EDMUND SPENSER

BIOGRAPHY (1) Edmund Spenser was born in 1552 or 1553. No documentation exists to establish his exact date of birth, but the year is known in part due to Spenser's own poetry. In Amoretti Sonnet 60, Spenser writes that he is forty-one years old. We know this poem was published in 1594 (and written only shortly prior to its publication), so the year of his birth can be closely guessed. Spenser matriculated at the University of Cambridge on May 20, 1569. Ten years later he published his first publicly-released poetic work, The Sheapheards' Calendar, to positive reviews. He then began work on his magnum opus, The Faerie Queene, publishing the first three of the projected twelve books in 1590. Spenser was an English subject during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, to whose court he aspired. He offered Elizabeth The Faerie Queene in an attempt to gain her favor. Unfortunately, Spenser held to political views and associated with individuals that did not meet the approval of Elizabeth's principal secretary, Lord Burghley. Through Burghley's influence, Spenser was given only a small pension in recognition for his grand poetic work. Sent to Ireland to hold English property on the oft-rebellious island, Spenser there met and wooed Elizabeth Boyle, a young woman from an important English family, who was probably half his age. His year-long suit to win her hand in marriage is recorded (with a deal of poetic license) in Spenser's Amoretti. Spenser also dedicated a marriage song, Epithalamion, to his young bride. As was the custom, both seemingly personal works of poetry were published for mass consumption in 1594 and helped Spenser's literary career to improve. In the meantime, Spenser completed the fourth through sixth books of The Faerie Queene and published them, along with revised versions of the first three books, in 1596. Spenser is best known for his immense epic poem The Faerie Queene. Dedicated to Queen Elizabeth (herself represented by the title character) the work was envisioned by Spenser as encompassing twelve books, each one detailing a quest by some knight of King Arthur's court on behalf of Gloriana, the Faerie Queene. Spenser was only able to finish the first six books (and begin a draft of the seventh) before his death in 1599.

BIOGRAPHY (2) 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. His first major work, The Shepheardes Calender, was published in 1579 and met with critical success; within a year he was at work on his greatest and longest work, The Faerie Queene. This poem occupied him for most of his life, though he published other poems in the interim. The first three books of The Faerie Queen were published in 1590 and then republished with Books IV through VI in 1596. By this time, Spenser was already in his second marriage, which took place in Ireland, where he often traveled. Still at work on his voluminous poem, Spenser died on January 13, 1599, at Westminster. Spenser only completed half of The Faerie Queene he planned. 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 symbolicmeaning. 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. Spenser intended to write 12 books of the Faerie Queene, all in the classical epic style; Spenser notes that his structure follows those of Homer and Virgil. 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. Of these, the first and the third books are most often read and critically acclaimed. Though it takes place in a mythical land, The Faerie Queen was intended to relate to Spenser's England, most importantly in the area of religion. Spenser lived in postReformation 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 antireligion. This sentiment is an important backdrop for the battles of The Faerie Queene, which often represent the "battles" between London and Rome.

THE FAERIE QUEENE

Book 1 HOLINESS Book 2 TEMPERANCE Book 3 CHASTITY Book 4 - FRIENDSHIP Book 5 - JUSTICE (Artegall) Book 6 - COURTESY (Calidore) SUMMARY (1) The Faerie Queene tells the stories of several knights, each representing a particular virtue, on their quests for the Faerie Queene, Gloriana. Redcrosse is the knight of Holiness, and must defeat both theological error and the dragon of deception to free the parents of Una ("truth"). Guyon is the knight of Temperance, who must destroy the fleshly temptations of Acrasia's Bower of Bliss. Britomart, a woman in disguise as a male knight, represents Chastity; she must find her beloved and win his heart. Artegall, the knight of Justice, must rescue the lady Eirene from an unjust bondage. Cambell and Triamond, the knights of Friendship, must aid one another in defense of various ladies' honor. Finally, Calidore, the knight of Courtesy, must stop the Blatant Beast from spreading its slanderous venom throughout the realm. Each quest is an allegory, and the knight given the quest represents a person's internal growth in that particular virtue. Such growth happens through various trials, some of which the knights fail, showing how personal development is a struggle requiring the aid of other forces and virtues to make it complete. SUMMARY (2) 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. In a different manner, Britomart also progresses in her virtue of chastity. She already has the strength to resist lust, but she is not ready to accept love, the love she feels when she sees a vision of her future husband in a magic mirror. She learns to incorporate chaste resistance with active love, which is what Spenser sees as true Christian love: moderation.

