Spenser's Defence of Elizabeth

Abstract

Edmund Spenser's praise of his sovereign's justice and mercy is clearly indicated at many points in the allegory of his "Legend of Justice," Book v of The Faerie Queene, and thus joins the many other artistic and popular glorifications of Elizabeth that appeared during the last two decades of her reign. It should be noted, however, that much of this glorification was not idle adulation, but was designed to answer specific criticisms of the Queen, to encourage loyalty, and, indeed, to protect the realm from foreign attack. In 1595, when the second three books of The Faerie Queene were published, protestant England was engaged in a continuing battle with Roman Catholicism and Spain. This battle had its propagandistic and theoretical side, and praise of Elizabeth was very important for the issues raised in this controversial literature. It is the thesis of this study that Book V of The Faerie Queene is more closely related to this controversial literature than has been previously recognised.

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