Question: Comment on the art of Characterisation in The Faerie Queenee Canto-I of Book-I.

Answer: In the art of character portrayal Spenser’s position is next only to Shakespeare and Chaucer..”The Faerie Queene” is a picture gallery with luxurious details and colourful decorations. Taking into consideration the world of human beings, Spenser draws concrete and realistic pictures of Knights, ladies, queens, heroes and warriors. The ideals of medievalism are held dear by Spenser and he appreciates the time-honoured institution of chivalry, with emphasis on the glorification of women and compassion for the poor and the wretched. Honour, courtesy, and defence of women in distress are the virtues of the world of chivalry and they are recognized as adorable virtues by Spenser.

Spenser’s characters are mostly allegorical figures and they are presented before us either as human beings or as beasts in a life-like manner. For example, we get a wonderful picture of a medieval knight in the figure of the Red Cross Knight as described by the poet:

“A gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine,

Yclad in mightie armes and silver shielde”

A gentle knight was riding on across the plain. He wore heavy armour and a silver shield, which bore the marks of many battles fought. His angry horse chafed and foamed at the bit, impatient of the control he was subject to. He seemed to be a fair knight and sat in the saddle as one ready for combat. The Knight bore a red cross on his bosom in memory of his lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross. For his sake, he bore the Cross, and adored him, though dead, as if living forever. On his shield was inscribed the red cross, too, as a symbol of his great hope, which aided him. He was loyal and faithful in his word and action. But he wore a solemn face. Yet he was afraid of none but was feared by others.

Thus the poet gives a graphic picture of the Red Cross Knight, who is the hero of Book-I. He is not given any name. He is known by his designation which is the Red Cross Knight. He is so called because he wears on his armour the sign of the cross, and because the same sign is also inscribed on his shield. The Cross, as we know, symbolises the martyrdom of Lord Jesus Christ. The Knight is an ardent follower of Christ and that is why he carries the sign of the cross on his armour and on his shield.

Lady Una, the heroine of the first book of “The Faerie Queene’, is a paragon of beauty and virtue. She has been portrayed as both an individual and a type. She stands for Beauty, Truth, Goodness, Wisdom and Innocence, the qualities which Plato had taught his disciples to regard as identical. Besides she deserves admiration for her constancy of purpose, strong filial devotion, steadfast love for the man to whom she has given her heart, strong determination, unfaltering courage, and generous and compassionate heart. She appears as a lovely lady riding upon a humble ass, which is of white colour but the lady is even more beautiful white than the ass. However, her beauty is hidden under a veil. She is in a sad mood and sits dejectedly upon her slow-moving ass. She is also leading a milk-white lamb by a string. The lady is as pure and innocent as that lamb which walks behind her. The poet sings,

“So pure and innocent as that same lamb

She was in life and every virtuous lore.”

Una, according to the poet is the apotheosis of womankind. She is Spenser’s ideal of a perfect woman.

The medieval institution of Knight errantry had a peculiar fascination for Spenser and as a result, he has been able to create colourful word pictures of the scenes of adventures, and fighting. Knightly encounters, blood and festive occasions. He gives free rein to his imagination when he deals with the objects of his creation. In this effort, he seems to experience a peculiar joy as he goes on with his fanciful creations in the light and colour and shade of his own choice. In this connection we may refer to the character-portrayal of Archimago who stands for Hypocrisy:

“Sober he seemed, and very sagely sad,

And to the ground his eyes were lowly bent 

Simple in shew, and voyade of malice had,

And all the way he prayed, as he went.”

Archimago is a wonderful creation of Spenser. He is one of the most dynamic characters in Book-I of The Faerie Queene. Outwardly he appears to be a holy person but inwardly he is extremely evil. He is a magician, constantly on the move, doing something or the other in the service of the devil. He is a master in the art of disguise and dissembling. He appears before the Red Cross Knight and Lady Una as a very old man with bare feet, a white and grey beard, wearing a long black garment and a book (Bible) hanging from his belt. His eyes are bent downwards as if gazing at the ground below, and as he walks on the way, he seems to pray and often beats his breast like a man who repents for his sin. Thus Spenser is gifted with a superb skill of narration. He has chosen the right word in the right place to give every detail of Archimago as a hypocritical person.

Spenser is an artist who knows well where he has to restrain his verse and content himself by touching upon a significant detail or two leaving the manifold details of the picture to the imagination of the readers. The portrait of the monster Error gives us such an impression:

“And as she lay upon the durtie ground,

Her huge long taile her den all overspred,

Yet was in knots and many boughtes up wound,

Pointed with mortal sting.”

Each part of this creature’s massive body is described with so strong strokes that in the end, a full picture emerges of a beast, terrible, ugly and poisonous, when Spenser comes to draw an ugly picture evoking disgust and repulsion, he seems to employ all the power of his poetic language.

To sum up, Spenser has shown his remarkable skill in the art of characterisation, while describing a character, he observed every detail of the person concerned, his or her dress, manner, appearance, virtues, vices, weaknesses or other qualities. His characters are both individuals and types and in this respect he is a follower of Chaucer. In fact, The Faerie Queen is a picture gallery of different types of characters, good and bad, and by the contrast between ugly and beautiful, between good and bad, he has brought out the truth of life, and the virtuous to be prominent among all other things of life.