Better a mischief than an inconvenience: “The saiyng self” in Spenser's View of the Present State of Ireland
Better a mischief than an inconvenience: “The saiyng self” in Spenser's View of the Present State of Ireland
The particular “saiying self” of Spenser, “Better a mischief than an inconvenience,” occurs strikingly twice in the first half of A View of the Present State of Ireland. This saying stands out in a modern setting because it is unfamiliar, but the formal and historical contexts in which it occurs in the View of the Present State of Ireland also draws attention. The saying was first spoken by Spenser's persona Irenius, then his other persona, Exodus, reiterated it to be noticed by the mnemonically-challenged modern readers. This saying also stands out as a prefabricated syntactical unit and it is further notable as an instance of the popular rhetorical figure paroemia. Irenius invokes the saying to start an argument about the English common law being “inconvenient” for Ireland.
Keywords: Ireland, saying, argument, English common law, Irenius, Exodus, Spenser, paroemia
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