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“Perfect Hole”: Spenser and Greek Romance

When, at the conclusion of Book III of The Faerie Queene, Britomart rescues Amoret from Busirane, Amoret is described in Spenser’s words as being restored, “perfect hole.” A number of Spenser critics, most notably Jonathan Goldberg and Maureen Quilligan, have seen in the spelling of whole “H-O-L-E” the possibility of a naughty pun. A. Kent Hieatt disallows the pun and cites the Spenser Concordance to the effect that Spenser tends to use “hole” and “holesome” to mean “healthy” (as in Amoret’s case), but “whole” to meant “entire.” I argue that “perfect hole” is a bilingual pun that brings together both “healthy” and “entire” as possible meanings.With the phrase “perfect hole,” Spenser makes reference to the Greek romance Clitophon and Leucippe by Achilles Tatius. At one point in that work, the heroine Leukippe seems, through a theatrical trick, to be eviscerated and then restored to wholeness. The Greek word used to describe the transformation is holókleron (óλóκληρον), or, perfect whole. This episode of Clitophon and Leucippe, which underlies Amoret’s restoration, as she is rendered “perfect hole,” brings the role of drama and dramatists in Spenser’s rendition more clearly into focus. Busirane has traditionally been read as an artist figure and potential dark double of Spenser, but Busirane’s specific role as a dramatist merits further attention in light of the Greek subtext, as do complex negotiations of page and stage in the scene of Busirane’s castle.