FAERIE QUEENE

By
Edmund Spenser

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 SEQUENCE

About the author

Intro to genre

Levels of allegory

Allegorical characters

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 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edmund Spenser was born around 1553 in London

He was classically educated at the merchant Taylor

school
He attended college at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge

University
He got his bachelor of Arts in 1573 and his Masters

of Arts in 1576

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 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Spenser first wrote for the bishop of Rochester, then

served under the earl of Leicester

In 1580, he became secretary to the Earl of Leicester

In 1580, he became secretary to the lord Deputy of

Ireland
In 1581, he made Ireland his home, eventually

acquiring Kilcolman, an estate with a castle of Cork

and Limerick
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 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
He married machabyas Chylde in 1579, she died in

1594, he then married Elizabeth Boyle

He published his first personal work, The Shephardes

Calendar, a pastoral poem, in 1579

He was actually a well known poet before he wrote the

Faerie Queene, but that work has over shadowed all his
others

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 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

He published his first personal work, The Shephardes

Calendar, a pastoral poem, in 1579

He was actually a well known poet before he wrote the

Faerie Queene, but that work has over shadowed all his
others

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 THE FAERIE QUEENE
He began the epic poem in 1580 and spent 10 years

writing the first three books. it was published in 1591

He planned to write 12 books, but he only managed 6

before his death

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 THE GENRE: ALLEGORY
• Allegory is a figure of speech in which abstract ideas and
principles are described in terms of characters, figures, and
events. It can be employed in prose and poetry to tell a story,
with a purpose of teaching or explaining an idea or a
principle. The objective of its use is to teach some kind of a 
moral lesson
• As a literary device, an allegory is a narrative, whether in
prose or verse, in which a character, place or event is used to
deliver a broader message about real-world issues and
occurrences. Allegory (in the sense of the practice and use of
allegorical devices and works) has occurred widely
throughout history in all forms of art, largely because it can
readily illustrate or convey complex ideas and concepts in
ways that are comprehensible or striking to its viewers,
readers, or listeners
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 ALLEGORY IN THE FAERIE QUEENE
• Book 1 of the Faerie Queene is allegorical but far more
complex
• Literal level (A story of romance and adventure)
• Moral / christian Allegory. Abstract moral truths (with truth,
Faith, Error, etc)
• Religious Allegory. Biblical history of humanity (with Christ,
Satan, etc)
• Political Allegory. Political history of 16th century England
(with pope, etc)
• The allegorical levels are not presented consistently
throughout the poem. In places, Spenser focuses on one of the
allegorical levels; in other places, he tries to incorporate all
three allegorical levels

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 ALLEGORY IN THE FAERIE QUEENE
 On one level Red cross Knight represents Holiness or Faith
 His quest demonstrates how to become a true Christian
 He must reject false doctrines and other temptations to sin
and cling to the true faith
 Red cross Knight also represents St.George, the patron saint
of England
 Therefore he symbolizes England itself
 His quest portrays English Church history
 England had to reject the “false” Faith of Catholicism
(according to Spenser) and learn to embrace the “true” faith
of Protestantism

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 ALLEGORICAL CHARACTERS

Gloriana, the Fairy Queen: Queen Elizabeth

Prince Arthur: A perfect Knight, representing England

Arthur is on a quest to find Gloriana

Their union signifies the perfect union between queen

Elizabeth and the country she rules

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 ALLEGORICAL CHARACTERS

Una = the “true” faith, Protestantism

Duessa = the “false” faith, Catholicism

Archimago = the Anti-Christ, the Pope

Basically, the idea is that the Pope and his Church are

trying to trick England into rejecting the Protestant

faith, and returning to Catholic doctrines

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 STAGES OF LITERAL JOURNEY
Red Cross Knight, yet untested, begins his journey with Una

and the Dwarf as companions

 Seeking shelter from a storm red cross knight wanders into the

den of the monster of error. Red cross knight battles error

and ,with the help of Una, he defeats the monster and
continues on his journey
Red cross knight is deceived by archimago into thinking that

Una is promiscuous, so Red Cross Knight abandons Una and

guided by his will and grief continues his journey alone

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 STAGES OF LITERAL JOURNEY
 Without Una ,Red Cross Knight encounters Sansfoy. Red
Cross Knight battles Sansfoy and Kills him
 Without Una, Red Cross Knight meets Duessa, is attracted to
her ,and continues his journey with Duessa as a companion
 Duessa leads red cross Knight into the house of pride ,where
the knight is entertained by a procession of the seven Deadly
sins
 While in the house of pride, Red Cross Knight is challenged
to fight with Sansjoy. The Knight struggles against Sansjoy
but finally defeats him

