Gender in Spensers Poem The Faerie Queene - Essay Example

Gender in Spenser’s poem ‘The Faerie Queene’ Introduction Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene (1590-96), is a romance in allegorical form, the primary aim of which was to glorify and praise his monarch, Elizabeth I, then queen of England. It was also presumably designed to enhance Spenser’s place in Elizabethan society, as it proved to do. It was an important work at the time as it helped to reinforce Elizabeth’s right to rule, even though she was a woman, and this despite the general subservient position of women in Tudor England Elizabeth stood out as what Quilligan describes as ‘the problem of monstrosity.’(1987,) the one person who defied the norms of the time as far as the positions and qualities in society of men and women were concerned. McManus ( 2002, page 15) claims that like other authors of the time Spenser was aiming at a feminine reading audience. She quotes ( page 16) Hull ( 1982) who said :- The queen and her ladies were influential in popularizing the book, and it could be argued that (Spenser) wrote with their interests, tastes and patronage in mind , as well as to glorify the queen herself. This is not just a modern view, but was current in Spenser’s time. . McManus ( pages 16,17, cites Stanford as saying in 1610 that the epic poem was written in order ‘to honor ladies’. In his own age Spenser was definitely associated with the idea of giving praise for courtly ladies. He had dedicated poems to Lady Carew who has been identified with Amoretti in his poem of 1595 ‘One day I wrote her name’ which includes the lines ‘ My verse your vertues rare shall eternize,  And in the heavens write your glorious name:  In 1591 he had dedicated “The Ruines of Time” to the Countess of Pembroke of whom he wrote ‘And ye, fair Lady, th' Honour of your Days, And Glory of the World, your high Thoughts scorn; The poem should therefore be perceived as not just being concerned with praise of Elizabeth and an exposition of her virtues, but also as a wider influence on both women and men of the time. . As can be seen from its length and complexity it isn’t a straightforward poem, as subplots on a variety of political, psychological, religious and social themes interweave into ever more complexity. Some of the themes would have been familiar to his readers, others are more subtle. The work in its entirety is incomplete, as Spenser died before finishing the final books, but throughout what is available the issue of a female ruler and her qualities and rights to rule hold it all together, whatever the particular theme of a section. . Because of this complexity the work was published in sections. Books I, II and III were presented to the queen in 1590 and further works followed. Before Spenser’s death in 1599 he had produced another section published in 1596 and an incomplete final part was published in 1606, some years after his death. Originally the plan seems to have been for an even longer work - some 24 books as outlined in his letter to Raleigh in 1590. 12 books would be devoted to knights- each representing a different virtue. The remaining 12 books were to be based on the mythical King Arthur and what are described as public virtues. Thesis Within this long and celebrated poem, one of the longest ever written in English, gender is a very strong, though ambivalent element. Gender as a Topic The Faerie Queene is set in the fictional country of Faerie Land, the ruler of which was Gloriana, an allegorical image of Queen Elizabeth I, representing all that was glorious. – pomp, triumph, honor, distinction and all the rest. It is made plain that this imaginary land actually represents England in Book 1 which has as its hero the Red Crosse Knight, St George the patron saint of England and personification of knightly virtue. Spenser has therefore placed a female on the throne of his imaginary land, which reflected the position in England of that time. He is particularly concerned with the female gender of the then monarch Elizabeth Tudor, as represented by various female characteristics in the form of several avatars such as Una and Britomart. Elizabeth as monarch and strong female personality was a challenge to the commonly held patriarchal ideology of England during the Tudor era with its male images of king, god, ruler, men of power. Strangely perhaps Britomart, perhaps the one figure who most closely resembled the queen in Spenser’s description, is absent also from the proem to book 3, although she is the main protagonist of the actual book, the topic of which is ‘The Legend of Chastity’. Perhaps the problem is that Britomart is destined eventually to marry – only a virgin in a temporary context, whereas Elizabeth was promoted as the eternal virgin, but a virgin