Masculinity In The Farie Queene
322 Words2 Pages
After reading “Nightmares of Desire: Evil Women in The Farie Queene” by Sheila Cavanagh I began to contemplate the way in which masculinity was conceptualized within Book 2 of The Farie Queene. Upon first thought, I never would have guessed how much masculinity and male sexuality would be discussed in the context of temperance. In a very repetitive manner, Spencer uses toxic masculinity and unfettered male sexuality to express lack of control and lack of moderation. Each episode within the cantos is connected by either attempted rape, or mindless seduction. We see Braggadocchio try to rape Diana, the story of Duessa’s Rape, the killing of Amathia ect. as examples of the violence against female bodies as an expression of male intemperance.