Masterpieces in Brit Lit: The Faerie Queene – Flashcards

she never appears in the poem, the Faerie Queene is the focus of the poem; her castle is the ultimate goal or destination of many of the poem's characters. She represents Queen Elizabeth, among others, as discussed in the Commentary.

The Redcrosse Knight is the hero of Book I; he stands for the virtue of Holiness. His real name is discovered to be George, and he ends up becoming St. George, the patron saint of England. On another level, though, he is the individual Christian fighting against evil--or the Protestant fighting the Catholic Church.

central hero of the poem, although he does not play the most significant role in its action. Arthur is in search of the Faerie Queene, whom he saw in a vision. The "real" Arthur was a king of the Britons in the 5th or 6th century A.D., but the little historical information we have about him is overwhelmed by his legend.

Redcrosse's future wife, and the other major protagonist in Book I. She is meek, humble, and beautiful, but strong when it is necessary; she represents Truth, which Redcrosse must find in order to be a true Christian.

The opposite of Una, she represents falsehood and nearly succeeds in getting Redcrosse to leave Una for good. She appears beautiful, but it is only skin-deep.

Next to Duessa, a major antagonist in Book I. Archimago is a sorcerer capable of changing his own appearance or that of others; in the end, his magic is proven weak and ineffective.

hero of Book III, the female warrior virgin, who represents Chastity. She is a skilled fighter and strong of heart, with an amazing capacity for calm thought in troublesome circumstances. Of course, she is chaste, but she also desires true Christian love. She searches for her future husband, Arthegall, whom she saw in a vision through a magic mirror.

Another significant female character in Book III, Florimell represents Beauty. She is also chaste but constantly hounded by men who go mad with lust for her. She does love one knight, who seems to be the only character that does not love her.

son of a human and a satyr (a half-human, half-goat creature). He is "nature's knight," the best a man can be through his own natural abilities without the enlightenment of Christianity and God's grace. He is significant in both Book I and Book III, generally as an aide to the protagonists.

-In The Faerie Queene, Spenser creates an allegory: The characters of his far-off, fanciful "Faerie Land" are meant to have a symbolic meaning in the real world. In Books I and III, the poet follows the journeys of two knights, Redcrosse and Britomart, and in doing so he examines the two virtues he considers most important to Christian life--Holiness and Chastity. -Redcrosse, the knight of Holiness, is much like the Apostle Peter: In his eagerness to serve his Lord, he gets himself into unforeseen trouble that he is not yet virtuous enough to handle. His quest is to be united with Una, who signifies Truth--Holiness cannot be attained without knowledge of Christian truth. -In his immature state, he mistakes falsehood for truth by following the deceitful witch Duessa. He pays for this mistake with suffering, but in the end, this suffering makes way for his recovery in the House of Holiness, aided by Faith, Hope, and Charity. With newfound strength and the grace of God, he is able to conquer the dragon that represents all the evil in the world.

High on Spenser's list of evils is the Catholic Church, and this enmity lends a political overtone to the poem, since the religious conflicts of the time were inextricably tied to politics. The poet is unashamed in his promotion of his beloved monarch, Queen Elizabeth; he takes considerable historical license in connecting her line with King Arthur. Spenser took a great pride in his country and in his Protestant faith. He took aim at very real corruption within the Catholic Church; such attacks were by no means unusual in his day, but his use of them in an epic poem raised his criticism above the level of the propagandists.

Edmund Spenser was born around 1552 in London, England. We know very little about his family, but he received a quality education and graduated with a Masters from Cambridge in 1576. He began writing poetry for publication at this time and was employed as a secretary, first to the Bishop of Kent and then to nobles in Queen Elizabeth's court The Faerie Queene occupied most of his time in life. In a letter to Sir John Walter Raleigh, he explained the purpose and structure of the poem. It is an allegory, a story whose characters and events nearly all have a specific symbolic meaning. The poem's setting is a mythical "Faerie land," ruled by the Faerie Queene. Spenser sets forth in the letter that this "Queene" represents his own monarch, Queen Elizabeth. Each Book concerns the story of a knight, representing a particular Christian virtue, as he or she would convey at the court of the Faerie Queene. Because only half of the poem was ever finished, the unifying scene at the Queene's court never occurs; instead, we are left with six books telling an incomplete story The Faerie Queen was intended to relate to Spenser's England, most importantly in the area of religion. Spenser lived in post-Reformation England, which had recently replaced Roman Catholicism with Protestantism (specifically, Anglicanism) as the national religion. There were still many Catholics living in England, and, thus, religious protest was a part of Spenser's life. A devout Protestant and a devotee of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth, Spenser was particularly offended by the anti-Elizabethan propaganda that some Catholics circulated. Like most Protestants near the time of the Reformation, Spenser saw a Catholic Church full of corruption, and he determined that it was not only the wrong religion but the anti-religion. This sentiment is an important backdrop for the battles of The Faerie Queene, which often represent the "battles" between London and Rome.

