Questions and Answers for The Faerie Queene
The Faerie Queene
Where can I get a paraphrase or modern English translation of The Faerie Queene?
You can download a modern English version of The Faerie Queene at Project Gutenberg at the link pasted below.If you'll give yourself a chance, you might find that Middle English, which is what...
The Faerie Queene
Explain personal, historical, political allegories in Spenser's The Faerie Queene.
Many scholars recognize two dominant categories of allegory in Spenser's work: (1) moral and religious allegory; (2) historical and national allegory. "Political" is a term that might be...
The Faerie Queene
Spenser has been described as a "painter-poet." Comment on pictorial quality in his The Faerie Queen.
This question links "painter-poet" to Edmund Spenser, basically asking if Spenser is adept at using imagery—for a painter-poet would be best suited to write in such a way that his descriptions...
The Faerie Queene
"The Red Cross Knight is, in short, an Everyman figure shown ultimately to have achieved his knightly quest." Discuss.
(continued from previous post) Now, Everyman does not have the pleasure of being shown the future or his place in the New Jerusalem. Everyman has to accept that on faith, though he is not alone in...
The Faerie Queene
What are the main features of a Spenserian Stanza (as seen in The Faerie Queen)?
The Spenserian Stanza consists of nine lines (eight lines of iambic pentameter followed by a single alexandrine) and a rhyme scheme of abbabbcbcc. As seen in the opening stanza of The Faerie Queen,...
The Faerie Queene
Who are the women Spenser refers to in Book One of The Faerie Queen?
The most significant woman mentioned is Gloriana, the Faerie Queene herself. Gloriana is a thinly veiled stand-in for Queen Elizabeth I. She is presented as powerful and beautiful—or at least, the...
The Faerie Queene
What are Spenser's aims in designing The Faerie Queene, and how far does he achieve it in Book One?
When Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene, he faced an enormous challenge. He wrote in the language of Geoffrey Chaucer, as a compliment not only to this other author, but also to the era of...
The Faerie Queene
What is "dark conceit"?
As a conceit can be defined as an elaborate metaphor, and Spenser claimed "dark conceit" to be a synonym of "continued allegory," he uses the term to define the nature of his book as an allegory....
The Faerie Queene
What is the explanation of stanzas 36, 37, and 38 in The Faerie Queene?
In Book I, stanza 36 specifically refers to sleep. "The sad humour loading the eye liddes" (The Literature of Renaissance England 179) does not mean that Red Cross and the Lady are sad or weeping,...
The Faerie Queene
In Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, identify what each character represents: the Redcrosse Knight, the dragon,...
Edmund Spenser's epic poem, The Faerie Queene, is largely a symbolic tale, dedicated to Elizabeth I. Spenser needed a patron to provide for his support while he worked, and patrons expect that the...
The Faerie Queene
What do each of the characters represent in The Faerie Queene?
The subject matter of the epic poem The Faerie Queen, by Edmund Spenser, stems largely from Arthurian legends, so we can take some of our cues from there when we look for insight into what...
The Faerie Queene
What were the anxieties Spenser had over the course of his poetic career?
Edmund Spenser lived during a period when England had finally emerged from a long period of internal wars, religious transformation, and uncertainties about the legitimate monarchy that would...
The Faerie Queene
Please talk me through the different sounds and/or sound effects used in Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene.
Like most great poems, Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene is less important for its meaning than for its artistry. One key aspect of the artistry of any poem involves the poem’s sound effects and...
The Faerie Queene
write a note of the adventurous journey of Redcross by which he rescue the kind and queen from the clutches of a...
In the epic tale 'The Faerie Queene' by Edmund Spenser the knight in the story gets the name 'Redcross' gets his name from a cross the colour of blood painted onto his shield. Redcross has been...
The Faerie Queene
What evidence is there from the text that marks Spenser's The Faerie Queene as political allegory?
George Armstrong Wauchope, Ph.D. of South Carolina College explains in his introductory remarks to Book I of Spenser's text in Gutenberg Project that Book II is an allegory about "man's...
The Faerie Queene
What are the Christian elements in the Red Cross Knight's dream in Canto I, XLVI-LV, of The Faerie Queen by Edmund...
The Red Cross Knight's dream in Canto I, XLVI-LV, is unusual in that it is the deliberate handicraft of Morpheus, requested by the Knight's enemy, Archimago, and delivered to the Knight by the...
The Faerie Queene
"As when old father Nilus gins to swell With timely pride above the Aegyptian vale, His fattie waves do fertile slime...
"Old father Nilus" refers to the Nile River in Egypt (Aegyptus). The river floods every year and deposits rich soil on the land ("the fertile slime outwell). Likewise, when the...
The Faerie Queene
Analyze stanzas 17, 18, and 19 from The Faerie Queene by Spenser.
In book I, canto I, stanza XVII of The Faerie Queene, the knight Redcrosse has just entered the den of the monster, Error. Although this is not his quest, and he has stumbled upon the monster by...
The Faerie Queene
What is the meaning of the encounter between Duessa and the Redcrosse Knight on stanzas 44-51? How do the...
