The Faerie Queene

Spenser lived during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Her dad, Henry VIII, separated England from the Catholic church in 1533-34 so he could divorce his first wife and marry Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mom, whom he later sentenced to death due to spurious allegations of treason and adultery. Anxious to produce a male heir, Henry VIII married six times and got a male heir with Edward VI, who became king at 10 and died nearly six years later. Elizabeth’s half-sister, Mary I, became queen in 1553. Her mom was Henry VIII’s first wife, and Mary I brought back Catholicism and harshly punished Catholic gainsayers.

Elizabeth took over in 1558 and adopted an ostensibly pragmatic approach to religion. She was charismatic, attractive, and intelligent. She wrote plays, poems, and translations, and, much to the chagrin of her security, she insisted on maintaining a public presence. Her captivating brand created the cult of Elizabeth. In her critical biography, Elizabeth: Renaissance Prince (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015), Lisa Hilton describes the cult as “adoring and venerating the queen, which blended the language of courtly love with that of religion, to present her a semi-divine figure” (32).

Spenser’s poem serves the cult. He dedicates the entire epic poem to her to broadcast his adoration, and he celebrates Elizabeth’s power through several characters who become allegories or symbols of her greatness. She is the Faerie Queene Gloriana, whom knights and Colin Cloud faithfully serve. Redcrosse gives her six years of his life, Guyon has her image on his shield, Arthur has an indelible dream about her, and Colin plays music just for her. Elizabeth never married and presented herself as a virgin, so she links to the pure Una, Belphoebe, and Britomart. As with Belphoebe and Britomart, Elizabeth embraced masculine qualities. She depicted herself as a prince or a king with the courage to protect England from enemies. Compassionate, Elizabeth links to Queen Mercilla. Her reluctance to kill Duessa alludes to Elizabeth’s hesitation to mortally punish Mary, Queen of Scots, for, among other things, allegedly taking part in a plot to end her life and reign. Mary’s son, James VI, wanted Spenser arrested and punished for the unflattering allusion.

The prominence of Arthur ties the poem to the legend of King Arthur—the mythical, perhaps fictional, man who allegedly battled German invaders in the fifth and sixth centuries before becoming England’s king. Spenser didn’t invent Arthur or his magician ally Merlin. He adds to Arthur’s history through the wise mentor Timon.

Spenser’s extended stay in Ireland attaches the poem to the history of colonization. In Book 5, Arthegall and Talus’s obligation to help Irena alludes to England’s supposed obligation to protect Ireland from foes like Catholics. Arlo’s Hill in the Mutabilitie Cantos refers to his home in Ireland. The presence of satyrs, “savages,” robbers, and cannibals reinforces racist tropes where the colonized become beasts and the English turn into the civilizers. Conversely, Spenser arguably subverts the bigoted history with the compassionate and knight-like “saluage man” (6.4.2.2).