Whereas Redcrosse made his own mistakes (to show to us the consequences of an unholy life), it is not Britomart but the other characters in Book III who show the destructive power of an unchaste life. Spenser says in his Preface to the poem that his goal is to show how a virtuous man should live. The themes of Book I and Book III come together in the idea that our native virtue must be augmented or transformed if it is to become true Christian virtue. Spenser has a high regard for the natural qualities of creatures; he shows that the satyrs, the lion, and many human characters have an inborn inclination toward the good. And yet, he consistently shows their failure when faced with the worst evils. These evils can only be defeated by the Christian good. 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. As a purely poetic work, The Faerie Queene was neither original nor always remarkable; Spenser depends heavily on his Italian romantic sources (Ariosto & Tasso), as well as medieval and classical works like The Romance of the Rose andThe Aeneid . It is Spenser's blending of such diverse sources with a high-minded allegory that makes the poem unique and remarkable. He is able to take images from superficial romances, courtly love stories, and tragic epics alike, and give them real importance in the context of the poem. No image is let fall from Spenser's pen that does not have grave significance, and this gives The Faerie Queene the richness that has kept it high among the ranks of the greatest poetry in the English language.

ABOUT THE FAERIE QUEENE The Faerie Queene was written over the course of about a decade by Edmund Spenser. He published the first three books in 1590, then the next four books (plus revisions to the first three) in 1596. It was originally intended to be twelve books long, with each book detailing a specific Christian virtue in its central character. When he presented the first three books at the court of Queen Elizabeth, Spenser was looking for the prestige, political position, and monetary compensation he believed the work merited. However, he came away disappointed by the relatively small stipend (to his mind) that he received, and attributed his lack of spectacular success with Elizabeth to her advisor and Spenser's political opposite, Lord Burghley. In Books Four through Six, Spenser seems to change the direction of the epic somewhat, possibly curtailing his ambition to reach twelve Books in total. Arthur still becomes an

important figure in the epic, with his quest to reach Gloriana forming the backdrop to his interactions with the central knights of each Book, but the latter three Books are more intertwined than are the first three. Book 1 seems to be literarily perfect as a stand-along story, whereas the other books leave an increasing number of unresolved plot threads to be resolved in later sections. Nonetheless, the six books Spenser managed to complete have their own internal consistency and leave nothing for a seventh section to wrap up. Edmund Spenser died before he could complete another book of The Faerie Queene.

CHARACTERS (1) Redcrosse - The knight of Holiness, who is in fact a "tall clownishe yonge man" who alone would take the quest to free Una's parents from the dragon. His adventures represent the individual Christian's struggles to maintain personal holiness while avoiding pride in all its forms. Una - Una is the Truth--both the absolute spiritual truth and what Spenser considered to be the true faith of the Protestant Christian Church. Her encouragement and help keeps Redcrosse knight from doom and helps to build him into a mighty warrior capable of defeating the dragon that has imprisoned her parents. Archimago - A sorcerer and deceiver, Archimago seeks to overcome Una through false appearances and lies. He causes Redcrosse to doubt Una's fidelity, disguises himself as Redcrosse in an attempt to take Una, and even attempts to stop Redcrosse's betrothal to Una by insisting that Duessa has a prior claim on him. Each time his deception is uncovered, rendering him powerless. Duessa - Duessa is "duplicity," the opposite of Una ("Truth"). She is first seen as paramour to the evil knight Sansfoy ("Faithlessness") and lies about her identity to Redcrosse in an attempt to seduce him. She eventually succeeds in winning Redcrosse's favor and dragging him into Orgoglio's dungeon, but her efforts are undone by the intervention of Una and Prince Arthur. Duessa appears later in the epic as part of the negative tetrad of Blandamour, Paridell, Ate and herself. She is put on trial and executed in Book 5. Orgoglio - A bestial giant whose name means "pride" in Italilan, Orgoglio defeats Redcrosse knight when Duessa weakens the champion. Orgoglio is in turn defeated by the virtuous Prince Arthur, who dismembers him. Orgoglio's torso deflates once he is defeated, suggesting his great size resulted from being "puffed up" like a balloon full of air. Prince Arthur - The ultimate hero of the epic, Prince Arthur is the younger version of King Arthur. King Arthur already had a place in the mythic consciousness of Britons, and legends had accumulated around his name, including one that he would one day return

from his long, healing sleep to lead Britain into a new Golden Age. He is the ideal consort for Gloriana, the Faerie Queene. Guyon - Guyon is the knight of Temperance (self-control), although his role carries with it a touch of irony. Guyon above all other knights struggles the most with his symbolic virtue; more than once he comes near to killing an opponent in rage, and once he even threatened Britomart's old nurse with violence. Nonetheless, Guyon is successful in his quest to destroy Acrasia's Bower of Bliss. Britomart - Britomart is the knight of Chastity. Her secret identity as a female knight makes her stand out from among her male peers, as does her amazing prowess in battle (she aids Redcrosse against his enemies, unhorses Guyon, and defeats Artegall in their first encounter). Her femininity makes her immune to the temptations the male knights face from sultry witches and immoderate damsels, making her the ideal of Chastity. She is in love with Artegall, whom she first saw in Merlin's magic mirror, and her quest is to find and wed him. Cambell - Cambell is half of the duo (completed by Triamond) which represents Friendship. As Friendship requires a relationship with another, this virtue is symbolized by a good friend to another knight, rather than just by a single knight on a quest. Cambell forms part of the postiive tetrad made up of himself, Triamond, his sister (and Triamond's beloved) Canacee, and his own beloved (and Triamond's sister) Cambia. Artegall - Artegall is the knight of Justice. His name means "like Arthur," thus identifying him with the ultimate knight in the epic, Prince Arthur. Like Arthur, he falls in love with a chaste and powerful woman (Britomart) and is an agent of Justice. On his quest to free the lady Eirene, Artegall is given an unusual squire: Talus, the man made of iron. Talus represents cold, unrelenting justice, while Artegall must learn how to properly temper justice with mercy. Calidore - Calidore is the knight of Courtesy. His quest is to find and stop the Blatant Beast (or Slander). He represents proper behavior in public, particularly in "civilized" society; thus, his quest to stop Slander carries with it the message that a properly behaved people will refrain from giving slander freedom to work its evil among them. Florimell - Florimell is the most beautiful woman in the epic (at least outwardly). She is more flighty and less independent than either Britomart or Belphoebe, and spends much of the epic running away from someone or something. She represents the fleeting nature of beauty, and the reactions of other knights, both virtuous and base, shows how easily men's heads can be turned by a pretty face.

