Master F.J. by George Gascoigne

PRIMARY SOURCE: The Adventures of Master F.J. (pub. 1573)
Context

• Publication: In the Hundreth Sundrie Flowres (1573), the narrator "G.T." of "The Storie of Ferdinando Ieronimi" is an older man who relates the misadventures of "F.J." This edition is framed by there introductory letters: one from the Printer, one from "H.W." (who relayed the manuscript), and one from G.T. G.T. confirms that the poems have been inserted into the narrative in the correct arrangement. Gascoigne himself claims only to have been the translator for the poem by Bartello. Printed by Henry Bynneman and Henry Middleton for Richard Smith. EEBO link.
  In the 1575 edition, the three letters are replaced by letters from Gascoigne. EEBO link.
• Scholarship: Scholars are interested in Master F.J. both as a proto-novel and as a narrative.
• Why I'm reading it: The counter-canon.

Content

• Form: Mixed: mostly prose fiction, some romantic poetry.
• Genre: Tale of seduction, epistolary novel, or alternately, "Italian riding tale."
• Conceit: G.T. relates the narrative at first as an avowedly reliable narrator, interjecting with frequency to tag information. G.T. later evaluates the composition of the enclosed poetry. F.J. courts Elynor, a Dame in an Italian court, through poetry. Their romance is facilitated by the Lady Fraunces. One night, F.J. encounters Elynor naked in a gallery near her chamber. At the climax, F.J. becomes jealous of Elynor's paramour the secretary, F.J. violently rapes Elynor. G.T. betrays his reliability with his obsessive interest with the physical description of this and other sexual scenes. Elynor's husband returns, and F.J. mocks him with verses about his cuckoldry.
• Other notes: How does a rhetorical approach to narrative theory handle the mixed formal elements of this text? The answer returns to the purpose of Hundreth Sundrie Flowres, whatever that might be.

(NB: written with articles.)
Scambly Schott, Penelope. "The Narrative Stance in "The Adventures of Master F.J.": George Gascoigne as Critic of His Own Poems." Renaissance Quarterly 29.3 (1976): 369-77. Web. 9 Feb. 2013.

Waters, Gregory. "'Worthles Enterprise': A Study of the Narrator in Gascoigne's 'The Adventures of Master F.J.'" Journal of Narrative Technique 7.2 (1977): 116-127. Web. 9 Feb. 2013.