Psychoanalytical Criticism

This article focuses on psychoanalysis and Spenserian thought. It considers the link between Renaissance literature and psychoanalytic theory. It identifies the affinities between Spenser's poem and Lacanian thought. It argues that given Spenser's complex, perhaps even fraught, relationship to his powerful virgin queen and given the natural kinship between body criticism and psychoanalysis, it is not surprising that gender studies should offer a supportive theoretical framework for psychoanalytic approaches.

This article focuses on psychoanalysis and Spenserian thought. It considers the link between Renaissance literature and psychoanalytic theory. It identifies the affinities between Spenser's poem and Lacanian thought. It argues that given Spenser's complex, perhaps even fraught, relationship to his powerful virgin queen and given the natural kinship between body criticism and psychoanalysis, it is not surprising that gender studies should offer a supportive theoretical framework for psychoanalytic approaches.