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THE FAERIE QUEENE PLOT AND ALLEGORY, xiix"
and in the recall of Sir Artegall to the Faerie Court, leaving Irena in
heavinesse, and himself pursued by the revilings of the witches Envy
and Detraction and by the barkings of the Blatant Beast, Spenser
'views with passionate regret the fate meted out to his chosen knight
of Justice l
The sixth book, of Courtesy, has for its hero Sir Calidore He has been
enjoined by the Faerie Queen to bind the Blatant Beast, who, as the
embodiment of Scandal, is the greatest foe to true Courtesy. In his
adventures by the way Sir Cahdore has many an opportunity to prove his
fitness for the task Of knightly courage he has the necessary equipment,
and with ease he vanquishes the merely brutal tyranny of Maleffort and
Crudor, and rescues Pastorella from a band of robbers But the virtue
for which he stands appears less in acts of prowess than in his personal
demeanour
For a man by nothing is so well bewrayd,
As by his manners, (vi 111 i)
and the essence of Courtesy is
to beare themselues aright
To all of each degree, as doth behoue (vi ii i )
Under the insults of Bnana he shows a sweet reasonableness, in his victory
over Crudor he thinks more of his foe's reformation than of his own
triumph, turning his victory to so good account that Bnana is' wondrously
changed ' He encourages young Tristram in the path of knightly honour,
and his relations with Sir Calepme and Serena, with Aladine and Pnscilh,
reveal the true character of a mind that thinks no evil of them, and spares
no pains to save them from the wilful misconstruction of others In the
humbler society of the shepherd world, with its refinement and innocent
pleasures, he finds such delight that he wellnigh forgets his quest The
churlishness of Corydon he overcomes as easily as the violence of Crudor :
in Mehboe and Colin Clout he sees the reflection of his own ideal Among
simple folk he becomes himself simple, and, doffing his armour, wins the
heart of Pastorella, who
Had euer learn'd to loue the lowly things (vi IX 35 )
Prince Arthur performs his part in the book by his subjection of Turpine
and the defeat of Disdain and Scorn, the sworn allies of the Blatant Beast,
and other characters are introduced, in the manner of the third and fourth
books, to throw light upon the main theme The salvage man shows that
courtesy, though reaching its perfection in the refinements of social life,
is a natural instinct and not an acquired virtue ; Timias and Serena
illustrate the harm inflicted by the Blatant Beast on those who too rashl
court its attack, Mirabella the bitter punishment of a scornful
1 A masterly exposition of Book V, to which I am much indebted, will be
E A Greenlaw's Spew** and British Imperialism Modern Philology, Januat