Faerie Queene Essays

    By this definition, this would make Spenser’s The Faerie Queene reminiscent of the Greek legend of the labours of Heracles – all of the labours stand alone as discrete stories, as well as forming part of a larger whole. Dramatic and narrative form, and its relation to content, is not lessened by fragmentation….

Examining images of Elizabeth within the context of The Faerie Queene seems initially simple: she is central to everything in and around the poem; imagined most obviously in the form of Gloriana, the ‘Great Lady of the greatest isle’, a powerful and divine being. Yet this flattering image is not entirely unproblematic, as the imaginary…