« Thou didst Medusa see, / And should thy selfe, a moving marble bee » : Les statues de Méduse dans quelques poèmes élisabéthains

Abstract

In the English Renaissance, the myth of Medusa is endowed with a variety of moral, theological and literary readings which are intricately superimposed. With her snaky locks and petrifying look, Medusa takes on the shape of a monstrous beauty and spreads terror and evil around her. At the sight of this stunning yet repulsive woman, humans are petrified into statues. Conversely, in Petrarch’s poems, she appears as a cold, insensitive mistress who never responds to the call of the poet, who is thus translated into a lifeless block. Faced with this overwhelming literary tradition, the Elizabethan poet is either mesmerized by Medusa’s power and trapped in a stereotyped style, or become a new Perseus who, thanks to the reflection of his polished style, strives to fight against set literary codes. Ultimately, these new Medusas are overpowered by their own reflections and end up like statues.