colors, and he cannot escape his destiny as a fl esh-and-
blood man with the complex emotional makeup that
allows for his ultimate destructive act at the close of
Book 2.
Other scholarship has focused on philological con-
cerns of the book’s thematic units, with special attention
paid to individual episodes, particularly the relationship
between temperance and the allegorical vision of Spens-
er’s work. Critics have also established the relationship
between Spenser and his Italian sources, with emphasis
on the connection between “temperance” and epic
ROMANCE. New directions further include the establish-
ment of an early modern sensibility of temperance, con-
textualizing The Faerie Queene within the tradition of
early printed materials on the subject and early modern
commentary on Biblical notions of temperance.
See also ALLEGORY; CHIVALRY; FAERIE QUEENE, THE
(OVERVIEW).
FURTHER READING
Berger, Harry, Jr. The Allegorical Temper: Vision and Reality
in Book II of The Faerie Queene. New Haven, Conn.: Yale
University Press, 1957.
Gohlke, Madelon S. “Embattled Allegory: Book II of The
Faerie Queene.” ELR 8 (1978): 123–140.
Dan Mills
The Faerie Queene: Book 3 EDMUND SPENSER
(1590) The third book of EDMUND SPENSER’s The
FAERIE QUEENE tells the tale of Britomart, a princess who
links Britain’s mythical origins in Troy to Queen ELIZA-
BETH I. Britomart is the embodiment of chastity—not
in the sense of virginity, but in the sense of chaste love
sanctifi ed by marriage, wherein it can be productive.
Britomart’s character and quests bridge the archetypes
of virgin and matron in a way that invites a parallel to
the biblical Mary, but Spenser achieves this by means
of non-Christian associations, and Britomart’s quests
revolve around earthly love. It is signifi cant, too, that
Britomart is absent from much of Book 3, leaving read-
ers to learn from the examples of chaste and unchaste
lovers who populate the tale, rather than solely from
her example.
The tale begins in media res in Canto 1, with the
hero from Book 2, Guyon, the knight of temperance,
traveling with Arthur and his squire Timias. They
encounter a knight who unhorses Guyon—Britomart.
Guyon’s pride is badly hurt—not so badly as it would
have been had he known Britomart was a woman, of
course—but he is reconciled to his conqueror, and the
three knights travel together for a time.
As they wander through the forest, a beautiful
woman rides by, apparently fl eeing a would-be rapist.
Arthur and Guyon chase the lady Florimell; Timias
chases the ruffi an who threatens her; Britomart, “whose
constant mind / Would not so lightly follow beauties
chace” (st. 19, ll. 1–2) stays behind and fi nds another
adventure. She reaches a castle and sees a knight being
attacked by six others. She defends the lone knight,
swiftly defeating three of the attackers. The lone knight,
revealed to be Redcrosse from Book 1, then defeats a
fourth knight, and the remaining two yield and escort
them to the lady of Castle Joyous, Malecasta (unchaste).
Her custom is to sleep with every knight who seeks
lodging with her. Since Redcrosse has a betrothed, he
resists and is attacked by Malecasta’s minions. Soon,
however, Malecasta’s attention shifts to Britomart, and
she sneaks into Britomart’s bed to seduce her, assum-
ing the knight is a man. Britomart leaps out of bed.
Malecasta realizes her error and faints, and the six
knights appear to defend their lady. In the fracas, Brit-
omart is wounded, grazed by an arrow from Gardante
(looking), the fi rst of the six brothers whose names
indicate the six stages of lechery. Redcrosse rushes to
her defense, and the two fl ee the castle together. In this
fi rst canto, then, chastity conquers temperance and,
strengthened by holiness, escapes lechery.
Canto 2 sees Britomart and Redcrosse travel together.
She reveals her history and her quest: Artegall (Arthur’s
equal). Britomart gently insults Artegall in order to
hear him defended and praised by Redcrosse, and she
indulges in sweet memories of how she fell in love with
him—at fi rst sight, in a magic mirror made by Merlin
himself. Britomart had been hit by Cupid’s arrow “so
slyly that she did not feel the wound” (st. 26, l. 8), and
her nurse set about curing her of her LOVESICKNESS by
any means possible—potions, spells, and charms. She
failed.
Canto 3 continues the story. In a last-ditch effort to
cure Britomart, her nurse Glauce led her to Merlin,184 THE FAERIE QUEENE: BOOK 3