'They Raigne Ouer Change, And Doe Their States Maintaine': Change, Stasis, And Postcoloniality in Frank Mcguinness's Mutabilitie (Critical Essay‪)‬

... all things stedfastnes doe hate And changed be: yet rightly wayd They are not changed from their first estate; But by their change their being doe dilate: And turning to themselves at length again, Doe worke their owne perfection so by fate: Then ouer them Change doth not rule and raigne; But they raigne ouer change, and doe their states maintaine. Edmund Spenser, 'Two Cantos of Mutabilitie'. (1) 'Literary historians ... do not connect his [Edmund Spenser's) bloodthirsty plans for Ireland, where he imagined a British army virtually exterminating the native inhabitants, with his poetic achievement or with the history of British rule over Ireland', contends Edward Said. (2) Irish historians and literary critics have, however, debated for decades Spenser's 'gentle poet' role in confirming colonial rule and his dubious attitude towards the 'savage' Irish, his desire to convert them to the 'true faith', and his advocacy of extirpating their dangerous--because rebellious--bards. (3) Dramatizing Spenser's last days or weeks in Ireland, Frank McGuinness's Mutabilitie does not aim either to judge Spenser, or to offer an apologia pro vita sua. (4) Instead, the play attempts to give a sensitive and empathic reading of some of the ambiguities of his behaviour--of the loyal colonial servant with a duly restricted vision, who, however, is more humane as an individual than his role demands. Or, in a less sympathetic reading, the basis of Spenser's character is the tone of his infamous A View of the Present State of Ireland, revealing 'colonising fervour combined with bad conscience sublimating itself as sympathy'. (5)