descended from the warrior Britomart. The knight’s ultimate importance is not therefore so much because of her military skills as because of what Spenser describes as her ‘wombes burden’ i.e. the child she will bear whose descendents Merlin states will one day rule in England. . In short all through the poem Spenser is trying to praise Elizabeth’s qualities as he writes of how the various knights pursue a variety of virtues. In book I we meet Una, the first of several personifications of Elizabeth. There is in this section a constant theme of role reversal, as when Una is searching for the Red Crosse knight and Arthur asks her ‘Where have you left your Lord, that could so well you toss’ ( xlviii, 8,9. That is to say that Elizabeth is in control of St George who of course represents England, so the poet begins as he means to go on. Una is depicted as the adventurous principal and the Red Crosse knight follows her lead. However each of them need the other, Una rescues Red Crosse, but also needs his support and physical strength. This reflects Elizabeth’s position as ruler, but also the position of many other women - they can help the men in their lives on occasions, but also need their support .Without England to rule Elizabeth would have been of no importance at all, just another woman however clever . Only at the end of Canto 12 are the roles of the two protagonists back in their more familiar places - the knight goes off to serve his sovereign and Una is left as the passive female partner. So we have ambivalent ideas about what women can do - taking what are traditional male roles only on a temporary basis until matters are righted, as women so often have done in times of war even into the 20th century and then , when hostilities are finally over, the men come home, we find women returning to traditional activities. By 1590 Elizabeth was an older woman and her heir, James VI of Scotland, was undoubtedly male and already had a male heir in Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales - Charles his second son would be born in 1600. Further on in Book 3 and the second canto Spenser attempts to justify this positive stress he places upon the female gender. He notes that although men almost always fail to allow women any involvement in military matters, “prowese martial” or have any share in “arms and chevalrie” in earlier times this had not necessarily been the case.” by record of antique times I find, That women wont in warres to beare most sway,”. It was well known for instance when men were absent, perhaps at war or on crusade, for women to defend their homes from attack, organizing their workers and defending to the last their husband’s property and their own family. In 3 .2.3 although Spenser praises the warrior woman Britomart , he then compares her martial skills, appropriate for the past age in which he has placed her, with the positive qualities of his queen, of which he states wisdom predominates. :- Of warlike puissaunce in ages spent, Be thou faire Britomart, whose prayse I write, But of all wisedome be thou precedent, O soueraigne Queene, whose prayse I would endite. This again went against the generally held view of women at the time. Despite the reigns of Mary Tudor, Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth herself, outspoken men such as John Knox ( 1520-1572) the Scottish Presbyterian, could proclaim in 1558 :- To promote a woman to beare rule, superioritie, dominion, or em-pire above any realme, nation, or citie, is repugnant to nature, con-tumelie to God, a thing most contrarious to his reveled will and approved ordinance, and finallie it is the subversion of good order, or all equitie and justice. To put this in context Knox may have been particularly indignant at having a Roman Catholic woman as his sovereign. Mary Tudor ruled England at the time he wrote these words and Mary of Scots ruled north of the border from 1542. .Knox followed the words of St Paul who would not allow women to speak in church, presumably because they were not considered fitted to do so. He also, as Woods pointed out (1985) was a misogynist , agreeing with Tertullian that woman is ‘The port and gate of the devil’. As a Presbyterian he of course believed that women were the weaker vessel by whom sin entered into the world in the Garden of Eden so long ago. As Villeponteaux (1995) points out his fellow Calvinists were aware of the harm to their cause Knox’s words could cause. They preferred to say that, although they agreed with the argument that having women as rulers was unnatural, and that normally such a situation would be contrary to God's law. On the other hand they found Elizabeth to be an exception, and, in some miraculous way, she was even approved by God. Spenser at least shares their view that Elizabeth is