ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that Britomart's deferral is exceptional because of Merlin's prophecy and because her transition to marriage is deferred in uncommon ways, that we can examine maternity as its own category, and that Britomart's maternity is deferred because of a pervading cultural discomfort with the maternal body and maternal authority that exists within The Faerie Queene itself. Britomart's encounter with Merlin explains her movement from the stage of youth under parental care to married adulthood. Britomart's sex is revealed to the reader within a few stanzas, but only after she has unseated Guyon with her enchanted spear. Britomart's nurse Glauce appears to stand in for Britomart's parents, but her words and actions continue to distance Britomart from her family and move her more fully into a transitional state. As Spenser relates the story of Britomart's entry into knighthood, he emphasizes her transitional state and establishes her real destiny: motherhood.
