Jessica Prato

4/26/06

ENGL 204

The Faerie Queene: A Sunday School Lesson from Edmund Spenser

In his epic poem The Faerie Queene, Edmund Spenser uses an abundance of allegory to enhance the already exhilarating plot. Through the allegories of The House of Pride and The House of Holiness, Spenser models the way that a Christian should live his or her life. The fortune that follows Redcrosse’s arrival in The House of Holiness along with the realization he has in The House of Pride demonstrate the repercussions of living a good Christian life versus living against the morals of the religion.

As “false Duessa” and the Redcrosse Knight are on their journey, they begin to travel on “a broad high way” that is “all bare through peoples feet, which thither traveilèd.” The allegory of The House of Pride begins here, for it is this “bravely garnishèd” edifice that is located on such a wide and commonly traveled road. Spenser’s reference here is to Matthew 7.13, where it is stated that “Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction.” Spenser is acknowledging that it is not uncommon for good people like this “faithfull knight” to walk down the path of temptation. It is easy for the knight to be led in; the superficially beautiful Duessa “bad him bend his pace,” and furthermore, the house appears gorgeous. However, the high walls with their “golden foile all over them displaid” are also full of deception and sitting on a weak foundation. Duessa and The House of Pride share a common façade, in which their outer beauty covers their inner faults. Through Duessa’s character and the allegory of the house, Spenser makes it clear that temptation is stunning, but, as the Redcrosse Knight soon finds out, Pride is not one of the attributes that will make his life successful. The epitome of Pride is Lucifera, queen of the palace. Lucifera’s Pride (the greatest sin according to the Christian doctrine) is more clearly expressed through the elaborate display of her couch, on which six of her counselors ride, representing the remaining six of the Seven Deadly Sins. Redcrosse becomes aware of the evil that reeks throughout The House of Pride when his dwarf finds a dungeon in which “huge numbers lay / Of caytive wretched thralls,” such as Nimrod, Alexander the Great, and Romulus, because these men “Fell from high Princes courts, or Ladies bowres” into the sin of Pride. The Redcrosse Knight realizes that he does not want to be overcome with Pride like these men, and leaves when dawn breaks. In the manner of a good Christian struggling against evil, the knight resists the temptation of the worst possible sin by fleeing from “that sad house of Pride.”

The path to The House of Holiness is straighter, narrower, and has much sweeter consequences for the knight than that of the House of Pride. The fact that the path to this house is narrow indicates that less people “seeke the right,” according to Caelia, for “all keepe the broad high way,” also known as The House of Pride. The House of Holiness is a complete contrast to The House of Pride. This house, famous for “pure unspotted life,” holds people who represent virtues instead of those who represent sin. Caelia, the ruler of the house, stands for all things Heavenly, while her three daughters, Fidelia, Speranza, and Charissa, model the qualities of Faith, Hope, and Charity, respectively. Since it is important for a Christian to possess these three assets, as proved in 1 Corinthians 13.13 (“And now abideth faith, hope, charity…”), Spenser has Caelia’s daughters instruct the weary Redcrosse Knight how he can exemplify the virtues. Spenser also intertwines the number seven into the inhabitants of The House of Holiness just as he did for those in The House of Pride. Seven doctors tend to Redcrosse’s wellbeing. Each doctor performs a task that corresponds to Christianity’s seven works of charity, just as each of Lucifera’s counselors corresponded to one of the Seven Deadly Sins. While the counselors demonstrated all the sins a Christian’s life should lack, the doctors demonstrate all the virtues a Christian life should be filled with. Finally, “an aged holy man” named Contemplation leads Redcrosse up a hill with “a little path”- clearly narrow so that only Redcrosse will climb it in order to learn his destiny. By having Contemplation explain to Redcrosse his successful future, Spenser indicates that good will come to those who follow the morals of Christianity, or at least those who repent their sins. Overall, The House of Holiness demonstrates to the reader that, like Redcrosse, should they “seeke this path” they will know “the way that does to heaven bound.”

Thanks to Redcrosse’s visit to The House of Holiness and instruction in the proper ways to be a Christian, he is able to realize the good prospects that wait for him in the future. His stay in the house also prepares him to rescue Una’s parents from the dragon, the task that he set out to achieve in the beginning of The Faerie Queene. Through detailed allegory of the two houses, Spenser teaches that life is meant to be lived in the glory that comes from good deeds and upholding important virtues, as opposed to living a wretched life of sin.