Allegory

Definition: Allegory is a form of extended metaphor in which objects and persons within a narrative are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative. Allegory implies two levels of meaning -- the literal (what happens in the narrative) and the symbolic (what the events stand for, outside the narrative). It evokes a dual interest: in the events, characters and setting presented; and in the ideas they represent or the significance they bear. Allegory may involve the personification of abstract qualities (e.g. Pride, Beauty, Death); it can also represent a historical personage (e.g. Gloriana = Queen Elizabeth), a category of individual (e.g. Everyman = all mankind), or another sort of abstraction (Una = the True Church). Characters, events and setting may be historical, fictitious, or fabulous; the key is that they have meanings independent of the action in the surface story. On the surface, Everyman is about a man about to leave on a trip and the people he meets; the Faerie Queene about a knight killing a dragon and rescuing a princess. On the allegorical level, however, both are about the duties of a Christian and the way to achieve salvation. Note that the simple use of personification (e.g. talking animals or teapots) does not constitute allegory in and of itself; in an allegory, characters and objects usually symbolize abstract qualities, and the events recounted convey a coherent message concerning those abstractions. Allegory is frequently, but not always, concerned with matters of great import: life and death; damnation and salvation; social or personal morality and immorality. It can also be used for satiric purposes. In FQ, allegory exists on several levels: religious, historical, mythological. Some characters are named for qualities or actions they represent (Error, Despair); others' names are foreign terms for such qualities (Sans foy = French for "without faith"; Speranza = Italian for "Hope," etc.) Book I contains both religious and historical allegory. Redcrosse Knight is an "Everyman" who represents Holiness or Faith, i.e. how to be a true Christian. Book I is also an allegory of English Church History: in this respect, Redcrosse Knight = St. George, patron saint of England (and so England itself); Una = the "one true faith," Protestantism; Archimago = the pope; Duessa = the duplicitous "false" faith (according to Spenser), Catholicism.

Study Questions:
Read the four-stanza invocation preceding Canto 1 carefully. What is the effect of the allusions to mythological figures (the Muses, Cupid, etc.)? In what literary tradition is Spenser attempting to place his work? What is the significance of the

allusions to Virgil? Note the division of Book I into twelve cantos. Is this structure itself an allusion to a classical model? What is Spenser trying to prove or to achieve? (Recall Sidney's Defense of Poesy.) What is significance of fact that Spenser wrote pastoral poetry in his youth and epic in his maturity? (To whom did he dedicate The Shepherde's Calendar?) Read carefully the letter from Spenser to Sir Walter Raleigh. Note his comments on his purpose in writing the poem; also his remarks concerning other poets (classical and modern) and where he sees himself as fitting into literary tradition. How does he explain choosing King Arthur (back when he was just a Prince) as a focus of his poem? What does he say about Arthur? (Is Arthur in fact a major character in what follows?) What does he say about allegory? In the battle between Redcrosse Knight and Sans Foy (c. 2), what peculiarities do you notice in the descriptions of the battle or of the knights themselves? What do your observations suggest? How do these details shape the allegory? Consider also Redcrosse Knight's two battles with Pride (in the House of Pride; with Orgoglio). Why does he have to fight Pride twice? Is there any difference between the two battles? What is the function of Duessa? Why does she appear when Redcrosse Knight ( = RCK) has been separated from Una? Note the significance of their names (Latin roots: one and two, like unity and duality . . . or duplicity). Why does Duessa lead RCK to the Palace of Pride? Who ultimately overcomes her, and how? What does she represent on the allegorical level(s) of the book? Since The Faerie Queene in some ways resembles an Arthurian romance, Duessa can be compared with the seductresses and sorceresses of Arthurian tradition (Morgan la Fee; Lady Bercilak in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight): she uses a negative form of "courtly love" to manipulate men. If you are unfamiliar with the notion of "Courtly Love," consult theonline reading. Is Spenser comfortable with feminine sexuality? Consider e.g. the references to Duessa's "nether parts"; the false Una in Canto 1 (her seductive speeches are based on courtly love poetry); the chaste and/or maternal women in the House of Holiness; the Faerie Queene Gloriana herself; allusions to Eve. What can you conclude about his attitudes toward women? Redcrosse repeatedly fails to distinguish appearance from reality. Where and when does Spenser play with the appearance-reality motif? Note doublings, pairings of opposites and use of disguises that complicate distinction between appearance and reality. What is their purpose and effect? Compare/contrast several of these parallels (e.g. the House of Pride vs. the House of Holiness; Duessa/"Fidessa" vs. Una; the real and false Redcrosse Knights).

What can you deduce about Spenser's world view (particularly his ideas about religion and politics) based upon your reading of The Faerie Queene? To what extent is Red Cross Knight an "Everyman"?

