy realm. Directly experienced, her bodily splendor and witty combative speeches arouse desire not justinthe privilegedbut in rude commoners, who commandeer the play’s most engaging scenes. Instead of vying with Spenser’s elitequests for morality in an intellectual heaven-based allegory, Shakespeare views morality inall social classes, the humbler earthy sort matching the more pretentious. Both are ego-drivenyet communally civil. This ironic engagement with Spenser’s ‘supreme fiction’ wondrously expands Shakespeare’s own artistry.Equally polarized are the poets’ views of self-love as a touchstone of human psychology. Like Calvin and Luther, Spenser discredits self-love as shameful, both in monarchs like Lucifera and in louts like Braggadocchio, causing Redcrosse’s wretched fall and Guyon’s helpless faint. In contrast, Shakespeare’s characters, noble and vulgar, show a positive form of self-love if carefully managed, as observed by Aristotle, Aquinas, and Primaudaye.