Now at the conclusion of our readings of The Faerie Queene, I have been left thinking of all the comparisons that can be drawn between Spenser’s story and more contemporary tales. Most notably in my mind (probably because I have watched it in the region of 50 times) is the scene in Monty Python’s The Holy Grail in which Sir Gallahad the Chaste wanders up to Castle Anthrax, where he is promptly met by a castle full of rather sexually frustrated maidens. The scene as a whole mirrors very closely the Castle Joyous scene in which Britomart’s chastity is tested by the castle’s maiden. There are countless other examples, but this one stood out to me particularly, and speaks more generally to the true epic nature of the text – a text so epic that, even now, it is still being drawn from for inspiration.

Sorry to be late on this response, but I was also very fascinated with how Spenser continually mixes Protestant Christianity with Classical mythology. In our first few classes, I remember Professor Kitch saying that education was largely Classics-based and that Latin almost became the key language of all communication. Going off of that, it makes a little more sense to me how the Greek gods and Christian morals can co-exist (seemingly) harmoniously in this world. Just a speculation, but perhaps Classical mythology was seen less as actual “paganism” and regarded more casually as a part of popular culture that was not attached to any particular morality/belief system?

After reading Alex’s and Natalie’s posts about incest and the Spenser’s view of the Greek Gods, I, too, was interested in the contemporary cultural attitudes towards the Gods and their sexual deeds. Yes, the Goddesses are revered for their virtues, but they also commit sexual transgressions like incest (Juno/Hera and Jove/Zeus are married but also siblings). The Gods’ acts depicted on the tapestries are mostly tales of trickery, rape, and beastiality, which would tie them to the immoral deeds of the incestuous Ollyphant and Argante. It seems to me that Spenser uses classical references as it suits him—either to elevate virtues or to condemn misdeeds. For example, he uses the character of Arthur as a virtuous figure, who in classical mythology committed incest (though it resulted in his downfall).

Hi Rachel,

With regard to your point about flowers and chastity– I definitely understand your point about flowers being sexual in nature, but I have also seen flowers used to represent virginity. With this representation, the connection between chastity and flowers makes much more sense. One term I think of is to “deflower,” meaning to take one’s virginity. I do not know the exact origins of this term or how long it has been around, but from a brief web search, it does not seem to be a modern term so could have been relevant around this time period.

I was also very interested in the rhetorical role that the tapestries play, especially in relation this portion of the canto’s narration. Though we’re seeing this scene through Britomart’s perspective as Emily notes, I think that the Spenser strong allusion (he’s not trying to hide his reference) to his source of Leda and the Swan complicates the poem’s ideas about authorship and narration. I wonder if the reference to the rape scene of Leda and the Swan story also shows the forceful power of narration and why this story is invading Spenser’s

In Book 3 Canto 11, stanza 6 Britomart is described as “the flowre of chastity” (3.11.6.47). This connection between flowers and chastity was also something I noted in the reading for Monday. It came up a few times in that reading and seems to be a repeated idea throughout the text. I am wondering why chastity is connected so much with flowers, as flowers seem to me to be usually associated with sexuality? Just something that seems odd to me and I am curious what others think.

I enjoyed the moments when Britomart first runs into Scudamore. He seems to question if there is truly a just God, asking “Or hast thou, Lord, of good mens cause no heed? / Or doth thy justice sleep and silent ly?” (3.11.78-79).  Britomart then comforts him by speaking about the virtues, but ends her speech with “For who nill bide the burden of distress, / Must not here thinke to live: for life is wretchedness” (3.11.124-125). Thus, Britomart seems to be the voice of Protestantism, of not questioning God but living up to his standards and submitting to his will as the only sanctity in an otherwise corrupt life. Does this connect Britomart’s chastity with holiness? Or is this a moment of Spenser talking to his audience and building his protestant epic?

I’m honestly still not sure what Spenser thinks of the Greek Gods. He references them frequently as being representatives of virtues, but he also sees them as paragons of sin. Of course all their stories, virtuous or not, are meant to teach lessons, and Spenser doesn’t have to feel one way about all of them, but there seems to be a bit of a gender divide: Spenser tends to revere Goddesses and deplore Gods. This is particularly evident in how long he lingers over the descriptions of the tapestries in Busirane’s castle – all of which depict cautionary tales of lustful Gods who ruin the mortal women with whom they consort (a fate which might come to Amoret if she is not saved by virtue). Is this an example of Protestant values vanquishing Pagan ones, or do the Greek myths simply serve as convenient allegories?

I found a video of a Faerie Queene video game while I was doing some googling about Ollyphant (see my previous post). The game starts at around 5:00.

It was made by a bunch of students in a course at Vanderbilt. I think it’s a very cool and natural interpretation of this text—and clearly could be commercially successful, what with the entire Elder Scrolls series basically being the Faerie Queene, but with a worse storyline.

(This probably shouldn’t count as one of my official posts. I just wanted to share it because it’s interdisciplinary fun.)

In Book 3 Canto XI, Britomart has a brief run in with a giant, Ollyphant, and the Norton mentions that Ollyphant and his sister (also a giant) had an incestuous relationship and that this was Bad. But it made me curious about the incest taboo during the Renaissance period—is it about the same as today, or are there any significant differences in terms of how we might understand it?  (Strong feeling that it’s going to be the latter.)

I did do a cursory Google search of this and there didn’t seem to be any smaller articles on the subjects—only books.

So I guess I am wondering if anyone (coughProfessorKitchcough) might have an answer to this off the top of their heads?