The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spencer (Introduction)

 

The Faerie Queene

by Edmund Spencer

(Introduction)

Edmund Spencer described The Faerie Queene, as ‘a continued Allegory’ or ‘Darke Conceit’. These descriptive labels indicate the two essential characteristics of allegory as a literary form. The first is the story or a linked sequence of events, which all the books of The Faerie Queene have. The second characteristic, ‘Darke Conceit’ means that the central ideas of the poem are hidden or camouflaged, but that they need to be unfolded by knowing the literal and non-literal or symbolical meanings. It was the essential feature of ‘allegoria’, derived from a Greek work which meant ‘speaking otherwise than one seems to speak’. It was a safety device employed by writers in classical Greek and Roman times for self-protection, if they sought to criticize contemporary life and institutions. From this basic requirement of allegory, it followed that the reader’s understanding was invariably required to function at two levels.

At the literal level, Book 1 of The Faerie Queene tells the story of the Red Crosse Knight, who, accompanied by Lady Una, undergoes several adventures. His main aim is to free Una’s parents, the King and Queen of Eden, from a castle where they are held captive by a dragon. The principal encounters on the way are the fight with Dragon Error (Canto-I) and three ‘paynim’ brethren Sans Foy, Sans Loy and Sans Foy (Cantos II, III, IV), the separation from Una caused by the magician Archimago (Canto-II); the deception of Duessa, a witch who brings him to the House of Pride (Canto IV); an encounter with Despair (Canto IX); the struggle with the Dragon of Original Sin (Canto XI) and marriage with Una after her parents are liberated (Canto XII).

It is apparently a romance tale full of the usual characters like giants, dragons, and witches, which help to a create sense of the supernatural. But the purpose of the poet is deeper and decidedly moral. Therefore, at the symbolical level, the allegory is primarily concerned with the moral or spiritual evolution of every-man, the ‘humanum genus’ as represented by Red Crosse. The dark forest which he enters is the world where is seen the interaction of good and evil forces. It is the home of error or morals born of ignorance. The Knight overcomes it. He next experiences faithlessness, lawlessness and joylessness which are the inner states of his own being. His next experience is of false-hood or illusion in the form of Archimago, the magician, and duplicity in the form of Duessa.

On being deceived by evil, Red Cross experiences spiritual pride represented by the House of Pride and immense self-importance or the giant Orgoglio, which he overcomes, the latter, with the help of Prince Arthur. He is then acquainted with Christian truths and methods of self-discipline in the House of Holiness so that he may realize his essential identity which is holiness, devoutness or poetry. Having equipped himself with the necessary religious knowledge, he sets forth to overcome the intrinsic evil of his own being or Original Sin. This great conquest of all is made finally. The truth about himself is known and his spiritual identity revealed to himself and accepted as symbolized by his marriage with Una.

These two levels of allegory are sustained throughout Book I, despite certain interpolations in the form of separate allegorical episodes, varied historical, political and religious interpretations are given to the main story but not in a sustained manner. The consistency of the basic allegorical strands, namely, the literal and the moral in the narrative, give Book I a structural compactness which is not discernible in the remaining six books. This sustained presentation of the moral allegory in Book I underlines the ultimate purpose of all allegorical writings. The Faerie Queene is a poem with a reformatory purpose. Allegory is not an art for art’s sake, nor is it a form of pure self-expression. Spenser, like all traditional allegorists, has a definite moral aim which is made clear in the ‘general end’ noted in the letter. It was ‘to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline’. But, as an allegorical hero, Red Cross represents every man too, who can by means of trial and error, together with divine grace, attain spiritual perfection. He is an affirmation of Spenser’s faith in the perfectibility of the human soul. The true Christian is a man of action. He is the ‘vita activa’ and not the ‘vita contemplative’ that medieval Christianity advocated.

When Spenser wrote of doctrine being made more gracious or pleasing by example, he meant a situation which could be enacted by the characters for the purpose of exemplification and instruction. In allegory such a situation is the ‘psychomachia’ or soul of man. Knightly combats and fights with giants and dragons are symbolic of the contention between the opposing forces in human nature. The conflicts consist of a struggle between personified attributes: Holiness, Truth, Falsehood, Deceit, Pride and several others are moral qualities which are animated and attired as befitting their essential nature, and are made to perform their parts. Their conception is simplistic but elemental as illustrated by Red Crosse, Error, Orgoglio, Despair, for whatever they do, say, or wear is strictly in keeping with the nature of the idea that they embody or impersonate. Therefore, an allegorical personification lacks complexity or nuance. The Faerie Queene contains an impressive pageant of colourfully portrayed abstractions of whom the most memorable are Error, the Seven Deadly Sins, Orgoglio and Despair in Book I.

The background to the action or conflict in the first book, as in the entire poem, is symbolic landscape. It is an important structural feature of all traditional allegories. In Book I of The Faerie Queene, it consists of a forest, wood, and waste land. Each is an externalization of an inner psychic condition. Not merely the symbolic landscape but edifices are also used by Spenser to typify the different states of individual consciousness. Examples are the House of Pride and the House of Holiness. When Spenser deals with a psychic condition deeply embedded in the human consciousness, he uses the symbolism of the cave; as for instance, the Cave of Archimago, symbolizing the inherent love of falsehood and illusion in human nature and the Cave of Despair.

The traditional framework in which allegorical drama takes place is the dream. It is identifiable as a trancelike state in which the prophets of old found themselves when they apprehended truths about life and people. From this experience resulted the belief that truth is known in a dream-vision. The traditional allegorist therefore used this convention to unfold the deeper and truer significance of his narrative. Spenser follows the practice but not in a conventional nor in a consistent way. The apocalyptic vision is seen only by Arthur, the Magnificent Man of the poem in which he apprehended Divine Glory in the form of Gloriana, or ultimate divinity. The two dreams of Red Crosse, on the other hand, are the results of the knight’s erotic fancy in Canto II, which are purely illusory and false, and which lend a touch of psychological realism to the poem, and thereby intensify its moral significance.

Despite the remote character of the technique of the allegorist, The Faerie Queene, especially Book I, continues to appeal to the reader today. It testifies to the essential interest of the allegory, which is contained not in the topical allusion or historical and political matter but in the archetypal symbols. All allegory is symbolic art, but its universality lies in the symbols which are easily almost intuitively recognized by the reader as suitable for the expression of idea and experiences which are permanently valid. These are the dragon, witch, enchanter, king and queen who are not merely the stuff of romance but whose impressions probably lie deeply embedded in the collective unconscious of man. The Faerie Queene has them all in the Book I, and this is responsible for its universal appeal and for ‘the willing suspension of disbelief that the modern reader readily experiences.