Question: Show how different types of allegories are blended together in The Faerie Queene Book I.

Or, Consider The Faerie Queene as an allegory.

Answer: In Book I of The Faerie Queene, as in other books, Spenser has shown the interaction of virtues and vices, and finally, the triumph of virtue. He thought that this fight between vice and virtue could better be expressed through allegories because moral instruction rendered plainly might be unpleasant for the readers. 

The Faerie Queene contains different allegories:

(a) Moral and spiritual allegory: This allegory deals with the action and interaction of virtues and vices. The good characters stand for the various virtues and the bad characters stand for the corresponding vices. The Red Cross Knight stands for Holiness, and lady Una, Truth, Goodness, and Wisdom. Her parents symbolize the Human race, and the Dragon who has imprisoned them stands for evil. The mission of Holiness is to help truth fight against Evil and thus regain its rightful place in the human heart.

Book I of the epic may be interpreted in another way. The adventures of the characters represent the rehearsal of the history of mankind, including man’s defeat and enthrallment by Satan in the Garden of Eden and eventual deliverance through Christ’s encounter and final defeat of Satan. The students of the Bible will recognize scores of echoes of scriptural passages to support and illuminate the interpretation of the work on this allegorical level, which might be identified as the “Adam and Eve” or “Everyman” or the “history of man” allegory.

(b) Religious allegory: This allegory deals with the important religious events of the age. For example, the Reformation of Churches might be interpreted allegorically. The Red Cross Kinght stands for the reformed Church of England, fighting the corruption, Pride, and manifold evils of Papacy, Paganism, and Catholicism. The parents of lady Una represents Humanity and the foul Dragon who has imprisoned them is the Pope of Rome. Archimago symbolizes the hypocrisy of Papacy and Duessa is essentially Faleshood. Orgoglio represents Philip II of Spain, who befriended the Pope and did his best to weaken and harm England.

The mission of Una (Truth) is to restore her parents to freedom and in her encounter, she is helped by the Red Cross Knight. In other words, the people of England (the followers of the reformed Church) had to face the combined might of Pope and Philip of Spain and struggle against the evil and corruption of the Catholic Church in order to restore the true Church of England.

(c) Personal and Political allegory: Spenser wrote his epic, especially for the glory of Queen Elizabeth and her courtiers, many of whom were his personal friends. The Queen was the pride and glory of England. So, in Spenser’s epic, she is Gloriana, the Fairy Queen, who sets various adventures with her knights, symbolizing the courtiers of the Queen of England. Lord Leicester is Arthur, Mary Stuart is Duessa, Lord Grey of Wilton, Governor of Ireland who delivered Ireland from the rebels is Artegal delivering Irena from Grantorto. There are many other personal and historical references.

Spenser is sometimes criticized for mixing different kinds of allegories, all confused and obscure. But we must remember that he was not a poet turned reformer. He is more interested in his art than in the teachings of morality. He used allegory because it was the fashion of the day. But Spenser is admired more as a painter in verse and a master musician than an allegorist. He will be remembered for the wonderful and highly pictorial quality of his epic. Even highly abstract ideas get in his art a concrete representation. As a word painter, he is unrivaled in English literature and many romantics and pre-Raphaelites were inspired by him in this gift of writing.

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