Summary
Canto iii follows Una, who continues to wander in
search of her companion, the Redcrosse knight.
Stopping to rest under a tree, she is suddenly confronted
by a lion; the beast is about to attack her, but seeing her
gentle beauty and sensing her innocence, he forgets his
rage and instead follows her around as a protector and
companion. Soon, Una comes upon a damsel carrying a pot of
water; terrified at seeing the lion, the girl, who happens
to be deaf and dumb, flees home to her mother, who is
blind. Una follows the girl to her house and asks for a
place to sleep; when the women inside will not open the
door for her, the lion forces it open. During the night,
a church robber, who commonly gives his plunder to Abessa
(the daughter) and Corceca (the mother), stops by with his
latest spoils. But when he enters, the lion attacks and
tears him to pieces. In the morning, Una sets off again.
Riding along, she suddenly thinks she sees her knight on a
nearby hill. It is not actually Redcrosse but
Archimago in disguise; however, Una is fooled and
welcomes back her knight with tears of joy, and they now
journey together. Soon, though, they happen upon the
knight Sansloy, who is eager to avenge the death of his
brother Sansfoy and who also takes Archimago to be Redcrosse.
He charges, knocks down Archimago, and is about to kill him
when the sorcerer's disguise falls off. Seeing that it is
not in fact Redcrosse, Sansloy spares him and takes Una as
his prize, killing the lion, which tries to save her.
Meanwhile, the real Redcrosse has been led by Duessa to
a wonderful palace--the House of Pride. It is beautiful
and lavish, with a wide entrance, but it is built weakly on
a poor foundation. Redcrosse and Duessa are brought in
and marvel at the richness. They are welcomed by the whole
court but especially by Lucifera, the Queen of the
palace. Full of pride, Lucifera shows off for the knight
by calling her couch, which is pulled by six beasts upon
which ride her six counselors. They are: Idleness,
Gluttony, Lechery, Avarice, Envy, and Wrath, their
appearances appropriate to their names. The parade has
just gone by when Sansjoy suddenly arrives, and seeing
Redcrosse, challenges him to a duel to avenge the death of
Sansfoy. Redcrosse is willing, but the Queen demands that
they wait until the next morning.
When dawn breaks, the two knights ride out in front of the
palace, and with the whole court watching, they begin their
fight. They bloody each other, but Redcrosse proves the
stronger--he is about to kill Sansjoy when the latter
suddenly disappears in a black cloud. Redcrosse is then
put to bed to heal his wounds, but Duessa, mourning the
loss of Sansjoy, goes to awaken Night. Together they
recover the body of Sansjoy and descend into Hell itself.
There they find Aesculapius, a physician who was sent to
Hell because he had the skill to bring men back to life, a
power that Jove did not want mortals to enjoy. Duessa and
Night persuade him to try and restore Sansjoy's life.
Meanwhile, Redcrosse's dwarf makes a horrible discovery:
In the dungeons of the palace lie the bodies of thousands
who were overcome by pride and could never leave this
House. To avoid the same fate, Redcrosse realizes he must
leave at once, and with the dwarf, he flees the house as
dawn breaks.
Commentary
The lion, though it has no name, is also part of Spenser's
allegory. As a part of brutish nature, it represents natural law, which
may be violent at times but is sympathetic to Christian truth. According
to Christian theology, natural law makes up part of God's divine law, and
so the Christian is not an adversary of nature but acts in unison with
it--thus, the lion naturally aids Una. However, it is no match for Sansloy
("without the law of god"), who operates outside the domain of divine law.
The natural law, embodied in the lion and closely connected to Christian
Truth, holds no sway over Sansloy. Not subject to the laws of nature or
religion, he is capable of destroying the lion. The lion can, however,
defeat the robber, who violates the natural law by stealing from others.
(This also violates divine law, but Spenser would have held that man's own
natural conscience forbids theft.) The two women who benefit from
Kirkrapine ("church robber") represent monasticism; Abessa's name recalls
"Abbess," the head of an abbey. Monasticism is a feature of the Catholic
Church, and in Spenser's time, monasteries were often accused of taking
donations to the poor for themselves. Abessa's deafness and dumbness, and
Corceca's blindness, display Spenser's belief that monasteries (monks,
friars, and nuns) are ignorant of the needs of the world as they live in
seclusion.
The House of Pride is a collection of ancient and medieval
thought about sin and evil. Christian theology holds that
Pride is the greatest sin, from which all other vices come.
Pride was the sin of Satan, which caused his fall from
Heaven; thus, the Queen of Pride is associated with Lucifer
by her name. The parade of the seven major vices, each
with some prop or costume to indicate their nature (Pride
holds a mirror, for she is vain), was a common feature of
medieval morality plays--Spenser borrows it for this scene
in Canto iv. The Queen, however, is not simply an allegory
for Pride; she also has a political meaning. Spenser
intentionally contrasts her with the true Queen, to whom
the poem is dedicated: Queen Elizabeth. The poet notes
that Lucifera "made her selfe a Queene, and crowned to be,
/ Yet rightfull kingdome she had none at all, / Ne heritage
of native soveraintie / But did usurpe with wrong and
tyrannie / Upon the scepter (I.iv.12)." This is in
contrast to Elizabeth, who held her power lawfully, ruled
with justice and "true religion," and was descended from a
noble race (as Spenser will later establish).
Again, Spenser uses a variety of sources in constructing
his imagery. The House of Pride, the poet writes, "Did
on...weak foundation ever sit: / For on a sandie hill, that
still did flit, / And fall away, it mounted was full hie
(I.iv.5)." This recalls the Gospel of Matthew, in which
Jesus says that those who do not follow His words "shall be
likened to a foolish man who built his house on sand
(Mt.7.26)." The house shall fall, as Redcrosse sees when he
discovers the bodies of those ruined by pride. The details
of the castle, though, such as the surrounding wall covered
by gold foil (outward beauty hiding inner weakness) are
borrowed from Orlando Furioso, by the Italian poet
Arisoto, whom Spenser admired. Finally, in describing the
descent into Hell by Duessa and Night, the poet borrows
from Virgil, who in the Aeneid describes Aeneas'
travel through Hell to meet his father. We must keep in
mind that to a late medieval/early Renaissance audience,
such borrowing from other authors without citation was not
by any means considered plagiarism. In fact, it was taken
to be the sign of a well-educated poet who could command
different sources and integrate different styles. The
medieval style was one of incorporation, not originality,
and this carries on from Dante to Spenser to Milton.
