An Analysis of Selected Stanzas From Book II, Canto VII of Spenser’s Faerie Queene 1 :: Faerie Queene

An Analysis of Selected Stanzas From Book II, Canto VII of Spensers Faerie Queene 1 IHer face right wondrous faire did give earme to beeThat her huge beauties beam great brightness threwThrough the dusky shade, that all work force might it seeYet was not that same her owne native hew, just now wrought by art and counterfetted shew,T here(predicate)by more lovers unto her to send forNathlesse near heavenly faire in deed and vewShe by creation was, till that she did spendThenceforth she sought for help, to cloke her crime withall. Philotime, at first glance, seems an aristocratic Acrasia. two employ art to improve upon their natural beauty captivate workforce with their looksin every sense of the word and lounge in extravagance and ease. We also see a common insatiability Thereby more lovers unto her to call (my italics), though Philotimes desires never descendor at to the lowest degree are never seen to descend into the sexual realm of Acrasias. But here the similarities end. Philotime, like Acrasia, isto coin a wordbedecked with seemingness. She sits as in sheen glory and wondrous faire did seem to bee, (my italics). Clearly she is not all as she would seem2 and is making use of ornament to augment her beauty precisely where Acrasia was occupy of only a surface beauty, Spenser, most importantly, brings a decided lustre to Philotime, by tracing the source of her fairness to creation. Indeed, to further strengthen this allusion, Philotime seems to possess many of the qualities of Eve. Her beauty, though artificially maintained, for it vanished with her Luciferian fall, was nevertheless divinely ordained. Any artificiality we see in Philotime is used to help satisfy a greed and a vanity that feeds upon the attention of men. Accordingly, as we have said, her artfulness brings not simply lovers but more lovers. Like Mammon, the god of riches, it is quantity that counts, not quality. Notice, also, that Philotime lives in dim shade. Indeed, di mmer than dim she lives in a cave. The promiscuous her looks beam, strangely, unnaturally, throw light not on others, but on herself. Here then is another(prenominal) indication of the unquestionable vanity of Philotime. If we might turn for a endorsement to Sir Guyon, still standing in the wings, and doubtless still feasting his eyes. We should record that our noble knight represents no narrow Temperance, but a prevalent Temperance, one which addresses all temptationsand not only those of the senses.