The extent to which a knowledge of sixteenth-century theological doctrines can help readers interpret the works of Edmund Spenser has long been a matter of controversy. In Interpretation and Theology in Spenser Darryl J. Gless offers a new approach: drawing on recent literary theories, he focuses less on what Spenser intended than on the ways readers might construe both the poet's works and the theological doctrines which those works invoke. Professor Gless demonstrates the seldom-admitted fact that theological texts, like literary ones, are subject to the interpretive activity of readers. Informed by this approach to Elizabethan theology, he develops a thorough analysis of the first, most widely studied, book of Spenser's Elizabethan epic The Faerie Queene. He concludes with a fast-moving survey of ways in which theological perspectives can enrich significant moments in later, less overtly theological, passages of Spenser's great poem.

Through careful attention to the contexts of Renaissance culture invoked by the language, action, and visual spectacle in Measure for Measure, Darryl Gless brings a new and original interpretation to one of Shakespeare's most problematic plays. This leads him to a comprehensive and coherent reading of the play that has important implications for further understanding of much of the Shakespearean canon and of other Renaissance works, especially those dealing with theological issues. Originally published in 1979. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Through careful attention to the contexts of Renaissance culture invoked by the language, action, and visual spectacle in Measure for Measure, Darryl Gless brings a new and original interpretation to one of Shakespeare's most problematic plays. This leads him to a comprehensive and coherent reading of the play that has important implications for further understanding of much of the Shakespearean canon and of other Renaissance works, especially those dealing with theological issues. Originally published in 1979. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.