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THE FAERIE QUEENE KINDS ' OF ALLEGORY jut
But to many readers all allegory is distasteful. Spenser was led to
adopt it, they believe, partly by the force of mediaeval tradition, and
Belphoebe incident (in v) hints at Ralegh's worship of Elizabeth It has been
interpreted by Greenlaw, however, as reflecting Leicester's hope to become her
husband In Book IV (vII, vIII) Timias's conduct whilst in disgrace with Belphoebe
for paying attention to Amoret is no exaggeration of Ralegh's behaviour when sent
to the Tower as a punishment for his liaison with the daughter of Lord Throgmorton,
who afterwards became his wife Book V The giant with the scales (v u 30) =
the spirit of communism It is aimed, perhaps, at the philosophical conceptions,
such as More's in Utopta, but more probably at the excesses of the Anabaptists,
who preached absolute equality and community of goods, and were notorious for the
part they played in the Peasants' War in S Germany (1525), and again for their
occupation of Munster (1532-5) (vide Nashe, Unfortunate Traveller) Pollente
with his trapfalls (v vi) may be Charles IX, who instituted the treacherous
missacre of Protestants on St Bartholomew's Day Guizor, his groom of evil
guise, would be the Duke of Guise, the head of the Papal party in France The
account of the Soldan's fight with Arthur (v vm) may reoresent the Armada
encountering the English force, the story of Samient referring to Philip's attempts
to undermine Elizabeth's power in Ireland In v IX, the trial of Duessa by Mercilla =
trial of Mary Queen of Scots Arthur's momentary softening towards Duessa suggests
Leicester's temporary inclination to the party of Mary Blandamour and Pandell
are Northumberland ' the hotspur youth', and Westmorland, both implicated in
the rising of the North (1569) The ' sage old sire' is Burghley Arthur's enterpnze
for Beige (v x, xi) == Leicester's campaign in the Netherlands The seventeen sons
of Beige = the seventeen provinces, the two springals (v x 6) sent to Merciila
are the ambassadors to the English court, the Marquess of Hauree and Adolph
Metkerk Geryoneo is the King of Spain, the dreadful monster that he sets up (v x 13)
is the Inquisition, and his Seneschal is the Duke of Alva, Regent of the Netherlands
Burbon is Henry IV, King of France, Flourdehs the genius of France, Burbon's
flinging away of his shield signifies his renunciation of Protestantism, Artegall's
rebuke on his temporizing is aimed in a secondary sense at the consistent policy of
Burghley In Book VI, Sir Cahliore = Sidney, Meliboeus, Sir Francis Walsingham,
and Pastorella,his daughter, Lady Sidney, afterwards Countess of Essex (Upton and
Craik) Possibly Belgard Castle = Belvoir Castle, and Sir Bellamour the Earl of
Rutland (vi xii) The Prince of Picteland (vi xll 4) to whom he wished to marry
his daughter-= King of Scotland (Upton) Mr P W Long (Englische Studten, 1910)
argues that Calidore is Essex, but though certain touches in the character may have
been suggested by Essex, its general conception fits far better with Sidney Among
other corroborative details it is worth noting, as Mr J C Smith points out to me,
that Sir Calidore is distinguished from the other faery knights by the emphasis
laid upon his prowess as a runner and a wrestler Cf F Q vi 1 22, 23, 111 25,
ix 4, 43, 44 , with M H T 744-6 (the character of the brave courtier, universally
accepted to be drawn from Sidney), and with Astrophel, 73 Timias and Serena,
suffering from the bite of the Blatant Beast, refer to the scandal caused by Ralegh's
liaison with his future wife (vi v, vi) Jonson's remark to Drumrnond that by
the Bleating Beast the Puritans were understood is as misleading as most of his
statements about Spenser There can be little doubt that in Canto XII, where the
beast is found despoiling a monastery, Spenser attacks the conoclasm of the extreme
Puritan , but the Blatant Beast stands for a great deal more than mere Iconoclasm
There is no ground for assuming that Spenser ever changed his mind as to the value
of the ideal for which the better Puritans stood It is truer to say that whilst his
ideal remained the same the Puritan party developed in practice tendencies with
which as a poet and thinker he could have no sympathy And this is indeed
suggested by the fact that Sir Calidore, who catches the Blatant Beast at his Icono
clasm, is a portrait of Sidney, the former leader of the Puritan party