Or, Describe the activities and allegorical significance of Duessa in Book I of The Faerie Queene.
Answer: Duessa is a witch practising black magic and possessing supernatural powers. She is a natural ally of Archimago. The word ‘Duessa’ means falsehood or duplicity or deceit. Thus, the name itself implies that Duessa is a double dealer or liar. In the course of the story, Duessa tells many lies, and, therefore, she is to be regarded as a personification of falsehood and deceit.
First, we see Duessa in the company of Sansfoy, a Saracen. She appears to be a splendid lady, beautifully adorned with gold and pearls. She seems to be the beloved of the Saracen. When Saracen is killed in his fight with the Red Cross Knight, she tries to flee from the scene. But the knight pursues her and overtakes her. Then she gives him a false account of her identity. She tells the Knight that she is the daughter of an emperor and the fiance of a prince who was killed by his enemies. About Sansfoy she tells that he was trying to exploit her in her miserable condition. Giving her name as Fidessa (meaning a true or faithful person), she drew the sympathy of the Red Cross Knight who took her as his mistress.
Soon afterwards the Red Cross Knight, as he advances on the way with Duessa, listens to a long story which is narrated by a tree. This tree was once a human being by the name of Fradubio and he was in love with a woman by the name of Fraelissa. A witch, Duessa by name had then tried to win Fradubio’s heart. Fradubos had begun to prefer Duessa to his original beloved (Fraelissa). However, one-day Fradubio had tried to escape from Duessa’s clutches when he had seen her reality as an ugly old hag. Knowing his intention, Duessa had at once transformed both lovers into two trees. The Red Cross Knight, lacking wisdom and experience at this stage can not understand that the woman by his side is the same woman who treated Fradubio and Fraelissa with extreme cruelty. So, Duessa continues to be the mistress of the Red Cross Knight in order to put him in danger.
Duessa now takes the Red Cross Knight to the house of Lucifera (Pride). Duessa has brought the Knight here so that Lucifera may get another victim. But when she finds Sansjoy there, she instigates him against the Red Cross Knight. Outwardly she appears to be a well-wisher of the knight but inwardly she favours Sanjoy (heathenism or paganism); when Sansjoy is defeated and wounded in his fight with the knight, her sympathy is on his side. Now, outwardly she congratulates the Red Cross Knight on his victory but secretly goes in all haste to Night (the force of darkness and evil) in order to seek her help in getting a physician to heal Sansjoy’s wounds. When Duessa returns to the earth, she straightway goes to meet the Red Cross Knight who had already left when Duessa was visiting Hades. She pursues him and soon overtakes him. She then induces him to make love to her.
When the Red Cross Knight is defeated in a fight by the giant Orgoglio, Duessa requests the giant to spare the Knight’s life. She does not like to have the Knight killed, because only by keeping him alive, she can try to convert him to evil ways. She agrees to become Orgoglio’s mistress if he accepts his request. Accordingly, Orgoglio spares the Knight’s life and makes him a prisoner in his dungeon. Duessa now begins to live with him as his mistress. When Orgoglio is killed by Prince Arthur, she tries to flee but is held by Arthur’s squire. The Red Cross Knight is freed by Arthur and is reunited with Una at whose suggestion Duessa is stripped of her robes and ornaments. Then her ugly body is exposed to everybody. Duessa’s final trick in Book I is to send a letter to Una’s father, urging him not to give Una’s hand in marriage to the Red Cross Knight. But this base intrigue of Duessa has been frustrated by Una.
To sum up, Duessa who stands for falsehood is incurably and incorrigibly evil that endeavours to corrupt good people like the Red Cross Knight (Holiness) and Una (Truth). However, it also becomes evident to us that, although evil may have victories over the good people, those victories prove to be temporary if the good people are determined to remain good. Evil can overcome and conquer only weak-minded human beings, but evil finds itself helpless against those who remain firm in their goodness. Allegorically, Duessa represents the Roman Catholic Church as opposed to the Anglican Church. Duessa is also intended to represent Mary, Queen of the Scots (Mary who was a Roman Catholic by faith).
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