DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
INTERNAL ASSESSMENT ASSIGNMENT
COVER SHEET
SEMESTER I

DEEKSHA DEVI CHOUDHARY

NAME OF THE STUDENT:.....................................................................................
HINDU COLLEGE
COLLEGE:...............................................................................................................
21026708005 120351102
EXAM ROLL NO.:…………………… PAPER CODE............................................
EARLY MODERN WORLD
PAPER NAME:........................................................................................................
The significance of Florimell in The Faerie Queene.
TITLE OF THE PAPER............................................................................................
……………………………………………………………………………….………….…..
31ST MARCH 2022
DATE OF SUBMISSION:..........................

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DEEKSHA DEVI CHOUDHARY

Full Name:...................................................

Signature:...........................................................
 Choudhary 1

Deeksha Devi Choudhary

Early Modern World (120351102)

31st March 2022

The Damzell in Distress: Florimell

The Faerie Queene was written at the time of the reign of Elizabeth I, who is known

as the virgin queen1 as she was reluctant to get married and, in turn, had no bloodline heir left

to proceed Tudor dynasty. Elizabeth was a true image of ‘chastity’ for the people witnessing

her. The chastity here represents virginity and signifies the virtuousness of women. The

women of the Renaissance age were never given a choice to become the heir of the family

will. Although the other sons after the firstborn son suffered the same, all women were

honored to become a wife, a mother to an heir (preferably), or maybe a widow. The women

of noble families were bounded by rules and regulations and were taught spinning, weaving,

knitting, and embroidery.

In contrast, the ladies of the peasant class were freer because they had to assist their

male kins in the farms, gardens, breweries, etc., as they never had servants. The instruction of

chastity by the old females to the young girls was common to all classes. Marriage was the

contract between the two males, the father, and the soon-to-be husband. The members of the

family had to make sure that the girl remains a virgin until she gets married (as followed in

the New Testament- “Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept

undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.” (Hebrews 13:4) as the bloodline has

to be pure for the upcoming heirs. If a woman gives her chastity away by means of a gift,

1
Elizabeth I’s 1559 speech on her marriage, in Annales, 1625 was her first speech in
Parliament on February 10, 1559. Elizabeth retained the ability to select who she marries and
whether she marries at all. She concludes her speech by adding that if her epitaph reads, "A
Virgin pure untill her Death," it'll be enough for her. (Camden)
 Choudhary 2

force, or seduction, she brings down the honors of the family, gets abandoned, and sometimes

has to end up being a prostitute for a living.

In book three, where Florimell is first introduced, Spencer writes: “It falles me here to

write of Chastity, That fairest vertue, farre aboue the rest.” (Spencer), He shows us

throughout the book that men can be lions, but women will always remain water. The story of

Florimell and Marinell is told in an episodic manner to accompany Britomart’s tale. On the

one hand, we see Britomart being the symbol of audacity and fearlessness; Florimell is a bold

yet “fearefull Damzell” (Spencer) who is “Full of sad feare, and doubtfull agony” (Spencer)

as she is always fleeing from her chasers. As the Dwarf (Florimell’s servant) says- “The

bountiest virgin, and most debonaire,” (Spencer) Florimell is a beautiful, charming, and one-

of-a-kind woman. She gets lusted by the forester, Prince Arthur, and Sir Guyon, the witch's

son, the fisherman who is old but still does not pay heed to her rejection, and the sea-God

Proteus. When Proteus transforms himself to “Gyant, feend, Centaure, and storme” (Spencer)

and nothing convinces Florimell, he keeps her in an underground dungeon yet- “she loues

none but one, that Marinell is hight” (Spencer).

Florimell is determined to find Marinell dead or alive, and so she leaves her Fairyland

to find him. She does not even carry any armor; all she owns is a horse that helps her fly

away from dangerous situations. The name Florimell in Latin suggests the Combination of

Latin “flos” meaning "flower" and mel "honey". Florimell’s charm and purity did not just

make the men craving for her, but her true heart and cute face could also melt the rude heart

of the witch when she reached her cottage and asked for shelter:

With that adowne out of her Christall eyne

Few trickling teares she softly forth let fall,

That like two Orient pearles, did purely shyne

Vpon her snowy cheeke; and therewithall

 Choudhary 3

She sighed soft, that none so bestiall,

Nor saluage hart, but ruth of her sad plight

Would make to melt, or pitteously appall. (Spencer)

However, when we talk of the false or snowy Florimell who is- ‘Another Florimell, in

shape and looke, So liuely and so like, that many it mistooke.’ (Spencer) We can observe

quite the opposite of what happens to the real Florimell. The false one first stays with the

witch’s son, and then she is stolen by Braggadocchio, infatuates Paridell and Blandamour,

gets a contest organized to win her, wins the beauty contest but never fits in the girdle. At

last, she melts when placed with the real Florimell, which signifies the win of spiritual,

emotional, and platonic love over mere physical beauty. True beauty is the epitome of

goodness, and it can bring true love but lust and desire to people who look for outward

appearance; on the contrary, false beauty can turn on lustful desire but can never earn true

love.

As Virgil says, “Fortune favors the bold.” (Virgil) Florimell finally finds Marinell

alive and later marries him. Spences illustrates the contrasting nature of the beauty of women

through Florimell. The real one always refrains herself not just from the sexual intercourse,

but she also remains earnest about her love towards Marinell, who does not even know her

earlier. The snowy Florimell sets an example of a weaker woman who does not take a stand

for herself to say ‘no’ (which is a statement in itself). She remains dependent on the men and

the ‘girdle’ to affirm and justify her outer beauty, whereas the real one chooses to fly away,

ride the horse to her extreme capacity, and even drown in the river. Real Florimell never

trusts any other men; she does not take Arthur’s help when he wants to help her. She chooses

to drown in the river instead of getting caught. All she signifies through her vigilance towards
 Choudhary 4

herself is that she will never sacrifice her chastity, virtue, and principles over anyone and will

rather take her own life instead. She shows the courageousness of every woman who is

genuinely in love.
 Choudhary 5

Works Cited

Camden, William. Annales the true and royall history of the famous empresse Elizabeth

Queene of England France and Ireland &c. True faith's defendresse of diuine

renowne and happy memory. Wherein all such memorable things as happened during

hir blessed raigne ... are exac. London: Printed [by George Purslowe, Humphrey

Lownes, and Miles Flesher] for Beniamin Fisher and are to be sould at the Talbott in

Pater Noster Rowe, 1625. <http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A17808.0001.001>.

Spencer, Edmund. The Fairie Queene. Ed. Christopher Ricks. England: Penguin Group,

1987.

Version, THE BIBLE New Revised Standard. USA: National Council of Churches, 1989.

Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. Frederick Ahl. USA: Oxford University Press, 2007.