Political allegory in Canto III of Book-I of The Faerie Queene

The Faerie Queene is an incomplete epic poem written by Edmund Spenser and it is perhaps the longest poem written in English language. This long epic poem is divided into six books. Each book is primarily written to demonstrate a particular virtue such as- holiness, temperance, chastity, friendship, justice and courtesy. Book I deals with holiness. In Book I, we get the adventure of one Knight, Redcrosse, representing holiness, accompanied by Lady Una who symbolizes truth. The purpose of writing this poem is to praise Queen Elizabeth who successfully ruled England for more than forty years. She is presented here as “the fairy queen”.

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Canto III from the first Book of The Faerie Queene is significant in many ways. This canto shows many new characters that represent different sides of religion, ethics and political figures. Characters that played the most important roles in this canto are the blind old woman, Corceca, and her deaf daughter, Abessa, church thief, Kirkrapine, and Sansloy. There is no doubt about the importance of these characters, but compared to Archimago, whom we have known at the previous cantos, they are less important. Each of these characters is allegorical. Either they represent religious allegory or moral allegory. Other two types of allegories are political and historical allegories which are rare than other two types of allegory but present in this epic.

This canto mainly tells the journey of Lady Una who was abandoned by the Redcrosse Knight. She made her journey alone for searching of her Knight. While wandering in woods, she encountered many incidents. In general, these incidents may seem to us moral or religious allegory, but going through these incidents one can get the political condition of the contemporary England.

Before going to discuss about the political allegory in canto III, we should know the definition of allegory. Allegory is a literary term. When abstract ideas or principles are represented with the help of characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form then it is called allegory. There are different types of allegory. Among them, moral, religious, social, and political allegories are more popular.

It has already been mentioned that political allegory is difficult to find, but the interesting thing is that it is closely connected with religious allegory. The reason of their intimacy is that during the time of Elizabethan age which Spenser also belonged to both politics and religion had almost become inseparable from each other. That is why, we can find some of the examples that carry both the allegories together. The religious conflicts of the time were inextricably tied to politics. The poet did not feel ashamed of describing the political conflict of the Elizabethan time.

Archimago is one of the most important characters of this canto. He is an evil character, which represents moral, religious and political allegories. In canto III, we find him in the disguise of Redcrosse Knight and joining with Lady Una. In twenty-six number stanza, we can see that both Una and false Knight come together. The poet wrote:

        “Ere long he came where Una traveild slow,

         And that wilde champion wayting her besyde;

         Whome seeing such, for dread hee durst not show

         Him selfe too nigh at hand, but turned wyde

         Unto an hil; from whence when she him spyde,

         By his like seeming shield her knight by name

         She weend it was, and towards him gan ride:

         Approaching nigh she wist^ it was the same;

         And with faire fearefull humblesse towards him shee came”

Una became happy when she saw Archimago in the guise of her Knight. However, he could only take the appearance of Redcrosse but he was not as like him when it came to fighting. He lost his life while fighting with Sansloy, who was looking for Redcrosse Knight for taking revenge for the death of his brother Sansfoy. All these things show political allegory.

It looks like that Spenser has portrayed this character to show the hypocrisy of Papacy in King Henry VIII’s kingdom. The main reason behind using Archimago is to show Pope Clement VII and the hypocrisy that he is aware of in King Henry’s court. By using political allegory, the poet has successfully showed the hypocrisy and illusions used by the Catholic Church to cause disorder and uncertainty.

By depicting the character “Archimago”, the writer has given the historical reference of the political allegory throughout The Faerie Queene. Like this evil character, who deceives Holiness and Truth by using a guise of a ‘holy man’, Pope Clement VII uses his guise of a virtuous Pope in order to defend his denial of the cancellation of King Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He is symbolically the nemesis of England.

If we look at the history then we can see that Pope Clement VII was used as a pawn by both Henry VIII and Emperor Charles of Spain. Due to his failure to give birth to a male child with Catherine of Aragon, he decided to end his marriage with his first wife and marry Anne Boleyn in hopes of having a son.

