Previous
Book III: Canto XII
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Faerie Queene, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Virtue, Allegory, and Symbolism
British Identity and Nationalism
Protestantism
Deception and Lies
Love and Friendship
The Role of Women
Summary
Analysis
The narrator reflects on how he’s spent a lot of time recently praising love, perhaps too much time for some readers, but he asserts that true love is where honor and virtue come from—only cold-hearted people don’t realize this. He once again says that he writes in praise of his queen.
One reason why the narrator might be hesitant to spend more time on love is because Queen Elizabeth never married or had a public love life, and too much focus on love could be seen as a criticism of her single status.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
