Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
Conspicuous irrelevance, the term adopted by Harry Berger to describe certain puzzling moments in the Spenserian narrative, might also serve to describe Spenser's allusions to the Orlando Furioso, which are pervasive and, for the most part, appear indifferent to their source—frequently the most indifferent just when they are the easiest to identify. One thinks, for example, of the Timias and Belphoebe episode of book III, canto v, which disregards the tenor of its source in the Furioso, canto xix, to the point where one wonders why Spenser took the trouble to summon recollections of Angelica and Medoro.