Apocalypse and Allegory in Spenser
The idea of the apocalypse, as described in St. John's Book of Revelations, had a profound effect on the artistry and specifically, literature of Elizabethan England. The apocalypse became a common motif in many works of the period including Jan Van Der Noot's "Theatre of Worldlings". It is not surprising that the saturation of apocalyptic literature in the 16th century would have had a profound effect and influence on Edmund Spenser in the creation of a number of his works, including "Amoretti", "Colin Clout's Come Home Again", "The Shepherdes Calendar" and most notably, "The Faerie Queene". According to Joseph Wittreich's essay on the apocalypse, Spenser turned his attention to the apocalypse after translating four of the visions from the Book of Revelations for Van Der Noot's "Theatre of Worldlings". What is interesting about the apocalyptic imagery of Revelations, particularly in book 1 of the "Faerie Queene", is the way in which it was applied. Spenser utilized St. John's apocalypse by "employing its strategies, recasting its visions and then using them as a medium for reflecting upon current affairs and as a metaphor for English history"(Wittreich 46). Spens
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms"(Ephesians 6:10-12). Since Una is surrounded by solar imagery, "her angels face,/ As the great eye of heaven, shyned bright,/ And made a sunshine in the shady place/ Did never mortall eye behold such heavenly grace"(1:3:4) she is symbolic of divine righteousness and as a result, associates Una/Elizabeth as the bearer of light and true faith, inextricably linking her to the notion of "Sola Scriptura". With the image of the satanic beast brought to the fore by the figure of Archimago, the character of Fidessa-Duessa furthers the apocalyptic imagery of Spenser's allegory. The reconstitution of primitive theology came about as a result of the Roman Catholic Church's revival of Augustinian theology, which stated that man could only be saved by the grace of God, contradicting the emergent humanist notions of man's autonomous salvation. Ironically, the armour of God does not remove the naivete of faith from Redcrosse Knight. Redcrosse's identification in canto 10, stanza 61 as "Saint George of mery England, the signe of victoree"(1:10:61), reinforces the idea of Redcrosse as the advocate of the nation established by Arthur; the archetypal knight errant charged with the protection of the Crown (Elizabeth as Una) and the duty to uphold the will of God (Elizabethan Protestantism). Spenser resurrects Redcrosse's Protestant faith and the English belief in Elizabethan Protestantism with the introduction of Arthur. Thus, Una is inextricably linked to the house of Holiness with the Protestant church and true faith upheld by Elizabeth. As a result the people were responsible for their status under God, following the notion of "Sola scriptura", making the bible the sole measure of theology, not the clerical establishment of the church. Once Archimago lures Redcrosse and Una into his dwelling, Spenser reveals the true nature of Archimago by his use of "few words most horrible. Una is the representation of the one true faith of Elizabethan Protestantism, which to many English Protestants of the 16th century was the reconstitution of primitive Catholicism in the form of the Anglican Church. In contrast to the figure of Redcrosse, is the character of Archimago, who comes immediately to the fore when thinking about Spenser's anti-catholic narrative. In the book "Revisionary Play", Harry Berger juxtaposes Redcrosse's failure to detect error with the symbol of Fidelia's cup, the paradigm of the poems apocalyptic pattern, illustrated in Canto 10 Stanza 13: "And in her right hand bore a cup of gold/ With wine and water fild up to the hight/ In which a serpent did himselfe enfold"(1:10:13).
Common topics in this essay:
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Douglas Brooks-Davies,
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