ABSTRACT
Book I of The Faerie Queene marks the beginning of Spenser’s distinctly Protestant epic in English. A number of arboreal episodes in Book I-Redcrosse Knight’s adventures in the Wandering Wood, his dialogue with Fradubio, the bleeding, speaking tree, and his temptation by Despair-highlight important stages in Redcrosse’s quest for spiritual liberation through grace. The Wandering Wood illustrates that he is prone to error without Una; his dialogue with Fradubio accentuates Redcrosse’s need for confession and tears of contrition; and his temptation by Despair exposes his spiritual vulnerabilities without mercy. In these arboreal episodes Spenser distinguishes his poem from those by his classical, medieval, and Renaissance predecessors by emphasizing the Protestant idea that only grace provides his tearful, contrite Redcrosse with escape from entrapment within his own sinful nature.9