In stanza ten, we can see the description of the house of Abessa. Here she meets both the mother and daughter. The poet said:

        “A damzell spyde slow footing her before,

         That on her shoulders sad a pot of water bore”

While wandering in search of Redcrosse knight, Lady Una comes to a damsel carrying a pot of water. This lady is Abessa, the daughter of Corceca. Abessa represents nuns and monks of Catholicism whereas her mother represents blind worshiper who performs ridiculous rituals that has nothing to do with God. Kirkrapine, the church robber, is the beloved of Abessa. In this poem, we can see her and her mother taking benefits from Kirkrapine.

The character “Abessa” represents “Abbess” who is the head of an abbey of nuns. It is clear that both mother and daughter represent monasticism which is a feature of the Catholic Church. In Spenser’s time, monasteries were blamed for taking donations from poor people for themselves. Abessa’s deafness and dumbness, and her mother Corceca’s blindness actually show Spenser’s belief that monasteries are ignorant of the needs of the world because of their seclusion life.

In stanza nineteen, we can see the church thief being attacked fiercely by the Lion. The poet said:

               “When that disdainfull beast

                 Encountring fierce, him suddaine doth surprise,

                 And seizing cruell clawes on trembling breast,

                 Under his Lordly foot him proudly hath supprest”

We can also see that Kirkrapine is being slain by Lion while the church thief was trying to break into the house. With the character of Kirkrapine, Spenser actually represented monasteries who were accused of taking donations from the state and the people. Here ‘Lion’ is represented as King Henry VIII that has stopped Roman church from rapine. It gives a clear image of the conflict between Roman Church and English ruler Henry VIII. To get permission for second marriage with Anne Boleyn, he wanted to reform English church. Another important reason of reforming English church is to get separated from Roman Church.

In stanza five, we can see Lady Una’s confront with a lion while taking rest under a tree. The poet wrote:

        “It fortuned, out of the thickest wood 

         A ramping Lyon rushed suddeinly,

         Hunting full greedy after salvage* blood.

         Soone as the royall virgin he did spy,

         With gaping mouth at her ran greedily.

         To have attonce devourd her tender corse;

         But to the pray when as he drew more ny.

         His bloody rage aswaged with remorse.

         And, with the sight amazd, forgat his furious forse.”

In canto III, we can see that Lady Una being confronted by lion while stopping to take rest. Seeing her gentle beauty and sensing her innocence, he forgets his rage and follows her around as a protector and companion which demonstrates the submission of the natural world to spiritual revelation. The interesting thing is that in moral allegory, the lion symbolizes Reason who is unaided by Faith or Truth.

In The Faerie Queene poem, we come to know the history of Tudor dynasty of which Elizabeth was a part. The poet has shown many prominent figures of this family in his epic. Elizabeth herself is the most prominent example. The poet has depicted her in the guise of Gloriana, the Faerie Queene.

In stanza thirty-five, we can see the battle between Sansloy and Archimago and Archimago being wounded. The poet said:

        “He tumbling rudely downe to ground did rush,

         And from his gored wound a wll of bloud did gush.”

Sansloy, who has defeated both Archimago and Lion, is another important character of this canto. He represents lawlessness. He symbolizes moral allegory. Sansloy is shown as a sinner who does not regret for sins and rejects the moral law of God. The poet symbolizes the immense power of human morality and immorality to resist the law of nature that was able to deal with Kirkrapine.

The battle between two negative characters, Archimago and Sansloy, actually mentions the contests of the Catholic powers with the Muslims. The whole canto also has a hint of the violence and lawlessness connected with the English conquest of Ireland.

In conclusion, we can come to the decision that Edmund Spenser has not only showed moral and religious allegory, but also successfully portrayed political allegory in the guise of religion. So, it can be easily said that The Faerie Queene is an allegorical poem.