Medieval Harrowings of Hell and Spenser's House of Mammon

Abstract

This article investigates Spenser's literary antecedents in order to provide a fresh interpretation of a controversial canto and a broader perspective on The Faerie Queene as a whole. Guyon's descent into the House of Mammon in II.vii. has long been read as a version of Christ's Harrowing of Hell. But too little attention has been paid to the sources of this legend. Spenser's retelling is indebted to two major accounts of the Harrowing in Middle English literature: the mystery cycles and Langland's Vision of Piers Plowman. These works share with The Faerie Queene the conception of Christ as a knight who descends to battle the forces of the underworld. More particularly they form the basis of Spenser's reworking of the story as a comic episode, in which a guileful but overconfident tempter is outwitted by his more resourceful prey. This interpretation of the myth asserts the power of human nature to turn its vulnerability into a tactical advantage against a Satanic tempter. Such a reading must act as a corrective to excessively negative assessments of Guyon. More broadly Spenser's use of Langland and the mystery plays demonstrates his capacity for blending serious theology with humor, his medievalism, and his poetic receptiveness to elements of Catholic dogma and imagery.

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