Spenser's Allegory of Temperance: A Study in Comparative Poetics.

The author reflects on the traditional interpretation of Edmund Spencer's "The Faerie Queene," depicting the allegory of temperance. He notes that this paradox originates in a discrepancy between Spencer's stated intentions as an epic writer and the mode of presentation defining his poetic objectives. He predicts that it cannot be resolved as long as allegory is conceived as a public mode of address. He discusses the conflict between ethics and rhetoric based on his understanding of Renaissance.