Scan barcode
deliriousdisquisitions's review against another edition
2.0
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.
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.