In The Faerie Queene, Edmund Spenser set out to create a work that could never be rivaled in breadth and complexity. His magnificent poem spans religious and literary movements, exalts and denounces rulers at the same time, honors traditional poetic forms and creates new ones, all while telling a fantastic story of romance, heroism, morality, and glory. In book two, Sir Guyon, the knight of temperance, is led into hell, and tempted by the creature known as Mammon, but remains faithful to his temperate values. In stanzas 44-46 of book two, Spenser utilizes techniques of romance poetry to create an allegory between Mammon’s daughter and the Catholic Church, reflecting Reformation ideals of temperance in the Protestant faith.
The Faerie Queene is a work that subtly blends aspects of traditional epic and romance poetry. In stanzas 44-46, techniques of romantic poetry are employed to create the initial image of Mammon’s deceptively beautiful daughter. This initial and yet superficial image of a strikingly beautiful woman is important as we begin to look more deeply into the themes and messages of the passage. Lines such as 393, 397, and 398 paint for the reader this illustration of beauty (2.7.44-45). This Prima Facia woman, like the Catholic Church of the time, advertises only positives, while hiding a less pristine reality. Moving from stanza 44 and the first lines of stanza 45, where Mammon’s daughter is described and exalted, to the latter portions of stanzas 45 and 46, the reader becomes aware that all is not as it appears with this alluring vision, “Yet was not that
Eckert 2
same [beauty] her owne native hew, but wrought by art and counterfetted shew” (2.7.400-401). In fact, her false beauty masks a dark motive: “...
... middle of paper ...
...tant Movement. It grew in response to the lavishness of the hierarchy of the old church and the trade of what were essentially get-out-of-jail-free cards. This important Reformation value is critically examined and commented on throughout book two of The Faerie Queene where Spenser’s use of techniques of romance poetry reflect Reformation ideals of temperance in the Protestant faith and create an allegory between Mammon’s daughter and the Catholic Church. Sir Guyon’s brave temperance against the temptations of Mammon
Eckert 5
exalt this value, while the allegory of Mammon’s daughter as the Catholic church furthers the idea of temperance in Protestantism and intemperance in Catholicism. However, considering the same images as representing Elizabeth and her court demonstrates that Spenser also critically examines temperance within Protestantism as well.
In The Faerie Queene, Spenser presents an eloquent and captivating representation of the Roman Catholic Church, her hierarchy, and patrons as the malevolent forces pitted against England in her exploits as Epic Hero. A discussion of this layer of the allegory for the work in its entirety would be a book in and of itself, so, for the purposes of this exercise, the focus will be confined to Book I, Canto 1, through the vanquishing of the dragon, Errour. Even in this small section of the work, however, it will be evident that Spenser very much took to heart both his duty as an Englishman to honour Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth I, and his duty as a Protestant Christian to champion the Church of England. The purpose of this exercise is not to prove whether Spenser was correct in his assertions, but to explore the manner in which he sets forth his views; it is, therefore, written from the position that his views are righteous, in the interest of eliminating the need for multiple caveats stating that the ideas herein are an interpretation of Spenser's beliefs. That being said, Spenser's multi-layered allegory sets him apart as perhaps the first Anglican Apologist, in whose footsteps C.S. Lewis would later follow with his own deeply symbolic tales. That Spenser displayed the literary and imaginative prowess to lay down so many layers of richly crafted allegorical fabric has made The Faerie Queene a work for the ages, both as lessons in English and Ecclesiastical history and as a fine example of the enduring beauty of the Language.
Readers of Keats’ poetry have long spoken of the enchanting power of his language, and in one of his most famous works, “The Eve of St. Agnes”; the reader is positively enchanted by the protagonist, Madeline. She’s pure, virginal, positively otherworldly, and “seem’d a splendid angel, newly drest” (Keats 77). Madeline also displays trappings of religious symbols throughout the work. She is called a “Mission’d spirit and a “seraph fair” (Keats 72-3). The reader could scarcely read the poem without immediately associating Madeline with the most divine cherubs in Heaven. Her virginity is repeatedly mentioned and referenced; even her room, or the maiden’s chamber, is “silken, hush’d, and chaste” (Keats 76). Young Porphyro with “heart on fire” for Madeline simply couldn’t resist this angel (Keats 71). One might connect that, similarly, young John Keats could not resist his own angel, Fanny Brawne. At the time of the composition of “The Eve of St. Agnes” Keats was heavy in the thralls of his engagement to Fanny. In her book, John Keats: The Making of a Poet, Aileen Ward proclaims “The Eve of St. Agnes” to be "the first confident flush of [Keats's] love for Fanny Brawne" (Ward 310). However, if Madeline is meant to be a manifestation of Fanny Brawne, Keats must not think of his fiancé as merely an angel, but something more.
This description creates a conflicting idea of her, on one hand there is this fascinating, beautiful and innocent woman, yet on the other hand there is this figure with gothic qualities and frightening “wild” eyes referring to nature. This is comparable to Catherine, “A wild, wick slip she was—but she had the bonniest eye, the sweetest smile, and the lightest foot in the parish.” (Chapter V, page42)
...ourneys, these men go in as an average man of the time, face a challenge that the Church thought a man of the day might experience, and come out purified and learned, as a man of those periods should behave. These stories are examples of how a life should be lived and the challenges that one may encounter. While the frames of these narratives change from fictitious to realistic according to the flow of Christianity-based, Northeastern literature, they each are pictures of the mentality of their times. As time progressed, so did the mentalities, which were heavily influenced by Christianity. This is evident in the slow removal of pagan beliefs in the supernatural monsters like dragons and giants into the more realistic literary frames. While all have their differences due to changing times, the hero's journey as a model for the everyday man is clear in these poems.