-tells the story of the knight of Holiness, the Redcrosse Knight. -This hero gets his name from the blood-red cross emblazoned on his shield. He has been given a task by Gloriana, "that greatest Glorious Queen of Faerie lond," to fight a terrible dragon (I.i.3) -He is traveling with a beautiful, innocent young lady and a dwarf as servant. Just as we join the three travelers, a storm breaks upon them and they rush to find cover in a nearby forest. When the skies clear, they find that they are lost, and they end up near a cave, which the lady recognizes as the den of Error. Ignoring her warnings, Redcrosse enters and is attacked by the terrible beast, Error, and her young -She wraps him up in her tail, but he eventually manages to strangle her and chops off her head. Error's young then drink her blood until they burst and die. Victorious, the knight and his companions set out again, looking for the right path. As night falls, they meet an old hermit who offers them lodging in his inn. As the travelers sleep, the hermit assumes his real identity--he is Archimago, the black sorcerer, and he conjures up two spirits to trouble Redcrosse. -One of the sprites obtains a false dream from Morpheus, the god of sleep; the other takes the shape of Una, the lady accompanying Redcrosse. These sprites go to the knight; one gives him the dream of love and lust. When Redcrosse wakes up in a passion, the other sprite (appearing to be Una) is lying beside him, offering a kiss. The knight, however, resists her temptations and returns to sleep. -Archimago then tries a new deception; he puts the sprite disguised as Una in a bed and turns the other sprite into a young man, who lies with the false Una. Archimago then wakes Redcrosse and shows him the two lovers in bed. Redcrosse is furious that "Una" would spoil her virtue with another man, and so in the morning he leaves without her. -When the real Una wakes, she sees her knight is gone, and in sorrow rides off to look for him. Archimago, enjoying the fruits of his scheme, now disguises himself as Redcrosse and follows after Una. -As Redcrosse wanders on, he approaches another knight--Sansfoy, who is traveling with his lady. He charges Redcrosse, and they fight fiercely, but the shield with the blood-red cross protects our hero; eventually, he kills Sansfoy. He takes the woman into his care--she calls herself Fidessa, saying that she is the daughter of the Emperor of the West. Redcrosse swears to protect her, attracted to her beauty. They continue together, but soon the sun becomes so hot that they must rest under the shade of some trees. -Redcrosse breaks a branch off of one tree and is shocked when blood drips forth from it, and a voice cries out in pain. The tree speaks and tells its story. It was once a man, named Fradubio, who had a beautiful lady named Fraelissa--now the tree next to him. One day, Fradubio happened to defeat a knight and win his lady (just as Redcrosse did)--and that lady turned out to be Duessa, an evil witch. Duessa turned Fraelissa into a tree, so that she could have Fradubio for herself. But Fradubio saw the witch in her true, ugly form while she was bathing, and when he tried to run away, she turned him into a tree, as well. When Fradubio finishes his story, Fidessa faints--because she is, in fact, Duessa, and she fears that she will be found out. She recovers though, and Redcrosse does not make the connection, so they continue on their way.