In this episode, Redcrosse is sent a dream of Duessa, who appears in the likeness of Una. Unlike Una, however, Duessa is schooled in the arts of illusion, and seeks with 'false shewes [to] abuse...
The Faerie Queene
What can I write on dark conceit as it pertains to Spenser's The Faerie Queene?
The first step in writing about Spenser's dark conceit is to define it. This may be a harder task than it seems. Spenser appears the originator, or the first user in print, of the term "dark...
The Faerie Queene
In The Faerie Queene, what religious references are mentioned in Canto I, Stanzas 1-5?
There are many religious details and references connected specifically with the description of Red Crosse's attire in this section. He bares the cross of his Lord upon his breast and on his shield,...
The Faerie Queene
Where can I translate modern English recipes to Middle English?
Here is a good site to use for this: http://wandership.ca/projects/eow/
The Faerie Queene
What are some examples of the blending of classical/"pagan" literary and cultural references with Christian/Biblical...
There are many examples of the blending of classical/"pagan" literary and cultural references with Christian/Biblical ones in The Faerie Queene, particularly in Book I. In fact this book is often...
The Faerie Queene
Compare and contrast the Bower of Bliss and the Garden of Adonis in The Faerie Queene.
Despite its name, the Bower of Bliss is not actually blissful. On the contrary, it's a place of evil, of strange enchantment, presided over by a wicked witch called Acrasia. Her name comes from a...
The Faerie Queene
What is one way in which Book 1 of Spenser's The Faerie Queene is theologically Protestant in nature? Would the...
The dominant Protestant theme in Book I is Holiness. Spenser's allegory is threefold: moral, religious, and personal. Critics agree, as represented by George Wauchope, Ph.D. in the 1921...
The Faerie Queene
In the Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser, what are the specific themes and structure of Book 1 ?
Book I of the Faerie Queentakes the reader on the epic adventures of the Red Crosse Knight. Spenser once said of this knight the following: "The first of the knight of the Redcrosse, in whome I...
The Faerie Queene
In Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, identify what each character represents: the Redcrosse Knight, the dragon,...
The eNotes "Character" section on Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene defines exactly what each character represents. The Red Cross Knight (or Redcrosse) represents Saint George and "the Christian...
The Faerie Queene
How is The Faerie Queene enjoyable as an adventure and allegory?
If you can follow the action, amid all of Spenser's poetic and archaic language, the adventures of Red Cross and Una are exciting. While so much of the poem is an allegory (that is, a character,...
The Faerie Queene
Do you think that The Faerie Queen was Spenser’s best work? Give reasons for your answer.
Edmund Spenser began his career as a poet in imitation of Virgil. In 1579, he published the Shepheardes Calendar, a collection of pastoral poems emulating Virgil's Eclogues. In his masterpiece, the...
The Faerie Queene
How is physical suffering represented in book 1 of The Faerie Queene? What is its purpose?
One of the most significant depictions of physical suffering in The Faerie Queene is accompanied by a narrative promoting healing. The character of Aescalpius is compelled to help suffering people...
The Faerie Queene
What exactly is Spenser's idea of temperance? How is Spenserian temperance different from the classical temperance...
Spenserian temperance is based on the assumption that man is destined to become perfect. The Christian principles he uses lead him to believe that perfection of man is as inevitable as the...
The Faerie Queene
Discuss color symbolism in The Faerie Queene, book 1.
One color that appears in the first book of Edmund Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queene is white. White is attached to the “lovely Ladie” riding alongside the knight. White might symbolize the...
The Faerie Queene
My essay title is on The Faerie Queene By what poetic means does Spenser represent a version or perversion of love...
The poetic means that English poet Edmund Spenser uses in Book III of “The Faerie Queene” to represent “a version” of love include the following: Use of Theme Spenser use the theme of Chastity or...
The Faerie Queene
Is Spenser trying to redeem women in book 3 of The Faerie Queen? Does he want to break the patriarchal ideal of...
It seems that Spenser is not necessarily trying to redeem women in this chapter, or even defend them. Instead, he is encouraging a specific type of femininity. Specifically, he celebrates chaste...
The Faerie Queene
What is one aspect you find interesting in this story?
For me it is definitely the allegorical nature of the poem. Nobody did allegory like Spenser, with every character representing something else, and almost every action or plot twist having a...
The Faerie Queene
How successful is Spenser in creating fanciful worlds in the Faerie Queene?
I would have to say that the answer to your question will vary from reader to reader. Many may find the text to imaginative and superficial. Others, like myself, love the imagery he provides.
The Faerie Queene
When was the 5th book of Faerie Queen written?
Edmund Spenser, a 16th century English poet, published the first three books of The Faerie Queen in 1590. From the onset, this work was a profound tribute to the Queen of England, the nation...
The Faerie Queene
The process by which Britomartis turns into a knight in book 3 of faerie quenne
Britomart's decision to become a knight is linked to her love of Artegall, a noble knight she first sees in an enchanted mirror. A pure and virtuous young woman unaccustomed to love, Britomart is...