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 STAGES OF LITERAL JOURNEY
 After facing Sansjoy, Red Cross Knight is led out of the
house of pride after the Dwarf helps him see the darker side
of it
 Wandering alone ,still without Una ,Red Cross Knight is once
again found by Duessa ,and he welcomes her. After drinking
from a magic fountain that saps his strength, and after taking
off his armour, Red Cross Knight becomes amorous with
Duessa
 In an amorous encounter with Duessa , with his armour off
and weakened by the magic fountain, Red Cross Knight is
attacked by the giant orgoglio, who conquers the knight and
imprisons him in a dungeon

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MORAL ALLEGORY IN FAERIE QUEENE
• The stages of Red Cross knight ‘s journey in Book 1 of Faerie Queene
allegorically reflect the stages that any of us might encounter as we take
our moral journey through life
• Just on a quick read of the very first stanza, we see a lot of
contradictions ,a lot of conflicts and ways in which the stanza does not
live upto the expectations it sets out at the beginning
• A Gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine,
Y cladd in mightie armes and silver shielde,
Wherein old dints of deepe wounds did remaine,
The cruell markes of many a bloudy fielde;
Yet armes till that time did he never wield:
His angry steed did chide his forming bitt,
As much disdaining to the curbe to yield:
Full jolly knight he seemed,and faire did sitt,
As one for knightly guists and fierce encounters fitt

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MORAL ALLEGORY IN FAERIE QUEENE
• Armour shows that he has been in a lot of battles (an experienced

knight)
Y cladd in mightie armes and silver shielde,
Wherein old dints of deepe wounds did remaine,
The cruell markes of many a bloudy fielde;
• But then we have the word “YET”(armies till that time did he never

wield) which reverses what is said before

• He has never wielded armaments of battle .The armour itself is old but

the knight is not. The knight is not experienced. So now we see that the
text establishes the difference between the way things appear and how
they actually are

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MORAL ALLEGORY IN FAERIE QUEENE
• Appearances are not what they seem. This knight is not who
he seems to be. So we start to expect that this knight might
not do very well with every challenge that comes across his
way
• This is not going to be a story where the protagonist wins
every battle that comes across his way. There are places
where he is going to fail. There are ways in which he might
fail spiritually on this journey as well
• That we can take to another level. If he sometimes fails to
be holy and he is a knight of holiness. Perhaps this text
communicates that you don't have to be perfect in order to
aim for holiness. You can keep trying to be holy. And we see
how this text explores this idea as we go through it

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 RELIGIOUS ALLEGORY
 Archimago is meant to represent, hypocrisy, as well as witchcraft and
illusions. He uses magic to disguise himself as a religious and morally
sound man so that he can deceive Red Crosse and Una into trusting him
 Archimago’s actions epitomize hypocrisy because Archimago is acting as
though he is protecting Red Crosse when, in actuality, he has created a
false reality in order to bring about the downfall of Red Crosse,
representing holiness. Archimago is a representation of the falseness and
deceit in the Catholic Church
 Archimago’s division of truth from holiness symbolizes the threat of the
hypocrisy and plots of the Roman Catholic Church against the English
Church. Spenser uses Archimago and his illusions as a stumbling block in
Red Crosse’s quest for his religious identity. Likewise, Spenser uses the
Hermitage Episode to portray the spiritual dangers that are connected to
the loss of faith. Spenser is saying that when Truth (Una) is separated
from Holiness (Red Crosse), Hypocrisy (Archimago) gets a chance to
deceive Holiness and steer him off his righteous path

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 POLITICAL ALLEGORY
• Spenser’s political allegory shows the hypocrisy and illusions
used by the Catholic Church to cause disorder and
uncertainty
• Archimago’s political allegory shows the intense historical
referencing throughout The Faerie Queene
• Spenser’s use of moral, religious and political allegory clearly
shows how he feels about Pope Clement and the Catholic
Church
• He brings to light the hypocrisy and illusions used by the
Catholic Church to help the government manipulate their
lives as well as the lives of the people of England
• Through Archimago’s character, Spenser reveals how
anyone can appear to be religious, however, their true nature
is revealed by their actions
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