The Great Classical Epics and Medieval Romance Adhere to Christianity gentle ". However, the moralizing tone is softened by the fact that the whole complex allegory passes itself off as a medieval novel, with the added bonus of many features borrowed from the great classical epics. The very beginning of Spenser's letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, cited above, immediately connects his poem directly to Milton's Paradise Lost whose intention is to "justify the ways of God towards men" and indirectly with the Aeneid by Virgil, which was probably commissioned by the Emperor Augustus. and has a similar didactic message. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay This text is most like the Aeneid of all the classic epics, as both are designed to teach the reader and illustrate how to be a good person. . Each knight in The Faerie Queene embodies a Christian virtue: Red Cross represents holiness and Guyon represents temperance. The idea that the central character should sacrifice his personal happiness for the common good is common to both Spenser's poem and Virgil's work. Just as Aeneas must leave Dido and continue his quest to find a site on which to found Rome, so Red Cross must "have his Fairy Queen returned...and Una left to weep" (I.XII) because his task is also incomplete. It is explicitly stated that Medina is the ideal partner for Guyon, but again he must “take leave of this pure Virgin” (II.III) in order to continue his mission of destroying the arbor of bliss. Here, Spenser borrows heavily from the Aeneid because his goal is very similar to Virgil's: both writers want to illustrate how a moral, faithful, and selfless man acts as an example to others. However, it should not be forgotten that Spenser's entire poem is full of Christian overtones, and his intention, in having his characters put aside their personal happiness to accomplish a task, is also to emphasize again that these men are the personification of one of the great Christian Virtues. It should be noted that in fact, many features that characterize medieval romance are similar to, or even directly copied from, the great epics. The idea of travel, found in all classical epics, with the possible exception of the Iliad, parallels the idea of a knight's quest in medieval romance. Odysseus must return from Troy once the war is over, Aeneas must leave the ashes of Troy to found Rome, Satan travels from Pandaemonium to Eden, Sir Gawain must search for the Green Knight, Redcross must find and fight the dragon. who holds Una's parents captive, then goes on and finds the Fairy Queen and Guyon must find the Bower of Bliss. Odysseus's great wanderings across the seas are recreated by Guyon in The Faerie Queene as he journeys to the Bower of Bliss in Canto XII. Guyon must navigate his boat between a “dark and terrible” whirlpool (II.XII) and a “perilous rock” (II.XII), both of which have claimed the lives of many brave men. These dangers clearly allude to Odysseus's struggle to overtake Scylla and Charybdis in the Odyssey. However, while Odysseus escapes partly by using his wits but partly by being willing to sacrifice some of his men, Guyon survives thanks to his faith and strength. The "many sirens who haunt by making false melodies" (II.XII) are Homer's sirens under anothername, and Acrasia, who turns men into beasts when she tires of them, is clearly modeled on Circe and her fondness for pigs. The Palmer helps Guyon to keep faith in the face of danger, “advising him not to fear anything” (II.XII) and therefore to escape unscathed. There is also the sense that each of Spenser’s knights is engaged in an internal quest; they must travel until they become the embodiment of holiness or temperance. Both knights occasionally fail, but by the end of their stories, after visits to the House of Pride, the House of Holiness, and Alma Castle, they achieve their emotional and physical goals. Other features of the epic can be found in medieval novels, for example. duels and battles are an integral part of both genres. Just as Gawain must receive the ax blow given to him by the Green Knight, so Red Cross must fight the dragon, after having defeated Sansloy, Sansjoy and Sanfoy and Guyon must fight Pyrcohles and Cymochles. It is especially important that Guyon only uses violence when necessary because he is the Knight of Temperance, which naturally means he must be moderate, and especially near the beginning of his story, he needs the Palmer to keep him moderate and “temper his passion with slow deliberation.” "This does not mean that Guyon is not courageous and will not fight when necessary, but he must let himself be guided by necessity and not by his own emotions. We could thus say that his character is modeled on that of Aeneas both men are to be governed by moderation, known as temperance for Guyon and moderation for Aeneas Although they are presented as quite similar, the difference again lies in Spenser's allegorical purpose. , who shapes everything he writes, Aeneas must temper his own emotions by remembering his ultimate goal, his fatum, while Guyon, the central character of a fundamentally Christian storyline, is guided by the Palmer's fury. a character trait in the Aeneid, something to be fought and conquered, while in The Faerie Queene, Furor is personified, a physical specimen for Guyon to defeat. Again, the Palmer stops Guyon from recklessly killing Furor, showing. that by following the commandments and living a Christian life, one can and should overcome all sinful emotions. The Palmer also