Canto 1: The Quest

C. 1 st.1-5 [ = canto 1, stanzas 1-5]: Introduction of RCK and Una; first reference to Gloriana, the "Faerie Queene" (RCK grew up at her court -- cf. c. 10 st. 58-66 -which is where Una goes looking for assistance in the form of a brave knight). Damsels in distress coming to court to seek the aid of a knight are typical of Arthurian romance, as well as of the romantic epics of Tasso and Ariosto. Here we also find the first reference to RCK's specific quest: he is to fight a dragon in order to free Una's parents and liberate their kingdom (cf. also c. 7 st. 43-47, c. 11 st.1-3, and all of c. 12). In typical medieval romance (or romantic epic) fashion, the FQ will recount a series of adventures which occur while the hero (RCK) is striving to accomplish his quest. The first of these adventures is RCK's encounter with Error. Note that RCK and Una would not have arrived at Error's cave had they not lost their way (cf. st. 10), and note also what it is that initially leads the couple astray: they get lost while indulging in typical courtly love-type flirtation -- "with pleasure forward led,/ Joying to heare the birdes sweete harmony" (FQ 1.64-65 [ = canto 1, lines 64-5; cf. also st. 10). This negative depiction of courtly love, the seductive power of which tends to distract the hero and lead him astray (even when the object of his affection is as chaste and pure as Una), is related to Spenser's anti-feminism: he seems to distrust women in general and erotic love in particular. Female bodies are invariably associated with sin and corruption, unless the women in question are chaste virgins like Una, Gloriana, or the sisters Fidelia and Speranza in the House of Holiness (or maternal rather than erotic figures, like Dame Caelia's third daughter, Charissa). On the theme of the association of evil with feminine sexuality, note that Duessa -- a lady with very active "nether parts" -- manages to captivate RCK only by (falsely) claiming to be a virgin (c. 2 st. 25); he mistakenly prefers her false appearance of purity over Una's real, but unapparent, innocence. RCK abandons Una because he is convinced of her "wantonness": not only does he think that she has offered to sleep with him -- cf. c. 1 st. 43-55 -- but he believes that she has indulged in lechery with a "lusty squire" after his shocked refusal of her advances (cf. c. 2 st. 3-8). The conventions of "courtly love" will continue to get "bad press" throughout the FQ by their close association with the evil wiles of Duessa (see further discussion under c. 2, below).

It is also interesting to note the sort of path down which the unsuspecting couple, "led with delight" (1.82), stray (st. 10): it is a beaten path that leads to Error's cave (st. 11); compare this well-travelled path with the "broad highway [...] / all bare through people's feet" that leads to the House of Pride (4.17-180; a similar reference is found at 10.86). Contrast both of these well-travelled roads with the rough, difficult, narrow paths leading to, and between structures within, the House of Holiness, c. 10 (look for references to paths in c. 10, st. 5, 10, 33, 35, 51, 55, 61). As noted above, the reference to the "wandering wood" (1.114) recalls the beginning of Dante's Inferno; compare also with the "wearie wandering way" (9.343) which leads the unwary traveller to Despair in c. 9 st. 39 and 43. Another detail to note: what leads RCK into trouble, despite Una's warning, is his PRIDE (first of the Seven Deadly Sins) -- he cannot bear to turn away from an adventure ("shame were to revoke," 1.106), a trait which he shares with many knights from Arthurian romance. The idea of pride being the downfall of the Christian is constantly returned to in the FQ. It is also PRIDE that will lead RCK into his encounter with Despair, despite Trevisan's warnings (c. 9, st. 31-32); cf. also, in addition to the allegorical episode of the House of Pride and the encounter with the giant Orgoglio (Italian for "pride"), the association of the dragon with "outragious [sic] pride" (11.471) immediately before it is slain by RCK at the end of canto 11. Although RCK is successful in his literal battle with Error, note the concrete result of his contact with the monster: he immediately thereafter falls victim to the error of believing Archimago's deceptions. (Una is thus proved right: he should have swallowed his pride and turned away from Error's cave.) He is duped by false visions sent to trouble his sleep by the evil magician Archimago, who appears in the form of a black-clad, rosary carrying Catholic hermit (st. 29-30, 35) who offers the travellers shelter for the night (another motif borrowed from traditional Arthurian romances). Note the classical allusions (Pluto, Gorgon, Morpheus, the river Styx, the doors of Ivory and Silver) in this initial "descent to the Underworld" (st. 37-44; cf. also c.5 st. 31-44). These false visions lead RCK to doubt the chastity (and therefore the goodness) of Una; RCK's error is thus that he is incapable of distinguishing Truth from Falsehood (symbolized in canto 2 by his abandonment of the true Una and taking up with the false Duessa). Archimago's deceptions introduce another important leit-motif in FQ: the idea that appearances are frequently deceptive, and in particular, that things that look particularly splendid or beautiful (i.e. good) often hide great corruption, ugliness and evil. This idea will be discussed more fully in relation to Duessa in canto 2