God appointed as he makes clear in his dedication of the poem printed in 1590 ( page 1) :- To the most mightie and magnificent Empress Elizabeth, by the grace of God Queene of England, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith etc. Despite the long reign of such a powerful queen, the general view in 16th century England , even among those who saw many positive virtues in the women they admired , warlike and governmental qualities would hardly be recognized. Elyot in his 1531 work ‘ Boke Named the Govourner’ reflected the views of the majority when he described the attributes of males and females:- A man in his naturall perfection is fiers / hardy / stronge in opin-ion / covaitous of glorie / desirous of knowledge / appetiting by generation to bring forth his semblable. The good nature of a woman is to be milde / timerouse / tractable / benigne / of sure remem-brance / and shamfast.. However history does not paint a picture of Elizabeth Tudor that fits in with words such as weak and fearful, but rather a strong woman, both bold and adventurous. Wood ( page 144) describes Elizabeth’s powers and reign as a ‘God-given exception’ which , during her lifetime, made no inroads upon generally accepted views or the laws of the land which upheld them , placing women very much in a subservient position. There were those, beside Spenser, who stood up for the opposite point of view. Bishop Aylmer in 1559, a time when the young Elizabeth had only recently inherited the throne, pointed out that women were allowed by law to inherit, even to inherit thrones. The bishop states firmly that God has allowed women i.e. Elizabeth, to reach this position and so it would be going against his declared will to bring her down. Spenser goes as far as suggesting that the power of the Tudor’s was in a direct line from Arthur himself, an idea which the Tudors themselves promoted according to the web page ‘King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table’. Unlike Britomart, not all the female characters in the poem have positive virtues. Acrasia in Book I for instance sets out to seduce men and then turns them into mere beasts. This despite the fact that females, the ladies of the court, were definitely expected to be among Spenser’s readers. In 5.9.31 they are depicted dressed all in white, part of the imagery associated with the cult of the virgin Queen. The women as courtiers can also be recognized in the nymphs who guard Diana and those rural shepherdesses who are associated with Pastorella. McManus also points to the possibility that the lady courtiers are also represented ( page 19) in the Amazons who accompany Radigund, which is not quite such a positive image. Had Spenser perhaps had bad experiences of women? Hamilton, page 327, ( 1990) describes how women were forced to act in negative ways because of the powerlessness forced upon them by society. Despite the difficulties of creating such an interesting story in rhyme Spenser clearly makes his points about the queen. In III.iii.3 he describes how Elizabeth had inherited not just a throne, her father’s throne , despite the intervening reigns of her half brother and sister, she had also inherited the skills necessary to be a ruler.’great valiaunce’ ., ‘vertue rare’ – worthy stock that bears a blossom. In III i 4 he has Britomart, a female character, yet arrayed as a knight in armor, and so praises chastity, a virtue Elizabeth cultivated about herself as ‘the Virgin Queen’, ‘ That fairest vertue, far above the rest…….. is shrined in my Sovereigne’s brest.’ Britomart is a female warrior whose armor, as described by Anderson 2009, both protects and contains her. She is told by Merlin that her descendents will rule England. This could be thought of as representing Elizabeth as one such descendent. By 1590 she was 57 years old, and still unmarried, something that some would see as in some way making her less of a woman, although no more of a man, but certainly not someone whose direct descendants will rule. . As can be seen it is Britomart who best exemplifies the ambivalence of Elizabeth as both ruler and woman as Spenser attempts to depict her in all her variety. Britomart also overcomes her female enemy Radigund – could this figure perhaps represent Mary Queen of Scots, overcome and eventually executed in 1587, only three years before the publication of the first parts of the poem. Spenser delineates Britomart in an ambivalent or even negative way at certain moments in the poem – those when she adopts a position of authority which would normally be characterized as masculine. Armor to an Elizabethan suggested masculinity, yet Elizabeth as both sovereign and the defender of the faith undoubtedly had authority by virtue of her position. So here we have a very feminine woman, but also one wearing the accoutrements of a person ready and able to fight when required. Cross dressing was not acceptable as Stubbs reveals in his ‘Anatomie of Abuses’ v ( 1583) and was seen as ‘undoing the work of heaven.’ As quoted by Villeponteaux ( undated) If Spenser really was aiming at a female leadership as said earlier, their literacy exposed them not just to interesting stories and myths, but also to possibly dangerous ideas. They might well ask after reading about figures such as Britomart – ‘Why did he write that? Can women really ever conquer the men they meet? Is that right? What would today be seen as sexist and derogatory to women was after all considered to be the norm in 16th century England. We see from this, as Tonkin said ( 1973) Spenser is aiming to bring together two images or metaphors, Britomart as a knight on a quest and Britomart as feminine virtuous woman. Villeponteaux ( 1995, page 60) points out how Britomart has one thing that Elizabeth has never utilized - the power of generation. Could this possibly be perceived as an insult to the aging, barren queen? Or was it merely hinting at the need for the monarchy to continue i.e that Elizabeth needed to assign an heir who could continue the line? Moreover Elizabeth herself was of course a complex character who wore armor at times, as when she addressed her troops at Tilbury at the time of the Spanish Armada, so this imagery would not be totally unfamiliar to Elizabethan readers and those familiar with her words on that occasion, only two years before, would know that she said ‘ I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.’ so she portrays herself as being strong and capable of rule. The abstract of Anderson’s article of ( 2009) describes her as both Virgo and Mars i.e. a virtuous female warrior an idea which Tonkin ( 1973) also presents when he describes Britomart as summing up in her character the strength of Mars and womanliness of Venus. Villeponteaux ( page 64 ) believes the donning of clothing more appropriate to another sex is suggestive of the actual nature of power - can it really be something to be adopted as one takes on a suit of armor belonging to another, or is it truly innate to the masculine person? . Further on in Book 5 of the poem Radigund the Amazon appears, a more negative image than some of the others. . She challenges the knight Artegall to battle and overcomes him. More she removes his armor, dresses him in women’s clothes and sets him to spinning thread. This humiliation is explained by the poet as due to ‘the crueltie of womenkynd’. How does this fit in with his idealization of Elizabeth? How does she fit into such widely accepted views of man’s natural supremacy? The answer lies a little further on when he points out the exceptions – ‘vertuous women wisely understand that they are borne to base humilitie.’ – the thrust comes in the next line ‘Unlesse the heavens them lift to lawful sovereignitie.’ Canto 5 , v 25 , lines 1 and 7 As the reader looks back at all these aspects it can be seen how Spenser points to two aspects of Elizabeth’s being – her public persona and her private one. Belphoebe is the chaste huntress who can be likened to Diana of ancient myth, Cynthia, is how Raleigh had described his heroine, a goddess, an image that Spenser obviously favors as he explains in a letter to Raleigh in 1590 which he accompanied by a copy of his poem. Gloriana represents the royal ruler, patriotism and grandeur, the other side, the mirror image. He urges the queen to see both in his work. So we see that for Spenser woman, at least in the form of Elizabeth I, had many positive aspects to her nature, and in contradiction, some of which would be considered to fit in with the usual concepts of womanhood and some which did not. Book 5 includes the theme of the way in which women can influence men in subtle ways, as discussed by Majeske ( 2006, page 69 ). The Isis priest convinces Britomart that women’s role is to influence men, but in a subtle, behind the scenes way, rather than openly as a woman ruler in a man’s world. Would the queen be unaware of such an argument against her position of power with many thousands of subjects, both male and female, under her rule? In V vii 3,4 Isis represents equity and fairness, while her consort Osyris is said to epitomize justice. According to Majeske’s argument it is Isis who is therefore in control as she acts as intermediary between justice according to the rules and the facts and people involved in individual cases. He goes on to explain that ideas about justice had been in flux and instead of the idea that punishment should be suited to the particular offender, public opinion had moved to one where preferred justice is impartial, blindfold, treating all similar cases in the same way i.e. Osyris