-Arthur, Redcrosse, and Una rest after their victory at Orgoglio's castle, the lady asks Arthur to tell them about his name and lineage. This is a sore spot for Arthur; he says that he does not know who his parents were. He grew up in Wales (in Great Britain) and was tutored by the magician Merlin. Una then asks what brought him to Faerie Land, and this is an even more painful memory. It was the love of a maid, who had briefly appeared to him and called herself the Queen of Fairies, which led him to search for her in Faerie Land for the past nine months. Redcrosse and Una give their sympathy, but now they must continue on their quest; after exchanging gifts, they leave Arthur. They continue toward Una's home, but she is worried that Redcrosse is now too weak from his imprisonment to defeat the dragon keeping her parents captive. -Sir Trevisan, and he claims to be fleeing a terrible man named Despair. This Despair had already caused one of Trevisan's friends, Terwin, to kill himself. Redcrosse is eager to challenge Despair, and Trevisan reluctantly leads them back to the cave where Despair, a gloomy old man, sits. There they see Terwin's body, and Redcrosse eagerly desires to exact revenge upon Despair. But the old man remains calm and wearily asks Redcrosse what problem he has with death. Death, he says, simply brings an end to a life of sin and, thus, cannot come too soon. He even knows of Redcrosse's sins and weaknesses and almost persuades the knight to take his own life. However, Una steps in and stops him and pulls him out of the cave of Despair. -Seeing her knight's weakness, Una now knows for certain that he needs help, and so, she leads him to the House of Holiness. There, Caelia reigns with her three daughters, Fidelia, Sperenza, and Charissa, and many other virtuous people live with them. Caelia greets Una and, hearing of Redcrosse's condition, commands her daughters to aid his recovery. First, Fidelia instructs him in discipline and the gospel; then, Sperenza comforts him, so that his sins do not again lead to despair. Next, hard Patience and bitter Penance make him suffer for the crimes he has committed, to purge himself. Finally, Charissa comes to Redcrosse, and "Gan him instruct, in every good behest [behavior] / Of love, and righteousnesse, and well to donne -After instructing him, she takes him to a hospital where seven charitable men tend to his physical ailments. Now fully recovered in body and spirit, Redcrosse receives one more grace--he is taken up to a high hill by Contemplation, a wise old hermit. There, he can see the new Jerusalem (God's city) and Cleopolis (the city of the Faerie Queene). Contemplation tells Redcrosse his history and future: He is not a faerie but born from a mortal king--he was stolen by a faerie and brought to Faerie Land. He is destined to become a great saint of England, and his true name is George. Much amazed by this news, Redcrosse returns down the hill to the House of Holiness. There, Una is eager to make for her castle, and so they soon depart. -Una leads Redcrosse to her native soil. As they approach her parents' castle, they hear the terrible roar of the dragon. Redcrosse has Una stand aside at a distance, and then he confronts the beast. The dragon is covered in a flawless coat of scales, stronger than any metal, has a long tail with razor sharp spikes, and powerful wings that carry him to meet the knight. Redcrosse charges at him and strikes, but his spear glances off the dragon's impenetrable hide, and both knight and horse fall to the ground. The dragon grabs them in its massive claws and lifts them into the air. Redcrosse struggles until the dragon is forced to let them down; thrusting once more with his lance, he happens to strike one of the beast's wings, and finally manages to leave a wound. Furious, the dragon knocks Redcrosse off his horse. Undaunted, the knight takes his sword and slices at the dragon's head, but it only stuns the dragon; angered, it lets out a fiery breath that scorches the whole field. Redcrosse's armor is heated so much that it burns him; he writhes in agony. The dragon knocks him backward, moving in for the kill, but the knight is fortunate enough to fall back into the Well of Life, which has great powers to heal wounds. The dragon, however, simply assumes it has won, and Una fears the worst for her hero. -next morning, though, Redcrosse emerges as good as new. Better, in fact, because through the magical power of the water he and his blade are stronger, and confronting the dragon again he cuts a deep wound in the beast's head. In retaliation, the dragon wounds Redcrosse's shoulder with its tail and then tries to pull away the sacred shield with its claws. The knight manages to cut off the claws, but as he retreats he again falls, this time into a mire where a sacred tree grows, which, like the well, has magical healing powers. Another night passes, as Una frets and the dragon nurses its wounds. On the third day, Redcrosse emerges from the grove refreshed and healed. The dragon is furious to see the knight still alive; it bends down its open mouth, intending to swallow its opponent whole. But Redcrosse holds his ground and rams his sword deep into the dragon's throat. The beast crashes to the earth like a mountain falling from heaven, and it is dead. -Una's father and mother, the King and Queen of that land, see the defeat of the dragon and rush out to give thanks to Redcrosse. The whole kingdom, which had been hiding in fear of the dragon for months, now comes out and celebrates with music, parades, feasting, and many gift for the victorious knight. All expect him to marry Una, but Redcrosse announces that he still has a duty to serve the Faerie Queene for six years in her battle against a proud king. Una's father agrees that after that time, his daughter shall marry the knight. At that moment, though, a messenger runs onto the scene; he claims that the engagement cannot be made because Redcrosse has already pledged his hand to another woman. The king demands an explanation; Redcrosse tells him that the woman is Duessa, who only got his pledge by deceit and witchcraft. He gave his love to an imaginary woman, Fidessa, played by Duessa, and now he sees the truth and so he is free to love another. Una seconds all of this and also suggests that they examine the messenger to see if he is disguised as well. In fact, it turns out to be Archimago. The celebration of the engagement continues until Redcrosse must sadly leave to fulfill his duty and destiny.

While Spenser spends a good deal of time attacking the Catholic Church, he makes it clear that there is a greater overall evil that threatens mankind, the very basic evil of sin. This is the dragon that Redcrosse defeats at the end of Book I. By broadening the battle to good versus evil, the spiritual part of man's existence, Spenser expands his audience far beyond the narrow range of Elizabethan Protestants.

Yes and no. Spenser is quick to recognize that native virtue (as usually represented by forest creatures or people brought up in the forest) is oriented toward the good. By comparison to the many perverse characters in the poem, this is commendable, but it pales in comparison to the virtue of the Christian heroes. Natural virtue is good as a building block toward the true religion, but if it falls short, it is worthless, mere idolatry.

Superficially, they are hardly parallel at all; Redcrosse goes through an arduous process of discovery and cleansing until the final dramatic showdown and glorious victory, while Britomart pops in and out of the narrative, helping out here and there, but never, it seems, getting any closer to her goal. But on the level of the allegory, both stories elaborate on a virtue, instructing the reader how to recognize falsehood or insincere chastity, until the virtue is mature and can conquer true evil. In this respect Book I and Book III have a similar buildup and climax, despite the obvious difference in plot.

Courtly love is the love of Arthurian romances and their Italian counterparts, sources that Spenser used extensively. However, he tends to represent courtly love as superficial and even silly, a far cry from pure Christian love. See the ridiculous task that the Squire of Dames tells Satyrane he must perform for his lady (III.vii.53-61)--such devices were common to courtly love stories, and Spenser only mocks them.