Religion and Sexuality in “The Faerie Queen”

Introduction

In Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, there are many ideas in which Spenser himself strongly believes in. Specifically, the holiness of the Protestant Church versus the wickedness of the Catholic Church, and the power of Satan versus the power of God. The power of esculapius (Canto 5) and the power of the Tree of Life and the Well of Life (Canto 11) might look similar from a distance in terms of magical magnificence, but the task which they complete (restoration of health) are perceived similarly which only serve to highlight their differences. Esculapius represents an evil form of magic that restores life illegally (from Hell), whereas the Tree of Life and the Well of Life restore health through Divine Intervention (God's grace) in order to help one defeat sin and evilness. Also the Lust in Edmund Spenser's The Fairie Queene According to the Oxford dictionary, to lust means "to have strong sexual desire" (Oxford, 529). Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Fairie Queen is a allegory about a Red Crosse Knight (holiness) and his maiden Una (truth), who are sent on a journey to conquer a dragon (sin), and their many struggles along the way. The struggle that will be analysed and depicted in this essay, will be the attempted rape of Una (a symbol of truth) by Sansloy, an evil Sarazin, in the deep and wild forest. The episode takes place over 6 stanzas, beginning in (I.VI.iii.1) and ending in (I.VI.viii.9). The Allegorical writing of Spenser is carefully engineered to include subtle, yet extremely important meanings that are not included in the narrative writing itself. His extremely confining method of writing is considered amazing by standards during the Renaissance period through to today's writings. This essay will touch upon the episode of lust, the themes and ideas within the episode, a short paraphrase of the, the imagery, symbolism and poetic/syntactic language, along how and where Spenser intertwines and ties in other episode to the episode of lust.

Analysis

The episode takes place in the deep and wild forest. The episode begins with Una and Sansloy returning from a battle in which Sansloy defeated Archimago (I.VI.iii.1). As Sansloy admires Una's beauty and pureness, he is overcome by a "wrathfull fire to lustfull heat"(I.VI.iii.3). The episode continues for another 6 stanzas until a flock of Faunes and Satyres come running to the sound of Una's desperate cry, and scare off the raging Sansloy (I.VI.viii.9). Although the episode is a relatively short one, it contains many important themes and ideas. The main themes, are of lust and the attack of a raging Sansloy (who represents evil without law), on Una the symbol of truth and purity. This all takes place while Una and the Red Crosse Knight are separated, and Una is wondering in the wilderness. There are many issues within this episode, which flow along many underlying currents. This specific incident can be considered an episode because it is a specific event (the attempted rape of Una), ...