What are her
feelings
toward the
Knight?
Knight?
Spenser - Faerie Queene - 1
12. Express in your own words the main thought in xxii. 13. Note the
skillful summary of events in xxvi, and observe that this stanza is the
_Central Crisis_ and _Pivotal Point_ of the whole Book. The fortunes of the
Knight reach their lowest ebb and begin to turn. The first half of the Book
has been the _complication_ of the plot, the second half will be the
_resolution_. 14. Give a description of Prince Arthur. 15. What mysterious
power was possessed by his shield? Cf. the Holy Grail. 16. Observe
carefully the scene between Una and Arthur, noting the changes in her mood.
What light is thrown on her character?
What are her feelings toward the
Knight? 17. Explain the various threads of allegory in this Canto.
CANTO VIII
I. _The Plot:_ Prince Arthur and Una are conducted by the Dwarf to
Orgoglio's Castle. At the blast of the Squire's horn the Giant comes forth
attended by Duessa mounted on the seven-headed Beast. In the battle which
ensues Arthur wounds the Beast, slays the Giant and captures Duessa. Prince
Arthur finds the Redcross Knight half starved in a foul dungeon and
releases him. Duessa is stripped of her gaudy clothes and allowed to hide
herself in the wilderness.
II. _The Allegory:_ 1. Magnificence, the sum of all the virtues, wins the
victory over Carnal Pride, and restores Holiness to its better half, Truth.
With the overthrow of Pride, Falsehood, which is the ally of that vice, is
stripped of its outward show and exposed in all its hideous deformity.
2. The false Romish Church becomes drunk in the blood of the martyrs. There
is a hint of the persecutions in the Netherlands, in Piedmont, of the
massacre of St.