advises Phaon, the young man Furor torments, because he gave in to Furor and killed his love. Phaon's love story is a typical medieval romance about young love that crosses social boundaries. The fact that he worships his lady and places her on a metaphorical pedestal is very typical of medieval romances. Phaon's desire for revenge and his "piling crime upon crime and sorrow upon sorrow" (II.IV) when he kills his love and friend goes against the biblical teaching of turning the other cheek and is therefore condemned by Palmer and by Guyon. The unsubtle implications are that Phaon deserved to be captured by Furor because he succumbed to jealous rage, but he also deserved to be saved, after a period of penance, because he repents of his crimes. Harry Berger notes in his article “Archimago: Between Text and Countertext” that “the spiritual dangers of losing faith are dramatized primarily as sexual dangers” (p. 22). This is the case of the fall of Red Cross in the house of pride caused by the false Duessa, which stops his quest and weakens him physically and spiritually. He needs to be rescued by Arthur, who represents the grace of God, and he needs Una, who represents the truth and the one true church, to show him the way. Without Una, his faith has nomeaning and he is impotent, she is not a sexual temptation due to her part in the allegory. The idea that women are dangerous and likely to disrupt the hero's quest is once again one that we find in the epic, most notably in the Aeneid. All of the women in the Aeneid, except the rather annoying Lavinia, are possessed by fury and go mad with alarming frequency when their attempts to prevent Aeneas' progress fail. The same goes for Bertilak's lady in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: she tries to persuade him to go against the chivalric code and his own devotion to the Virgin Mary by seducing him, but, as for Spenser's knights, his faith and his virtue ultimately carry him to the end. This is not to say that Spenser's characters don't make mistakes; On the contrary, Red Cross and Guyon are in trouble and must be rescued by Arthur. This allows Spenser to re-emphasize the importance of faith; more importantly, it fits his goal of creating a virtuous gentleman. If his characters didn't make mistakes, there would be no lessons to learn and nothing for his readers to learn from. The same goes for Gawain; although the Green Knight forgives him, and even congratulates him, for his transgression in keeping the lady's belt hidden, he himself is consumed by guilt. This says something important about the value of conscience, and would fit very well into Spenser's scheme if he had chosen to retell this story. Here, epic traditions have been distorted to suit Spenser, epic heroes are generally presented as infallible. The mistakes they make occur mainly through the fault of others or when they are weakened. Spenser therefore cannot present a fully formed virtuous knight because of his intention to instruct. Spenser's debt to the classical epics is clear throughout his poem, but is perhaps best illustrated in linguistic terms by the opening of the poem. He begins his poem by invoking his "Muse", in the same way as Milton's "heavy muse", despite both poets' obvious adherence to Christian mythology rather than classical mythology. This is an epic process also used by Virgil (“Tell me, O Muse”) and Homer (“Sing, goddess” and “Sing in me, Muse”), and it immediately connects Spenser to these great classics , hoping to put his work at the same level of importance. This implies that Spenser's story is not only his own invention but also a story told through him by a divine power. Although he invokes the Muse, it is clear that, as with Milton, Spenser is suggesting that this is God's story to be told. The influence of classical epics can be seen in other works that are ostensibly medieval romances: for example, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight begins by referring to the siege of Troy. Linguistic similarities are also visible between The Fairy Queen and the classical epics. Spenser employs both simple similes such as "shone like silver on the trembling wave", as well as much more complex similes; for example Braggadocio hiding in a bush is described thus: ... like a fearful bird, which for a long time in a secret cave for fear of hovering hawks, hid, without caring how, its foolish life to save, it painted its gay feathers disorderly; seeing herself at last freed from danger, takes a look and soon renews her native pride; she proudly peels off her disfigured feathers to trim them. (II.IV) Characters newly introduced to the reader are often given their father's name as well as their own, throughexample Phaon “from the famous Coradin”. These surnames are constantly used in classical epic and are used here to give some gravitas to Spenser's poem. Canto X of Book II is a long "chronicle of the British kings", showing Spenser's use of cataloging, another epic device. The other linguistic feature of the epic which has not yet been examined in Spenser's poem is the implementation of prolepsis, analysis and stories in Spenser's poem. with stories. Spenser uses a prolepsis in Canto V, when Red Cross learns that in the future he will "call Saint George to be... a sign of victory" (IX). This is very close to Virgil's use of the same tool. Aeneas is told that he will found Rome which will later become the Roman Empire. The same process is used by Milton; While Adam worries about his fall and having to leave Eden, the archangel Michael tells him about his “future” and the life of his descendants up to the time of Jesus. This is used by Spenser perhaps to reiterate what a good Christian Red Cross is, but also to give "truth" to the myth of Saint George and the dragon. Arthur recounts how he was raised an orphan and taught by Merlin, showing both the use of analysis and a distinct story in the poem. Phaon's mini-romance in Canto IV is another example of both a character recounting past events and a new story tying into the whole story of Redcross and Una. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is not a traditional medieval romance, because although it contains a Christian message, it also has more traditional features, some of which Spenser parallels. The fact that both poems are fundamentally Arthurian legends places them firmly in the sphere of novels, however, they both use Arthur and other knights to explore Christian behavior. Gawain is a knight of the Virgin Mary, the only knight fit to wear the pentangle as a symbol, famous (in England) for his chastity. Similarly, Red Cross has the red cross on his shield, and Guyon has an image of Gloriana on the back of his shield, much like Gawain's portrait of the Virgin Mary. Arthur's shield is different because it serves both a literal and metaphorical purpose: as a normal knight, his shield is his defense and its brilliance can literally dazzle his enemies, Arthur, as an allegorical Christ-like figure and representation of God's grace, dazzles his enemies with God's truth. Similarly, Red Cross's armor serves a mundane purpose in that it protects his body from harm, but it also serves an additional allegorical purpose. The Red Cross armor is full of "old traces of deep wounds", it is battered and covered with dents, representing the soul and the marks of sin that remain. This is what Sir Gawain and the Green Knight lack. Although Gawain's armaments symbolize his virtues, there is less of a sense that his paraphernalia has a deeper religious significance. The importance of the number three is a common theme in medieval romance, and is apparent in both Spenser's work and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The lady tries to seduce Gawain three times, then offers him three gifts. It is in the third test that he fails by accepting his belt because he believes it will save his life. However, in the traditions of medieval romance, briefly separated from Christian morality, he actually does very little harm because he lives by his own chivalrous code. By refusing the lady's gift he would offend her, and by revealing it to his host in accordance with their agreement he would be betraying her trust, which he cannot do. In the same way, Guyon treats the ladies with the, 1997.

Essay / The Great Classical Epics and Medieval Romance Adhere to Christianity gentle ". However, the moralizing tone is softened by the fact that the whole complex allegory passes itself off as a medieval novel, with the added bonus of many features borrowed from the great classical epics. The very beginning of Spenser's letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, cited above, immediately connects his poem directly to Milton's Paradise Lost whose intention is to "justify the ways of God towards men" and indirectly with the Aeneid by Virgil, which was probably commissioned by the Emperor Augustus. and has a similar didactic message. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay This text is most like the Aeneid of all the classic epics, as both are designed to teach the reader and illustrate how to be a good person. . Each knight in The Faerie Queene embodies a Christian virtue: Red Cross represents holiness and Guyon represents temperance. The idea that the central character should sacrifice his personal happiness for the common good is common to both Spenser's poem and Virgil's work. Just as Aeneas must leave Dido and continue his quest to find a site on which to found Rome, so Red Cross must "have his Fairy Queen returned...and Una left to weep" (I.XII) because his task is also incomplete. It is explicitly stated that Medina is the ideal partner for Guyon, but again he must “take leave of this pure Virgin” (II.III) in order to continue his mission of destroying the arbor of bliss. Here, Spenser borrows heavily from the Aeneid because his goal is very similar to Virgil's: both writers want to illustrate how a moral, faithful, and selfless man acts as an example to others. However, it should not be forgotten that Spenser's entire poem is full of Christian overtones, and his intention, in having his characters put aside their personal happiness to accomplish a task, is also to emphasize again that these men are the personification of one of the great Christian Virtues. It should be noted that in fact, many features that characterize medieval romance are similar to, or even directly copied from, the great epics. The idea of travel, found in all classical epics, with the possible exception of the Iliad, parallels the idea of a knight's quest in medieval romance. Odysseus must return from Troy once the war is over, Aeneas must leave the ashes of Troy to found Rome, Satan travels from Pandaemonium to Eden, Sir Gawain must search for the Green Knight, Redcross must find and fight the dragon. who holds Una's parents captive, then goes on and finds the Fairy Queen and Guyon must find the Bower of Bliss. Odysseus's great wanderings across the seas are recreated by Guyon in The Faerie Queene as he journeys to the Bower of Bliss in Canto XII. Guyon must navigate