CHARACTERS (2) Arthur - The 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. Faerie Queene (also known as Gloriana) - Though 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 poems characters. She represents Queen Elizabeth, among others, as discussed in the Commentary. Redcrosse - 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. Una - 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. Duessa - 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. Archimago - 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. Britomart - The 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. Florimell - 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 doesnot love her. Satyrane - Satyrane is the 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.

MAJOR THEMES Instruction in Virtue Spenser intended The Faerie Queene to be read primarily by young men desiring to learn better what virtues to cultivate in their lives. As such, the epic makes clear who the heroes and villains are, whom they represent, and what good behavior looks like. The most basic reading of The Faerie Queene is an education in proper living for 16th Century England. Interdependence of the Virtues The Faerie Queene makes it clear that no single virtue is greater than the rest. While some are superior to others, they require one another to strengthen the integrity of the whole person. For example, Redcrosses Holiness requires rescuing by Britomarts Chastity, while Britomarts Chastity seeks Justice to complete it in the social realm. Chivalric Society and Social Classes Spenser chose to set his epic in a romanticized medieval fantasy world full of knights, monsters, and damsels in distress. He uses this environment to give power to his allegorical statements, but at the same time, he includes an undercurrent of criticism for feudal Britain (and the class system his own age had inherited from it). Along with virtuous knights, Spenser includes noble savages (the Savage Man), honorable squires (Tristram), and even battle-hardened women (Britomart and Radigund). The knights, who are supposed to be the ideal of virtue, are often the most wrong-headed characters in the epic. Christian Humanism While ostensibly constructing an epic devoted to theological virtues of the Christian faith, Spenser cannot resist including his beloved classical mythology and legends in the work. Alongside the Redcrosse knight stands the half-satyr Satyrane; Calidone, the knight of Courtesy, spends time with rustic shepherds and a magical storyteller; and the virtuous Queen of England herself is depicted as Gloriana, Queen of the Faerie. To Spenser, there was no contradiction between classical aesthetic values and Protestant Christianity. Protestantism versus Catholicism Although The Faerie Queene can be read as a simple allegory of virtue, there are too many overt criticisms of the Catholic Church to keep the work theologically neutral. The monster Errour vomits Catholic tracts upon Redcrosse in Book 1, and Grantorto stands in for Catholicism as a whole in Book 6. Throughout the epic, Godliness is equated with Protestant theology, while falsehood and the destruction of lives are attributed to Catholic sources. Chastity Spenser makes much of female Chastity in The Faerie Queene, and not just in the book devoted to that virtue (Book 3). Britomart is the ideal of chastity, yet she does not seek to remain a maiden; her quest is to find the man she has fallen in love with and marry him.

Belphoebe, the virgin huntress, eventually develops a relationship with Arthurs squire Timias. Arthur himself looks forward to the day when he will woo and win the Faerie Queene herself. Each of these strong female figures points to the real-life Queen Elizabeth, whose continued celibacy caused great concern among many of her subjects (who feared she would leave no heir to continue her glorious reign). In some ways, the entire epic is not just dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, but it also aims to change her mind and push her into accepting a suitor. The Pervasive Effects of Slander Through the Blatant Beast in Books 5 and 6, Spenser expounds the effects slander can have upon its victims. The Blatant Beast bites its prey, leaving them poisoned and dying. Only self-control, good living, and forthrightness of speech can cure them of their ills. Spenser uses the poisoning of Serena to show how a womans virtue can suffer even when she has done no wrong; he uses the poisoning of Timias following Belphoebes misperception of his intentions toward Amoretta to show a similar evil worked upon an upright man. Spenser had real-world counterparts in mind for these episodes: well-known political figures had been the victims of slander and could not escape its detrimental effects even after the allegations were disproved. The Blatant Beast is the one creature left alive by the questing knight: apparently, Slander is subject to repression (the Beasts jaws can be bound for a while) but not complete elimination (the Beast still lives).