Introduction
An epic by Edmund Spenser, he was only
able to write 6 (first 3 books in 1590 and other 3 books in 1596) books (the
books were further divided into several cantos or chapters) on 6 virtues by
Aristotle. He had a keen desire to write on other 6 virtues: death came as a
stumbling block to accomplish his epic. He portrayed the perfection of King
Arthur as Prince Arthur in the poem.
Structure
Every book of
the epic represents a virtue and all 6 virtues are personified through knights
(extraordinary and talented warriors). Here is the list
1. Red Cross Knight – Holiness
2. Sir Guyon – Temperance
3. Lady Knight Brito Mart – Chastity
4. Friendship
5. Grantorto – Justice
6. Calidore – Courtesy
Introduction to Book I
The Book I
deals with Holiness, complete devotion to God, but based on truth. Gloriana is
the Queene of Faerie land and she rules over all the fairies in her land.
Prince Arthur is the knight of magnificence holds perfection in all the
virtues. Before discussing about the characters in book 1, we must have an idea
of Seven Deadly Sins in Christianity:
1. Pride: The most deadliest sin in Christianity
1.1 Worldly Pride: Relating with worldly pursuits, the pride of one's caste, colour
or creed and ability.
1.2 Spiritual Pride: Pride of religious values, thinking purity of one's
religion and to condemn others'
2. Greed:
3. Lust: Temptation of flesh
4. Envy: Sense of jealousy towards other's success
5. Gluttony: Act of eating lavishly
6. Anger:
7. Sloth: Being lazy
But there is another sin which has not been listed in Seven Deadly Sins, yet it
is considered as an immoral value. Lying demolishes trust. There are two kinds
of liars:
Stupid liars: Those who speak 90 % lie while 10 %
Cunning liars: Those who rarely but habitually speak lie. Such persons are
truly the snakes in the grass as they can easily attack a person without even
letting him know the reality and facts.
Characters on the positive side
1. Queen Gloriana
2. Prince Arthur
3. Red Cross Knight – An allegory of holiness
4. Una – A female warrior portraying Truth
Characters on the negative side
1. Orgoglio – A monster who represents (Spiritual) Pride
2. Archimago – A wizard who can change his appearance, portraying
Hypocricy
3. Errour – Another monster who allegorises false learning
4. Duessa – She represents Falsehood
5. Lucifera – A female who depicts the vice of Worldly Pride