his boat between a “dark and terrible” whirlpool (II.XII) and a “perilous rock” (II.XII), both of which have claimed the lives of many brave men. These dangers clearly allude to Odysseus's struggle to overtake Scylla and Charybdis in the Odyssey. However, while Odysseus escapes partly by using his wits but partly by being willing to sacrifice some of his men, Guyon survives thanks to his faith and strength. The "many sirens who haunt by making false melodies" (II.XII) are Homer's sirens under anothername, and Acrasia, who turns men into beasts when she tires of them, is clearly modeled on Circe and her fondness for pigs. The Palmer helps Guyon to keep faith in the face of danger, “advising him not to fear anything” (II.XII) and therefore to escape unscathed. There is also the sense that each of Spenser’s knights is engaged in an internal quest; they must travel until they become the embodiment of holiness or temperance. Both knights occasionally fail, but by the end of their stories, after visits to the House of Pride, the House of Holiness, and Alma Castle, they achieve their emotional and physical goals. Other features of the epic can be found in medieval novels, for example. duels and battles are an integral part of both genres. Just as Gawain must receive the ax blow given to him by the Green Knight, so Red Cross must fight the dragon, after having defeated Sansloy, Sansjoy and Sanfoy and Guyon must fight Pyrcohles and Cymochles. It is especially important that Guyon only uses violence when necessary because he is the Knight of Temperance, which naturally means he must be moderate, and especially near the beginning of his story, he needs the Palmer to keep him moderate and “temper his passion with slow deliberation.” "This does not mean that Guyon is not courageous and will not fight when necessary, but he must let himself be guided by necessity and not by his own emotions. We could thus say that his character is modeled on that of Aeneas both men are to be governed by moderation, known as temperance for Guyon and moderation for Aeneas Although they are presented as quite similar, the difference again lies in Spenser's allegorical purpose. , who shapes everything he writes, Aeneas must temper his own emotions by remembering his ultimate goal, his fatum, while Guyon, the central character of a fundamentally Christian storyline, is guided by the Palmer's fury. a character trait in the Aeneid, something to be fought and conquered, while in The Faerie Queene, Furor is personified, a physical specimen for Guyon to defeat. Again, the Palmer stops Guyon from recklessly killing Furor, showing. that by following the commandments and living a Christian life, one can and should overcome all sinful emotions. The Palmer also advises Phaon, the young man Furor torments, because he gave in to Furor and killed his love. Phaon's love story is a typical medieval romance about young love that crosses social boundaries. The fact that he worships his lady and places her on a metaphorical pedestal is very typical of medieval romances. Phaon's desire for revenge and his "piling crime upon crime and sorrow upon sorrow" (II.IV) when he kills his love and friend goes against the biblical teaching of turning the other cheek and is therefore condemned by Palmer and by Guyon. The unsubtle implications are that Phaon deserved to be captured by Furor because he succumbed to jealous rage, but he also deserved to be saved, after a period of penance, because he repents of his crimes. Harry Berger notes in his article “Archimago: Between Text and Countertext” that “the spiritual dangers of losing faith are dramatized primarily as sexual dangers” (p. 22). This is the case of the fall of Red Cross in the house of pride caused by the false Duessa, which stops his quest and weakens him physically and spiritually. He needs to be rescued by Arthur, who represents the grace of God, and he needs Una, who represents the truth and the one true church, to show him the way. Without Una, his faith has nomeaning and he is impotent, she is not a sexual temptation due to her part in the allegory. The idea that women are dangerous and likely to disrupt the hero's quest is once again one that we find in the epic, most notably in the Aeneid. All of the women in the Aeneid, except the rather annoying Lavinia, are possessed by fury and go mad with alarming frequency when their attempts to prevent Aeneas' progress fail. The same goes for Bertilak's lady in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: she tries to persuade him to go against the chivalric code and his own devotion to the Virgin Mary by seducing him, but, as for Spenser's knights, his faith and his virtue ultimately carry him to the end. This is not to say that Spenser's characters don't make mistakes; On the contrary, Red Cross and Guyon are in trouble and must be rescued by Arthur. This allows Spenser to re-emphasize the importance of faith; more importantly, it fits his goal of creating a virtuous gentleman. If his characters didn't make mistakes, there would be no lessons to learn and nothing for his readers to learn from. The same goes for Gawain; although the Green Knight forgives him, and even congratulates him, for his transgression in keeping the lady's belt hidden, he himself is consumed by guilt. This says something important about the value of conscience, and would fit very well into Spenser's scheme if he had chosen to retell this story. Here, epic traditions have been distorted to suit Spenser, epic heroes are generally presented as infallible. The