The Faerie Queene was written during a historical time in England’s history. Queen Elizabeth I was ruling the country, disrupting the “patriarchal ideology of the sixteenth-century” (Villeponteaux). One might think that English citizens would not have been approving of Queen Elizabeth’s sole rule of the country. But, by reading The Faerie Queene, we can see how the public was actually in favor of her rule. The author, Edmund Spenser, even dedicated The Faerie Queene to Queen Elizabeth, and he had a “vested interest in flattering both the queen and her court” (Villeponteaux).
Representations of Queen Elizabeth I
There are many female characters in The Faerie Queene which can be seen as allegorical to Queen Elizabeth. In the first book, when the character Una is first introduced, she is described as being “so pure an innocent, as that same lambe….and by descent from Royall lynage came” (Spenser, 255). Within the first few lines of her introduction, Una is described as being a descendant from a royal bloodline, a clear connection to the queen. Using innocent and lamb in the description of Una could have been Spenser attempting to emulate Queen Elizabeth’s virginity, something she is famous for. Much less subtly, later in Book I Spenser uses “of beautie soveraigne Queene” to describe Una (265).
Spenser closely juxtaposes Una with other female characters in the first book. The main section we encounter this is when we are introduced to the character Error. Error’s first description depicts her lying on dirty ground, “her huge long taile her den all overspred…a thousand young ones…sucking upon her poisonous dugs” (257). Clearly, in comparison to Una’s initial depiction of innocence and royalty, Error is meant to repulse the audience by her rather gruesome physical description. Some critics read the character of Error as Spenser trying to signify Queen Elizabeth’s political adversaries, with some scholars reading The Faerie Queene as “a political allegory concerning the domestic and international status of Elizabeth” (The Faerie Queene). At the end of their confrontation, Error is slain, and Una and the knight continue on their journey. If Una is meant to symbolize Queen Elizabeth, and this is meant to be a political allegory, Error being slain could represent Queen Elizabeth and her army—as represented by the knight—slaying any potential threats to the English crown.
There are also other female characters who critics argue could be potential characterizations of Queen Elizabeth. Belphoebe in Book III is one of them, who is introduced as being given “all the gifts of grace and chastitee on her they poured forth of plenteous horne” (Spenser, 418). Once again, using words such as grace and chastity can point to Queen Elizabeth’s virginity, connecting the two characters. One of the most common characters to be seen as an allegory for Queen Elizabeth is Queen Gloriana. Already by her title, it is obvious why critics would argue she is an allegory for Queen Elizabeth. Nevertheless, she is the ruler of the fictional world the poem is set in, her character meaning to represent “the quality of glory” (The Faerie Queene).
Representation of Political Adversaries
But Queen Elizabeth is not the only monarch who has representation in The Faerie Queene. There are multiple characters within the poem that critics read as representing Mary Queen of Scots, who was a major political adversary for Queen Elizabeth. One of the characters could be the aforementioned Error, but the most common is the character of Duessa. In Book V, she is tried and executed for conspiracy, which is meant to represent “the fate of Mary Stuart under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I” (The Faerie Queene).
Clearly, Spenser favored some monarchs over the others. His passionate poem can be seen as an act of patriotism, glorifying the Queen of England while spitting on her adversaries. He is selectively loyal, which does not necessarily prove that he is in complete favor of the system of monarchy. Perhaps it is just that he loved Queen Elizabeth. His clear disdain for other rulers could, in some respects, be read as his distaste for other monarchies. Or, perhaps he did truly support the system of monarchy, so long as Queen Elizabeth was the one who was in charge.
Spenser’s Bias
Regardless, it is important to note that Spenser is an incredibly biased figure. He is known to have been an extremely avid supporter of Queen Elizabeth. Because of this, viewing The Faerie Queene as a reflection of the public’s thoughts on Queen Elizabeth is a bold claim. While the same can be said about any writer, Spenser’s words may not capture the thoughts of the society he lived in, and that is particularly important to keep mind while reading The Faerie Queene. Yes, there were people besides Spenser who supported Queen Elizabeth and thought she was a great ruler. But there must have been many others who did not think so. After all, she was a virgin, female queen in the sixteenth century. She did not have a king ruling beside her. Society at the time was extremely patriarchal, and because of that, it is hard to believe that the abundance of positive attributes given to the Queen by Spenser were ubiquitous in England at the time.
Further Reading:
The Divine Right to Rule: Past Perceptions of Monarchy
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Condescending Commentary on the Monarchy?
Works Cited:
“The Faerie Queene.” Poetry Criticism, edited by David M. Galens, vol. 42, Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1410000807/LitRC?u=s8474154&sid=LitRC&xid=0081861a.
Spenser, Edmund. “The Faerie Queene.”The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Sixteenth Century and The Early Seventeenth Century,edited by Stephen Greenblatt, vol. A, no. 10, W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2018, pp. 253-486.
Villeponteaux, Mary. “Displacing feminine authority in ‘The Faerie Queene.’.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 35, no. 1, 1995, p. 53+. Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A16985956/LitRC?u=s8474154&sid=LitRC&xid=07239c65.