First published in 1971.

This collection of essays discusses some of the central works and areas of literature in the Renaissance period of cultural history.

Contents include: Spenser and the Allegorists; The Faerie Queene, I and V; The Cave of Mammon; The Banquet of Sense; John Donne; The Patience of Shakespeare; Survival of the Classic; Shakespeare's Learning; The Mature Comedies; The Final Plays.