No More Learning

He has followed
Ariosto only as Vergil has followed Homer, and much less slavishly. "

The influence of the New Learning is clearly evident in Spenser's use of
_classical mythology_. Greek myths are placed side by side with Christian
imagery and legends. Like Dante, the poet did not consider the Hellenic
doctrine of sensuous beauty to be antagonistic to the truths of religion.
There is sometimes an incongruous confusion of classicism and mediaevalism,
as when a magician is seen in the house of Morpheus, and a sorcerer goes to
the realm of Pluto. Spenser was guided by a higher and truer sense of
beauty than the classical purists know.

A very attractive element of his classicism is his _worship of beauty_. The
Greek conception of beauty included two forms--the sensuous and the
spiritual. So richly colored and voluptuous are his descriptions that he
has been called the painters' poet, "the Rubens," and "the Raphael of the
poets. " As with Plato, Spenser's idea of the spiritually beautiful includes
the true and the good. Sensuous beauty is seen in the forms of external
nature, like the morning mist and sunshine, the rose gardens, the green
elders, and the quiet streams. His ideal of perfect sensuous and spiritual
beauty combined is found in womanhood. Such a one is Una, the dream of the
poet's young manhood, and we recognize in her one whose soul is as fair as
her face--an idealized type of a woman in real life who calls forth all our
love and reverence.

3. INTERPRETATION OF THE ALLEGORY.
--In the sixteenth century it was the
opinion of Puritan England that every literary masterpiece should not only
give entertainment, but should also teach some moral or spiritual lesson.
"No one," says Mr. Patee, "after reading Spenser's letter to Raleigh, can
wander far into Spenser's poem without the conviction that the author's
central purpose was didactic, almost as much as was Bunyan's in _Pilgrim's
Progress. _" Milton doubtless had this feature of the _Faerie Queene_ in
mind when he wrote in _Il Penseroso_:--

"And if aught else great bards beside
In sage and solemn tunes have sung
Of turneys, and of trophies hung,
Of forests and enchantments drear,
_Where more is meant than meets the ear_. "

That the allegory of the poem is closely connected with its aim and ethical
tendency is evident from the statement of the author that "the generall end
therefore of all the booke is to fashion a gentleman or noble person in
vertuous and gentle discipline. Which for that I conceived should be most
plausible and pleasing, being coloured with an historical fiction, the
which the most part of men delight to read, rather for varietie of matter
then for profite of the ensample. " The _Faerie Queene_ is, therefore,
according to the avowed purpose of its author, a poem of culture. Though it
is one of the most highly artistic works in the language, it is at the same
time one of the most didactic. "It professes," says Mr. Church, "to be a
veiled exposition of moral philosophy. "

The allegory is threefold,--moral, religious, and personal.

(a) _Moral Allegory. _--The characters all represent various virtues and
vices, whose intrigues and warfare against each other symbolize the
struggle of the human soul after perfection. The Redcross Knight, for
example, personifies the single private virtue of holiness, while Prince
Arthur stands for that perfect manhood which combines all the moral
qualities; Una represents abstract truth, while Gloriana symbolizes the
union of all the virtues in perfect womanhood.

(b) _Religious or Spiritual Allegory. _--Under this interpretation the
Redcross Knight is a personification of Protestant England, or the church
militant, while Una represents the true religion of the Reformed Church.