Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Study Guide for Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene"
    A Study Guide for Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene"
    A Study Guide for Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene"
    Ebook44 pages29 minutes

    A Study Guide for Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene"

    By Gale and Cengage

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Epics for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Epics for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateSep 20, 2016
    ISBN9781535836500
    A Study Guide for Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene"

    Read more from Gale

    Related to A Study Guide for Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene"

    Related ebooks

    Literary Criticism For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Poetic Postage

      Apr 10, 2020

      Poetic Postage
      4 min read

    • Article

      Weird World Folklore Frenzy

      Oct 6, 2022

      Weird World Folklore Frenzy
      2 min read

    • Article

      Weird World Folklore Frenzy

      Oct 6, 2022

      Weird World Folklore Frenzy
      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Feb 9, 2021

      Letters
      6 min read

    • Article

      More Than Gardening’s “Bad Girl”

      Apr 28, 2023

      Watching Gardeners’ World on TV, my attention was hooked when garden historian Advolly Richmond described “gardening’s bad girl”. An award-winning Edwardian gardener, it’s claimed Ellen Willmott booby-trapped her rarest plants, sabotaged her rivals’

      3 min read

    • Article

      Dear Paul

      Sep 9, 2022

      In August we heard about the delightfully-named Morwood Windle, who had the rather unsavoury occupation of ‘pig killer’. Although probably not seen as a desirable occupation nowadays, put into context, this occupation would have been more common in 1

      11 min read

    • Article

      A Warning To The Fortean

      Jul 14, 2022

      A Warning To The Fortean
      9 min read

    • Article

      Home & away

      Oct 30, 2022

      Home & away
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Life of GENTLEMAN JACK

      May 18, 2023

      The Life of GENTLEMAN JACK
      8 min read

    • Article

      To the MANOR BORN

      Jan 26, 2022

      To the MANOR BORN
      7 min read

    • Article

      To the MANOR BORN

      Jan 26, 2022

      To the MANOR BORN
      7 min read

    • Article

      THE Reading room

      Dec 2, 2020

      Trent Dalton’s ambitious tale combines a dreamy aura of magical realism with scenes rooted in the Australian landscape. At its heart is Molly Hook, the “poor little gravedigger girl”, age seven when the story opens in Darwin in 1935. Molly’s mum, Vio

      7 min read

    • Article

      Haunted King’s Lynn

      Jan 27, 2022

      Haunted King’s Lynn
      9 min read

    • Article

      Dear Paul

      Sep 10, 2021

      Dear Paul
      10 min read

    • Article

      A Scandal In High Society

      Dec 15, 2020

      A Scandal In High Society
      2 min read

    • Article

      Pioneering Women

      May 18, 2023

      Professional housekeeper, cook, confectioner, teacher, author; Elizabeth Raffald could be described by many job titles, but the most fitting is probably entrepreneur. Having spent some years working around Yorkshire, Raffald made her name in Manchest

      3 min read

    • Article

      Town & Country Notebook

      Aug 24, 2022

      1) Who wrote the poem Lochinvar? 2) Sphagnum is a genus of which group of plants? 3) In Morse code, what letter is represented by one dash? 4) Which noblemen hold the highest hereditary titles in the British peerage? 5) Which playing card is known as

      3 min read

    • Article

      THE Reading room

      Dec 2, 2020

      Trent Dalton’s ambitious tale combines a dreamy aura of magical realism with scenes rooted in the Australian landscape. At its heart is Molly Hook, the “poor little gravedigger girl”, age seven when the story opens in Darwin in 1935. Molly’s mum, Vio

      6 min read

    • Article

      Biography

      Nov 30, 2022

      This thoughtful book is as close as we’ll get to a memoir of Wendy Whiteley. Author Ashleigh Wilson, who has known Wendy for decades and also wrote the biography of Brett Whiteley, sat down for a series of conversations over the course of a year. The

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Story Of WITCHES

      Oct 20, 2021

      Many of those dressing up as witches and ghouls for Halloween know little of the real history of witches. We see modern incarnations in culture as harmless, like Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch children’s books, and the trainee witches from the Harry P

      3 min read

    • Article

      Devon, Droves And Jacobites

      Apr 11, 2020

      Devon, Droves And Jacobites
      13 min read

    • Article

      Stuff Of Legends

      Jul 6, 2021

      Stuff Of Legends
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Footprint’s Story

      Nov 25, 2022

      The Footprint’s Story
      10 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Aug 24, 2021

      Letters
      6 min read

    • Article

      Christmas Books Guide

      Nov 30, 2022

      This is Fiona McIntosh’s first novel set entirely in Australia. Her heroine, Fleur, is just eight when she is already helping her adoptive undertaker parents prepare bodies. Mother Mae knows their only daughter is capable of running the Port Adelaide

      10 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Study Guide for Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene"

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" - Gale

      10

      The Faerie Queene

      Edmund Spenser

      1590

      Introduction

      The Faerie Queene is a romantic epic, the first sustained poetic work since the work of Geoffrey Chaucer (1340–1400). In this work, Edmund Spenser uses the archaic language of Chaucer in order to pay homage to the medieval poet. Spenser saw himself as a medievalist, but cognizant of his audience, he uses the modern pronunciation of the Renaissance. Spenser uses biblical allegory to tell his story, but the poem is much more than a religious work. Its purpose was to educate, to turn a young man into a gentleman. There are two levels of allegory present. One level examines the moral, philosophical, and religious and is portrayed by the Red Cross Knight, who represents all Christians. The second level is the particular, which focuses on the political, social, and religious, in which the Faerie Queene represents Elizabeth I (1533–1603). Spenser was not born to a wealthy household, as were so many of the other great Renaissance poets, such as Philip Sidney. This fact is important, since his work is colored by this lack of wealth. Spenser needed a patron to support him while he worked, and patrons expect that the artists they support will write flattering words. This was certainly the case with Spenser's work, The Faerie Queene, which is meant to celebrate Elizabeth I and, oftentimes, to flatter her. In this work, Spenser presents his ideas of what constitutes an ideal England. He also thought that he could use his text as a way to recall the chivalry of a past era and thus inspire such actions again. Spenser influenced many of the poets who followed him, including Milton, Shelley, Keats, Byron, and Tennyson.

      Author Biography

      Edmund Spenser was born in London in 1552 or 1553. The Spenser household was of the tradesman class. Spenser's father John was a weaver who belonged to the Merchant Taylors' Company, a guild for people who worked in the cloth trade. Little is known about Spenser's family, although it appears he had a sister and two brothers. As a child, Spenser attended the Merchant Taylors' Free School, where his education focused on the new humanist movement. Spenser received a bachelor's degree from Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1573 and a master's degree in 1576. While at Cambridge, Spenser was a work study student, earning money to pay for his meals and lodging. After leaving Cambridge, Spenser worked as a secretary for the Bishop of Rochester, John Young. During this period, Spenser composed The Shepheardes Calendar, which was printed in 1579. Also in 1579, Spenser went to work in the London household of

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1