Hale, John K. “Spenser’s Faerie Queene, 1. 11. 52 and 53". Explicator. 53.1 (1994): 6-8.
In “The Undefinable,” by the end of the young woman’s first visit, the narrator is appraising her body for its worth in a portrait. The woman views this appraisal with disdain, mocking the “rounded form, healthy flesh, and lively glances” that appeal to the painter, common tropes of upper class portraits (Grand 285). Over the course of her next two visits, the narrator begins to worship and “glorify” her being (Grand 285). In the midst of her glorification, the man is able to paint in “love and reverence” a woman as she is, so that he “may feel her divinity and worship that!” (Grand 282, 284). The goddess-like terms of exaltation that the narrator describes the women with come with a frenzy to paint the ‘soul’ of the young woman, who was “a source of inspiration the like of which no man hitherto has even imagined in art or literature” (Grand 287). The inspiration, which solidifies the woman’s role as the muse, comes from a desire for her soul, not her
This 9 page report discusses the great prose epic by Sir Thomas Malory “Morte d’Arthur” (1470). Malory’s work has been one of the primary reasons that ...
What was the purpose of the Temperance Movement and Prohibition on alcohol? The Temperance Movement was an anti-alcohol movement. The Temperance Movement took place back in the early 20th century. The Christian abolitionists who fought slavery also prayed to the same God to end the scourge of alcohol. The purpose of the Temperance Movement was to try to abolish alcohol in the early 1900’s. “’We Sang Rock of Ages‘: Frances Willard Battles Alcohol in the late 19th Century” (Willard). The author the of literary piece is Frances Willard and the literary piece is an autobiography. America should get rid of alcohol because it ruins lives along with the family of that person who is an alcoholic. The article “’We Sang Rock of Ages’: Frances Willard Battles Alcohol in the late 19th Century” (Willard) reflects the temperance movement and the prohibition on alcohol in the 1920’s by banning the use of alcohol for any use other then medical use.
Schneider, Gary. “The Public, the Private, and the Shaming of the Shrew.” SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 42.2 (2002): 235-258. Project Muse. Westfield State College Library, MA. 15 April 2005.
“God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance” (93).
In the early parts of the 20th Century, Canada experimented with banning alcohol consumption. There were some exceptions to this, but most of Canada’s Provincial governments issued some sort of prohibitory laws. The exception being Québec who only prohibited hard liquor, meaning that they allowed the production and consumption of beverages, such as, beer. This drive towards prohibition started during the mid-19th Century. It all started during the Temperance Movement, when proponents voluntarily abstained from alcohol. This abstention was due to alcohol’s, perceived, moral downfalls. However, slowly, the various provinces reversed their restrictions on alcohol and moved from prohibition to system of coordination. There were several reasons for this change: lack of enforcement, lack of effectiveness in goal, change in public support or thought, and economic factors.
Throughout his life... was a man self-haunted, unable to escape from his own drama, unable to find any window that would not give him back the image of himself. Even the mistress of his most passionate love-verses, who must (one supposes) have been a real person, remains for him a mere abstraction of sex: a thing given. He does not see her --does not apparently want to see her; for it is not of her that he writes, but of his relation to her; not of love, but of himself loving.
Edmund Spenser in his epic romance, The Faerie Queene, invents and depicts a wide array of female figures. Some of these women, such as Una and Caelia, are generally shown as faithful, virtuous and overall lovely creatures. Other feminine characters, such as Errour, Pride, and Duessa are false, lecherous and evil. This might seem to be the end of Spenser's categorization of women; that they are either good or bad. Yet upon closer examination one finds that Spenser seems to be struggling to portray women more honestly, to depict the "complex reality of woman" (Berger, 92). Spenser does not simply "idealize women or the feminine viewpoint" as he could easily do via characters like Una, but instead attempts to "revise and complicate the traditional male view" of women (Berger, 92, 111). Spenser endeavors to show various female characters, in both powerful and weak roles, and also to emphasize the importance of women in his society. Despite his intentions to give a fair representation, however, it is still obvious that Spenser was influenced by a society with a culture “whose images of woman and love, and whose institutions affecting women and love, were products of the male imagination” (Berger, 91). Throughout The Faerie Queene, Spenser reveals his anxiety about women and their power.
In the Middle Ages, when The Canterbury Tales was written, society became captivated by love and the thought of courtly and debonair love was the governing part of all relationships and commanded how love should be conducted. These principles changed literature completely and created a new genre dedicated to brave, valorous knights embarking on noble quests with the intention of some reward, whether that be their life, lover, or any other want. The Canterbury Tales, written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, accurately portrays and depicts this type of genre. Containing a collection of stories within the main novel, only one of those stories, entitled “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, truly outlines the 14th century community beliefs on courtly love.
Edmund Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queene is well known as an allegorical work, and the poem is typically read in relation to the political and religious context of the time. The term allegory tends to be loosely defined, rendering a whole work an extended metaphor, or even implying “any writing in verse or prose that has a double meaning”(Cuddon 20). In true Spenserian style, with everything having double meanings, both uses of the term allegory are applicable to his writing.