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Characters
Although she never appears in the story, the Fairie Queene, whose name is Gloriana, gives the poem its title and motivates much of its action—characters like the Redcross Knight, Sir Guyon, and Calidore serve her, while the recurring character Prince Arthur spends most of the book searching for her after seeing her in a vision. Gloriana rules judiciously over Faerie Court in faerie land and is admired by everyone who knows her—she is the paragon of a good ruler. Since The Faerie Queene is dedicated at the beginning to Queen Elizabeth (who reigned when Spenser wrote it), it seems clear that the character of the Faerie Queene is meant to be a flattering stand-in for her. More broadly, the Faerie Queene represents a unified and peaceful Protestant nation, which contrasted with the real Britain Spenser lived in, where there was bloody conflict between Protestants and Catholics.
Gloriana (The Faerie Queene) Quotes in The Faerie Queene
The The Faerie Queene quotes below are all either spoken by Gloriana (The Faerie Queene) or refer to Gloriana (The Faerie Queene). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book II: Canto I
Quotes
His carriage was full comely and upright,
His countenance demure and temperate,
But yet so sterne and terrible in sight,
That cheard his friends, and did his foes amate:
He was an Elfin borne of noble state
[…]
Him als accopanyd upon the way
A comely Palmer, clad in blacke attire,
Of ripest years, and haries all hoarie gray
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Book V: Canto I
Quotes
And such was he, of whome I have to tell,
The Champion of true Justice Artegall.
Whom (as ye lately mote remember well)
An hard adventure, which did then befall,
Into redoubted perill forth did call.
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Gloriana (The Faerie Queene) Quotes in The Faerie Queene
The The Faerie Queene quotes below are all either spoken by Gloriana (The Faerie Queene) or refer to Gloriana (The Faerie Queene). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book II: Canto I
Quotes
His carriage was full comely and upright,
His countenance demure and temperate,
But yet so sterne and terrible in sight,
That cheard his friends, and did his foes amate:
He was an Elfin borne of noble state
[…]
Him als accopanyd upon the way
A comely Palmer, clad in blacke attire,
Of ripest years, and haries all hoarie gray
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Book V: Canto I
Quotes
And such was he, of whome I have to tell,
The Champion of true Justice Artegall.
Whom (as ye lately mote remember well)
An hard adventure, which did then befall,
Into redoubted perill forth did call.