mistakes they make occur mainly through the fault of others or when they are weakened. Spenser therefore cannot present a fully formed virtuous knight because of his intention to instruct. Spenser's debt to the classical epics is clear throughout his poem, but is perhaps best illustrated in linguistic terms by the opening of the poem. He begins his poem by invoking his "Muse", in the same way as Milton's "heavy muse", despite both poets' obvious adherence to Christian mythology rather than classical mythology. This is an epic process also used by Virgil (“Tell me, O Muse”) and Homer (“Sing, goddess” and “Sing in me, Muse”), and it immediately connects Spenser to these great classics , hoping to put his work at the same level of importance. This implies that Spenser's story is not only his own invention but also a story told through him by a divine power. Although he invokes the Muse, it is clear that, as with Milton, Spenser is suggesting that this is God's story to be told. The influence of classical epics can be seen in other works that are ostensibly medieval romances: for example, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight begins by referring to the siege of Troy. Linguistic similarities are also visible between The Fairy Queen and the classical epics. Spenser employs both simple similes such as "shone like silver on the trembling wave", as well as much more complex similes; for example Braggadocio hiding in a bush is described thus: ... like a fearful bird, which for a long time in a secret cave for fear of hovering hawks, hid, without caring how, its foolish life to save, it painted its gay feathers disorderly; seeing herself at last freed from danger, takes a look and soon renews her native pride; she proudly peels off her disfigured feathers to trim them. (II.IV) Characters newly introduced to the reader are often given their father's name as well as their own, throughexample Phaon “from the famous Coradin”. These surnames are constantly used in classical epic and are used here to give some gravitas to Spenser's poem. Canto X of Book II is a long "chronicle of the British kings", showing Spenser's use of cataloging, another epic device. The other linguistic feature of the epic which has not yet been examined in Spenser's poem is the implementation of prolepsis, analysis and stories in Spenser's poem. with stories. Spenser uses a prolepsis in Canto V, when Red Cross learns that in the future he will "call Saint George to be... a sign of victory" (IX). This is very close to Virgil's use of the same tool. Aeneas is told that he will found Rome which will later become the Roman Empire. The same process is used by Milton; While Adam worries about his fall and having to leave Eden, the archangel Michael tells him about his “future” and the life of his descendants up to the time of Jesus. This is used by Spenser perhaps to reiterate what a good Christian Red Cross is, but also to give "truth" to the myth of Saint George and the dragon. Arthur recounts how he was raised an orphan and taught by Merlin, showing both the use of analysis and a distinct story in the poem. Phaon's mini-romance in Canto IV is another example of both a character recounting past events and a new story tying into the whole story of Redcross and Una. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is not a traditional medieval romance, because although it contains a Christian message, it also has more traditional features, some of which Spenser parallels. The fact that both poems are fundamentally Arthurian legends places them firmly in the sphere of novels, however, they both use Arthur and other knights to explore Christian behavior. Gawain is a knight of the Virgin Mary, the only knight fit to wear the pentangle as a symbol, famous (in England) for his chastity. Similarly, Red Cross has the red cross on his shield, and Guyon has an image of Gloriana on the back of his shield, much like Gawain's portrait of the Virgin Mary. Arthur's shield is different because it serves both a literal and metaphorical purpose: as a normal knight, his shield is his defense and its brilliance can literally dazzle his enemies, Arthur, as an allegorical Christ-like figure and representation of God's grace, dazzles his enemies with God's truth. Similarly, Red Cross's armor serves a mundane purpose in that it protects his body from harm, but it also serves an additional allegorical purpose. The Red Cross armor is full of "old traces of deep wounds", it is battered and covered with dents, representing the soul and the marks of sin that remain. This is what Sir Gawain and the Green Knight lack. Although Gawain's armaments symbolize his virtues, there is less of a sense that his paraphernalia has a deeper religious significance. The importance of the number three is a common theme in medieval romance, and is apparent in both Spenser's work and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The lady tries to seduce Gawain three times, then offers him three gifts. It is in the third test that he fails by accepting his belt because he believes it will save his life. However, in the traditions of medieval romance, briefly separated from Christian morality, he actually does very little harm because he lives by his own chivalrous code. By refusing the lady's gift he would offend her, and by revealing it to his host in accordance with their agreement he would be betraying her trust, which he cannot do. In the same way, Guyon treats the ladies with the, 1997.

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