It is a poem of
culture, inculcating the moral ideals of Aristotle and the teachings of
Christianity.
culture, inculcating the moral ideals of Aristotle and the teachings of
Christianity.
Spenser - Faerie Queene - 1
The language is frequently archaic and
designedly unfamiliar. Much of the machinery and properties used in
carrying on the story, such as speaking myrtles, magic mirrors, swords,
rings, impenetrable armor, and healing fountains, is supernatural. All the
characters--the knights, ladies, dwarfs, magicians, dragons, nymphs,
satyrs, and giants--are the conventional figures of pastoral romance.
The framework of the plot of the _Faerie Queene_ is vast and loosely put
together. There are six main stories, or legends, and each contains several
digressions and involved episodes. The plan of the entire work, which the
author only half completed, is outlined in his letter to Sir Walter
Raleigh. This letter serves as an admirable introduction to the poem, and
should be read attentively by the student. Gloriana, the Queen of
Fairyland, holds at her court a solemn feudal festival, lasting twelve
days, during which she sends forth twelve of her greatest knights on as
many separate adventures. The knights are commissioned to champion the
cause of persons in distress and redress their wrongs. The ideal knight,
Prince Arthur, is the central male figure of the poem. He is enamoured of
Gloriana, having seen her in a wondrous vision, and is represented as
journeying in quest of her. He appears in all of the legends at opportune
moments to succor the knights when they are hard beset or in the power of
their enemies. The six extant books contain respectively the legends of (I)
the Knight of the Redcrosse, or Holiness, (II) Sir Guyon, the Knight of
Temperance, (III) Britomart, the female Knight of Chastity, (IV) Sir
Campbell and Sir Triamond, the Knights of Friendship, (V) Sir Artegall, the
Knight of Justice, and (VI) Sir Caledore, the Knight of Courtesy. Book I is
an allegory of man's relation to God, Book II, of man's relation to
himself, Books III, IV, V, and VI, of man's relation to his fellow-man.
Prince Arthur, the personification of Magnificence, by which Spenser means
Magnanimity (Aristotle's [Greek: megalopsychia]), is the ideal of a perfect
character, in which all the private virtues are united.
It is a poem of
culture, inculcating the moral ideals of Aristotle and the teachings of
Christianity.
2. INFLUENCE OF THE NEW LEARNING. --Like Milton, Gray, and other English
poets, Spenser was a scholar familiar with the best in ancient and modern
literature. As to Spenser's specific indebtedness, though he owed much in
incident and diction to Chaucer's version of the _Romance of the Rose_ and
to Malory's _Morte d'Arthur_, the great epic poets, Tasso and Ariosto,
should be given first place. The resemblance of passages in the _Faerie
Queene_ to others in the _Orlando Furioso_ and the _Jerusalem Delivered_ is
so striking that some have accused the English poet of paraphrasing and
slavishly borrowing from the two Italians. Many of these parallels are
pointed out in the notes. To this criticism, Mr. Saintsbury remarks: "Not,
perhaps, till the _Orlando_ has been carefully read, and read in the
original, is Spenser's real greatness understood. He has often, and
evidently of purpose, challenged comparison; but in every instance it will
be found that his beauties are emphatically his own. 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.
designedly unfamiliar. Much of the machinery and properties used in
carrying on the story, such as speaking myrtles, magic mirrors, swords,
rings, impenetrable armor, and healing fountains, is supernatural. All the
characters--the knights, ladies, dwarfs, magicians, dragons, nymphs,
satyrs, and giants--are the conventional figures of pastoral romance.
The framework of the plot of the _Faerie Queene_ is vast and loosely put
together. There are six main stories, or legends, and each contains several
digressions and involved episodes. The plan of the entire work, which the
author only half completed, is outlined in his letter to Sir Walter
Raleigh. This letter serves as an admirable introduction to the poem, and
should be read attentively by the student. Gloriana, the Queen of
Fairyland, holds at her court a solemn feudal festival, lasting twelve
days, during which she sends forth twelve of her greatest knights on as
many separate adventures. The knights are commissioned to champion the
cause of persons in distress and redress their wrongs. The ideal knight,
Prince Arthur, is the central male figure of the poem. He is enamoured of
Gloriana, having seen her in a wondrous vision, and is represented as
journeying in quest of her. He appears in all of the legends at opportune
moments to succor the knights when they are hard beset or in the power of
their enemies. The six extant books contain respectively the legends of (I)
the Knight of the Redcrosse, or Holiness, (II) Sir Guyon, the Knight of
Temperance, (III) Britomart, the female Knight of Chastity, (IV) Sir
Campbell and Sir Triamond, the Knights of Friendship, (V) Sir Artegall, the
Knight of Justice, and (VI) Sir Caledore, the Knight of Courtesy. Book I is
an allegory of man's relation to God, Book II, of man's relation to
himself, Books III, IV, V, and VI, of man's relation to his fellow-man.
Prince Arthur, the personification of Magnificence, by which Spenser means
Magnanimity (Aristotle's [Greek: megalopsychia]), is the ideal of a perfect
character, in which all the private virtues are united.
It is a poem of
culture, inculcating the moral ideals of Aristotle and the teachings of
Christianity.
2. INFLUENCE OF THE NEW LEARNING. --Like Milton, Gray, and other English
poets, Spenser was a scholar familiar with the best in ancient and modern
literature. As to Spenser's specific indebtedness, though he owed much in
incident and diction to Chaucer's version of the _Romance of the Rose_ and
to Malory's _Morte d'Arthur_, the great epic poets, Tasso and Ariosto,
should be given first place. The resemblance of passages in the _Faerie
Queene_ to others in the _Orlando Furioso_ and the _Jerusalem Delivered_ is
so striking that some have accused the English poet of paraphrasing and
slavishly borrowing from the two Italians. Many of these parallels are
pointed out in the notes. To this criticism, Mr. Saintsbury remarks: "Not,
perhaps, till the _Orlando_ has been carefully read, and read in the
original, is Spenser's real greatness understood. He has often, and
evidently of purpose, challenged comparison; but in every instance it will
be found that his beauties are emphatically his own. 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.
