View of the Present State of Ireland

by W. L. Renwick, Edmund Spenser

View of the Present State of Ireland.

Genres: Nonfiction, Irish Literature, Renaissance, Academic

330 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1596

Reviews

[Delirious Disquisitions · Rating 2 out of 5]

Edmund Spencer's "A View of the State of Ireland: The Production and Experience of Consumption" was written in light of the Irish uprising and intended to act as a call for the subjugation of Ireland. Written during Spencer's time in Ireland as a British envoy.

It is actually pretty horrifying to read Edmund Spencer's account of the Irish "problem" and his brutal solutions for controlling them. Though Spencer's words are conveyed through a conversation between two fictional characters, it is none the less chilling to read his description of the Irish population.

Particularly appealing is Spencer's hypothesis on the degeneration of the British settlers in Ireland and how its root cause is contamination from Irish women. Spencer proposes three main ways in which they corrupt the British blood: 1)through the nursing of British children, Irish nannies impart the Irish language onto them, which is one of the main causes of degeneration. 2) Through marrying and mingling with Irish woman and thus diluting the British blood. 3) Through contact with Irish women, specifically their bodily fluids such as milk, sweat, etc.

Such was his hatred for the Irish that Spencer proposes famine and slow starvation to be the best method to eliminate the Irish population.

It is a bigoted, racist, and utterly hateful and yet clinical account of the British attitude towards Ireland. Spencer's writing provides some insight and background for his work in the Faerie Queene, specifically Book II and the destruction/exhumation of the "Bower of Bliss" that is long since seen as a stand in for Ireland. In either case it is a fascinating, if slightly nauseous, account of British-Irish relations in the Renaissance period. 2.5 Stars.

[Shannon Clinton-Copeland · Rating 1 out of 5]

It would have taken far less words to just say ‘man, the Irish are barbaric, let’s commit genocide via famine and culling’ Edmund

[The Half-blood Reader]

College reads: I only read chapters/sections relevant to my studies, hence the dnf

[Ella Ru · Rating 1 out of 5]

if i could give this zero stars I would, this guy SUCKS

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

what 😃 daniel defoe u have a contender for worst text ever written

[M]

he really wrote these many words just to say all the ways he hates the irish

[Megan Crotty · Rating 1 out of 5]

It wasn't all about sonnets for Spenser, it was also about promoting racism and the "root and branch" clearing out of Ireland's native population. Spenser couches his vitriol in the most pompous and self-important way, using the greek tradition to format his horrific ideas about the Irish and the Old English living in Ireland, making his "View" unreadable on several levels, which is truly a noteworthy accomplishment. He joins a long tradition of writing that justifies and advocates violence along the lines or race and class in this tract, and one can trace these connections from the 12th century to the present, if they so choose.

I don't care how many "pretty little rooms" he created, this tract makes me completely abhor Spenser and everything he ever wrote. Pompous, social climbing, racist bigoted that he was.

[Will Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star rating for the edition, not the work. It's ludicrous to star-rate anything that's still being read five hundred years after its first publication.

The edition is sound with helpful notes and a good critical introduction. The work is problematic, of course, for its barbaric policy recommendations in dealing with "the Irish problem" and naturally has attracted a lot of post-colonial criticism. There are still fascinating moments in this work, however - some very interesting descriptions of Irish poetry and culture.

Nevertheless, this is not a book to pick up casually.

[Nicolas Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read it for a class. This was a pretty painful read.

[Катерина Майковська · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank Spenser for motivating Swift to become a great political satirist that he was.

[emma]

the audacity of this man

[Jordan]

author of the fairie queene declared a bad person by me

[Andrew]

In addition to writing the most famous epic poem of the Renaissance, it turns out Edmund Spenser was also a racist, and in the way that only a Renaissance humanist could be - proposing odd plans that were genocide that couldn't be called genocide, suggesting racialist discourse toward the Irish because of factors like fluids in the body and similarities to Scythians, and proving rhetorically what he can't do scientifically. Throughout it all, the brilliant poet clashes with the xenophobic generalist, and the result is one of the oddest and most controversial texts of the 16 Century: a work that finds startling conclusions from strange jumping off points. His final plan (starve the Irish into submission) is either MEIN KAMPF or a pretty rational response considering contemporary uprisings; whatever the case, Spenser's not-so-modest proposal must be seen to be believed.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit zzz, but very enriching for the study of Swift, Spenser, and/or Ireland. I found that it made reading Gulliver's Travels for the 4th-ish time about 20 times more interesting.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trash. This 'essay' is important to understanding how the English perceived the Irish, but it's still anti-Irish propaganda through and through.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating is more for the incisive obtuseness of the rhetoric rather than the seemingly polemical positioning of Irenæus.

[Mithra]

Dumb bitch