had at last proved to be stronger than Isis. Spenser was interested in the older ideas about justice as they represented feminine qualities – it took time and care to consider each case on its individual merits - Majeske describes this as being dilatory. Male aspects of justice were decisive, more able to bring finality. Majeske goes as far as stating that this section of the poem is aimed at a particular section of society - those such as Lord Buckhurst and Sir Walter Raleigh who might prove to be capable of influencing Elizabeth to proclaim James as her designated successor. Conclusion Any study of Elizabethan history tells us of many different aspects of Elizabeth as ruler and woman. On occasions these can be both paradoxical and in conflict one with the other, hence the ambivalence of Spenser’s imagery. These different aspects can be seen clearly in Elizabeth’s many portraits – a young virgin, a woman very much in control, all seeing as in her portrait with eyes all over her skirts and so on. Spenser worked closely with Lord Leicester, a courtier close to the Queen, and would have been familiar with the variety of qualities and skills she possessed. The poem represents so many of these - the virgin, perhaps rather timorous, maid, as in Scrotts portrait of c1546, but also the conquering warrior among others. In the Armada portrait of 1588 she has the globe of the world under her hand - a woman totally in control. She is however portrayed as the exception to accepted norms - in the case of the poem the exception because of Merlin’s prophecy, in reality because she came as a woman the heir to the throne of England at a time when kings were considered to rule because of the will of God. Spenser has time and space in his extensive work to display and justify many aspects of Elizabeth’s complexity to his readers – some of them due to her particularity personality, some to her innate femininity and others to her position as a ruler of a great nation at a time of expansion into Empire. Works Cited Anderson, J., ( 2009) , Britomart’s Armor in Spenser’s Faerie Queene . Reopening Cultural Matters of Gender and Figuration, English Literature Renaissance Anonymous, ( c 1588) The Armada portrait,, 29th March 2011, http://www.marileecody.com/gloriana/elizabetharmada2.jpg Aylmer, J., ( 1559) An Harborowe for Faithfull and Trewe Subjectes: Elizabeth 1, Speech to the Troops at Tilbury,1588, 29th March 2011 http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/tilbury.htm Elyot, T. , ( 1531) Boke Named the Govourner, Gheeraerts,M. ( 1580-5) , The Peace Portrait , 29th March 2011, http://www.marileecody.com/gloriana/elizabethpeace.jpg Hamilton, A. ( 1990) The Spenser Encylopedia , Toronto, University of Toronto Press. Hilliard ( attributed )( c 1575) , the Pelican Portrait , 29th March 2011 http://www.marileecody.com/gloriana/elizabethpelican.jpg Hull, S., ( 1982) Chaste, Silent and Obedient: English Books for Women 1475- 1640, San Marino, The Huntington Library ix-x, 71, 15 King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, (undated) 22nd April 2011, http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/king-arthur-knights-round-table-1.htm Knox, J. , ( 1558), The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, London McManus, C., ( 2002) , Spenser’s Faerie Queene and the Reading of Women, Newark, University of Delaware Press Majeske, A. ( Spring 2006) Equity in Book 5 of Spenser’s ‘The Faerie Queene’, Law and Literature, Volume 18, number 1, pages 66-99. Quilligan, M., ( Spring 1987) , The Comedy of Female Authority , in the Faerie Queene., ELR 2 , pages 156 - 171 Scrott, c 1546 Princess Elizabeth Tudor, 29th March 2011, http://www.marileecody.com/gloriana/princesselizabethscrots.jpg, Stubbs, P., ( 1583) The Anatomie of Abuses. rprt. New York and London: Garland, 1973), from the section "A Particulare Discription of the Abuses of Womens Apparell in Ailgna," [p. 93]. Spenser,E. (1591) The Ruines of Time, 22nd April 2011 http://spenserians.cath.vt.edu/textrecord.php?action=GET&textsid=112 Spenser,E., ( 1595) One day I wrote her name, 22nd April 2011 http://www.adnax.com/poems/es03.htm Spenser,E. ( 1590) letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, Works of Edmund Spenser, editor, Greenlaw 1.168, as quoted by Woods ( 1985). Tonkin, H. ( May 1973) Spenser’s Garden of Adonis and Britomart’s Quest, Publications of the Modern Language Association, Volume 88, no 3 , 29th March 2011 http://www.jstor.org/pss/461521 Villeponteaux, M. ( 1995) Displacing Feminine Authority in the ’Faerie Queene’, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, Volume 35 , no, 1, The English Renaissance Woods, S. ( Spring 1985) Spenser and the Problem of Women’s Rule, Huntingdon Library Quarterly, Volume 48, 2, pages 140-158 Read More