ScholarLens Back to search
2008•Spenser Studies A Renaissance Poetry AnnualRequires access

Errors about Ovid and Romance

David Scott Wilson‐Okamura

Open publisher page 6 citations

Abstract

What is the difference between epic and romance? Spenser did not use either term and contemporaries who did gave varying accounts. Since the late 1970s, epic has been associated with Virgil and closure, romance with Ovid and digression. Today the conventional wisdom is that Ovid was an anti-Virgil; that he furnished Spenser with a model for honorable exile; and that he licensed a style of narrative, romance, in which endings are deferred indefinitely. The evidence for this view needs to be reexamined. Is our reading of Ovid sentimental? Was Ireland, for Spenser, a place of exile or, as Jean Brink has argued, preferment? What did commentators say about Ovid’s conclusion? Finally, is it true that romance, as a genre, is more open-ended than epic? What was the practice of romance authors, and how was it theorized by literary critics?

About this research paper

What this paper is about

What is the difference between epic and romance? Spenser did not use either term and contemporaries who did gave varying accounts. Since the late 1970s, epic has been associated with Virgil and closure, romance with Ovid and digression. Today the conventional wisdom is that Ovid was an anti-Virgil; that he furnished Spenser with a model for honorable exile; and that he licensed a style of narrative, romance, in which endings are deferred indefinitely. The evidence for this view needs to be reexamined. Is our reading of Ovid sentimental? Was Ireland, for Spenser, a place of exile or, as Jean Brink has argued, preferment? What did commentators say about Ovid’s conclusion? Finally, is it true that romance, as a genre, is more open-ended than epic? What was the practice of romance authors, and how was it theorized by literary critics?

Why it matters

OpenAlex reports 6 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

Key contribution

A contribution statement is not available in the OpenAlex record.

Method / approach

Method details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Main findings

Findings are not separately available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Limitations

Limitations are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Applications

Application details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Available abstract

What is the difference between epic and romance? Spenser did not use either term and contemporaries who did gave varying accounts. Since the late 1970s, epic has been associated with Virgil and closure, romance with Ovid and digression. Today the conventional wisdom is that Ovid was an anti-Virgil; that he furnished Spenser with a model for honorable exile; and that he licensed a style of narrative, romance, in which endings are deferred indefinitely. The evidence for this view needs to be reexamined. Is our reading of Ovid sentimental? Was Ireland, for Spenser, a place of exile or, as Jean Brink has argued, preferment? What did commentators say about Ovid’s conclusion? Finally, is it true that romance, as a genre, is more open-ended than epic? What was the practice of romance authors, and how was it theorized by literary critics?

Key concepts: Romance, Literature, EPIC, Digression, Narrative, Swift, Reading (process), Style (visual arts)

Related papers

Related paper 1Related paper 2Related paper 3
Back to paper searchBrowse research topicsOriginal source
Errors about Ovid and Romance — Research Paper | ScholarLens