Mother Hubberds Tale by Edmund Spenser

First published: 1591, as Prosopopoia: Or, Mother Hubberds Tale

Type of work: Poetry

Type of plot: Fable

Time of plot: Antiquity

Principal characters

• Reynold, the wily fox of French folk legends
• The Ape, his accomplice

The Poem:

August days bring sickness to the poet. His friends visit him and tell tales of knights, fairies, and giants to while away his days of illness. What pleases him most, however, is the beast fable recounted by old Mother Hubberd. In the fable, the fox approaches his neighbor, the ape, and proposes that they set out together to seek their fortunes. The ape willingly acquiesces, wanting only to know how his friend plans to improve their sorry lot. The fox suggests a disguise and points out that if they pretend to be beggars, they will be free of all obligations and responsibilities. The two dress themselves in the tattered remains of military uniforms to win confidence and sympathy.

The comrades’ first victim is an honest, unintelligent farmer who listens sympathetically to the ape’s description of his misfortunes and his wounds. The ape requests employment—something that will not tax his poor, battered body—and soon he is tending the gullible husbandman’s sheep with the fox as his trusty dog. The partners in crime feast lavishly on their charges for several months, then escape into the night just before they are to produce an accounting of the flock.

Weary of profitless begging, they provide themselves with a gown and a cassock to impersonate learned clergymen. They first encounter an illiterate priest who advises them on their parish duties. All that is necessary is to say the service weekly, to “lay the meat before” the faithful; they have no responsibility for helping their parishioners accept the gospel. The old days when priests prayed daily and sincerely are, fortunately, past.

Now once a week, upon the Sabbath day, “It is enough to do our small devotion,/ And then to follow any merry motion.” The priest then suggests that the fox and ape go to some nobleman, feigning a grave and saintly demeanor, to request a benefice. He cannot recommend that they seek preferment at court, for “nothing there is done without a fee.” Heeding this good counsel, the fox assumes the role of priest, and the ape becomes his parish clerk. They revel gaily for a time, but the complaints of their abused and exploited parishioners finally bring about their expulsion from their offices. Once more on the road, they almost starve before they meet a richly dressed mule who tells them that he has just come from the court. He, too, has advice for achieving success. They should appear at court themselves, and do so

with a good bold face,And with big words, and with a stately pace,That men may thinke of you, in generall,That to be in you, which is not at all:For not by that which is, the world now deemeth,(As it was wont) but by that same that seemeth.

The fox and ape easily win the royal favor, being suited by nature and inclination to win acceptance. The ape dresses in outlandish clothes and demonstrates his accomplishments: “For he could play, and daunce, and vault, and spring,/ And all that else pertains to reveling.” He is also skilled at fortune-telling, juggling, and sleight of hand. The latter talent is especially profitable, for “what he touched came not to light again.”

The ape passes his time gambling, carrying on intrigues, and composing exceedingly bad verses to corrupt the chaste ladies around him. To support his success, the fox, disguised as his confidential servant, practices all kinds of deceits and, for a large fee, promises favors from his master to poor suitors who come to court looking for preferment.

At length the fox’s deceptions are discovered, and he is banished. The ape, left without resources, soon finds himself shabby and scorned, and he flees to rejoin his friend. Lamenting their lack of success, they wander into a wood where they find a lion lying asleep, his crown and scepter beside him. The ape timorously steals the lion’s skin and his regalia, then claims the throne for himself as a reward for his valor. The fox reluctantly agrees, stipulating that he be allowed to make all the decisions of government. They initiate a reign of terror, extorting treasure from all the beasts of the forest.

The fox sells justice, raises the fortunes of his family by his ill-gotten gains, and defends his actions on the grounds of his long experience and his desire to build up the royal treasury. He brings about the downfall of the noblest beasts, scorns scholars and poets, and disdains the common people.

Only divine intervention can put an end to this disastrous reign; Jupiter notices the turmoil among the wild animals and sends Mercury to humble the usurper ape. Mercury awakens the lion from his unnatural sleep, and the latter goes to the door of his palace, roaring with such force that most of its inhabitants perish from fear. The ape runs to find a hiding place, and the fox skulks out to the lion, laying all the blame upon his partner. The lion punishes both, stripping the fox and casting him out, then clipping the ape’s tail and ears; the story ends as a kind of myth of “why the ape has no tail.”

Bibliography

Brown, Richard Danson. “Cracking the Nut? Mother Hubberds Tale’s Attack on Traditional Notions of Poetic Value.” In The New Poet: Novelty and Tradition in Spenser’s “Complaints.” Liverpool, England: Liverpool University Press, 1999. Analyzes the poem and others in Spenser’s Complaints (1591) collection of poetry. Argues that the collection demonstrates how Spenser gradually moved from a traditional poetics to a new form of poetry that emerged from his transformation of the “complaint” genre.

Cummings, Robert M., ed. Spenser: The Critical Heritage. 1971. Reprint. New York: Routledge, 1995. Spenser’s reputation as a poet’s poet has always been high. This collection of critical opinions on his work traces the course of that reputation from Elizabethan times to the twentieth century.

Fowler, Alastair. “Edmund Spenser.” In British Writers, edited by Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1979. Excellent introductory piece on Spenser and his works, highlighting his achievements in all poetic genres. Helpful for understanding the place of Mother Hubberds Tale in Spenser’s career.

Hadfield, Andrew, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Spenser. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Collection of essays providing an overview of Spenser’s life and work. Some of the essays discuss the relevance of Spenser, the historical contexts of his work, his use of language, and his literary influence.

Jones, H. S. V. A Spenser Handbook. 1930. Reprint. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1958. Remains one of the most useful works dealing with Mother Hubberds Tale. This dated but important handbook provides a brief but excellent overview of the poem and how it fit into its time.

Lethbridge, J. B., ed. Edmund Spenser: New and Renewed Directions. Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2006. Reprints a collection of papers originally delivered at a conference about Spenser. Includes discussions of the Spenserian stanza, Spenser’s relationship to Ireland, and the trend toward a new historical criticism of his work.

McCabe, Richard A. Spenser’s Monstrous Regiment: Elizabethan Ireland and the Poetics of Difference. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Analyzes how Spenser’s experiences of living and writing in Ireland challenged his ideas about English nationhood. Assesses the influence of colonialism on the themes, imagery, language, and structure of his poetry.

Sanders, Andrew. The Short Oxford History of English Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Good, if brief, introductory articles on Spenser and his contemporary scene that illuminate the particular conditions of Elizabethan England.