ABSTRACT
Spenser says in the Letter to Raleigh that he has chosen ‘king Arthure’ as his hero not only because of his personal excellence but also because he is ‘furthest from the daunger of envy, and suspition of present time.’ Nevertheless, many incidents in Arthur’s story, such as the fight with Geryoneo (v xi), are presented as reflections of recent political events; and Arthur was seen in Spenser’s time as a remote ancestor of Elizabeth I, to whom The Faerie Queene is dedicated. In this, Spenser is typical of Renaissance poets who follow Virgil’s example by raising the popular material of legend to the dignity of classical form. Consequently, he has made Arthur’s role in The Faerie Queene similar to that of Aeneas in Virgil’s epic: both heroes are ancestors of the person to whom the poet has dedicated his poem (but see *Britomart). Spenser’s most striking departure from tradition may be seen in his plan to describe Arthur’s adventures before he is king (see *Arthur, legend of). Whereas in Morte Darthur and Sir Gawain Arthur is necessarily confined, as the center of authority, to a small part in the action, in Spenser’s narrative he is free to wander through Fairyland, performing exemplary feats. As further background to his entry into Fairyland, we are told that when Arthur’s education was completed by Timon (‘to whom he was by Merlin delivered to be brought up’), he saw the Fairy Queen in a dream and resolved upon waking to find her. Spenser’s allegorical intention is indicated by the Queen’s name, Gloriana, and by the suggestion that Arthur will encounter each of the twelve patrons of the twelve moral virtues. In his pursuit of glory, Arthur is ‘perfected in the twelve private morall vertues’ as each of those virtues is perfected by him: ‘So in the person of Prince Arthure I sette forth magnificence in particular, which vertue… is the perfection of all the rest, and conteineth in it them all’ (Letter; see *magnanimity). Thus, according to the plan set forth in the Letter, the narrative of The Faerie Queene is to be seen as contributing at every point to Arthur’s moral formation before his reappearance in history as king of the Britons.
