Summary
Sansloy, having captured Una, now means to have his
lustful way with her; she cries out for help. Fortunately,
the forest they are in has many woodgods--Faunes and
Satyres, creatures half-human and half-animal--which come
to her aid when they hear her cries. Sansloy flees,
terrified at the sight of the beasts, who bow down before
Una as if she were a goddess. Soon, a knight comes by--
Satyrane, born of a satyr and a human. He pledges to
protect Una and goes with her as she continues her journey
to find Redcrosse. On their way, they come across an
old man, who claims to have seen the Redcrosse knight
killed that day, by a pagan knight. Una is filled with
grief; Satyrane, eager for revenge, asks where the pagan is
now. The old man leads them to him--it is Sansloy, who did
not, in fact, kill Redcrosse but defeated Archimago
disguised as the hero. Nevertheless, the pagan and
Satyrane draw swords and fight; after many hours there is
still no victor, and Una slips away in fear while they do
battle.
Meanwhile, the Redcrosse knight rests on the side of the
road; he has not recovered from his battle with Sansjoy.
Duessa had followed him and found him lying by a stream; he
welcomes her company, not having learned his lesson. As
they talk, a monstrous giant, Orgoglio, comes upon them.
Only the pleas of Duessa keep the giant from killing
Redcrosse; instead, he takes Duessa as his lover and throws
the knight in the dungeon of his castle. The dwarf,
however, manages to escape and, going back along the road,
meets Una. Hearing the dreadful news of Redcrosse's
capture, she faints twice but at last recovers. The dwarf
then tells her how the deceit of Archimago first led
Redcrosse away. Una "up arose, resolving him to find /
Alive or dead: and forward forth doth pas, / All as the
Dwarfe the way to her assynd [showed] (I.vii.28)." On the
way to the giant's castle, she meets a good knight, arrayed
in marvelous armor: His shield is pure diamond and gleams
in the sunlight. This is King Arthur, traveling with
his squire, and he asks Una to say what grieves her.
She pours out her whole story: She is the daughter of a
king and queen, who are held captive by a fierce dragon.
Gloriana, the Faerie Queene, sent Redcrosse to kill the
dragon and free her parents, but that brave knight now lies
captive to a giant. Arthur swears to free Redcrosse and
goes with them to the gate of the giant's castle. There,
he blows his great horn, summoning out Orgoglio; Duessa
follows, riding on a seven-headed beast. The giant
attacks, and misses with his first blow; Arthur then hacks
off his arm. Meanwhile, the squire tries to hold off the
seven-headed beast, but he is drugged by Duessa and nearly
killed. Arthur, furious, cuts off one of the heads of the
beast. But Orgoglio knocks him down from behind and would
have killed him had not Arthur unveiled his shield, which
blinded both beast and giant. Now the knight brings the
giant to the ground and chops off his head. Seeing Arthur
victorious, Una runs into the castle and finds the dungeon
where her knight lies. Redcrosse has been weakened almost
unto death, and he must be helped out by Una and Arthur.
Once outside, they take Duessa and strip her, so that
Redcrosse can see that she is truly a witch. Then, they
leave her to flee into the woods as they rest in the
castle, victorious.
Commentary
The woodgods, although they live in the forest, watch over
nature, and are instinctively kind to Una, are not
representative of "pure" nature like the Lion was. Because
they are creatures of Greek and Roman mythology, and
because they worship Una like an idol, they represent the
primitive, idolatrous beliefs of the ancients. They bow
down to Una but do not realize the Christian truth that she
represents, and this is Spenser's dismissal of the gods of
the Greeks and Romans. Satyrane, because he is only part
woodgod, still has the goodness of nature and can help Una.
However, because he does not represent anything Christian
he cannot defeat Sansloy; Spenser repeatedly maintains that
nature's best cannot perform the deeds that a Christian
warrior must accomplish. These deeds must be performed by
Redcrosse, who has been weakened by his visit to the House
of Pride. Although he had the instinctive good sense to
flee from that castle (his conscience at work), he still
does not recognize the falseness of Duessa. This failure
leads him near to death in the dungeon of Orgoglio. The
giant represents godless pride, which can overcome the weak
Christian who is still separated from Truth.
Arthur then becomes identifiable as a Christ figure,
because he helps Redcrosse rise up from his lowest state.
The allegory is not that simple, however; later, Redcrosse
himself will be likened to Christ, and Arthur has more
diverse meanings within The Faerie Queene. On the
first level, he is the hero of the whole poem; Spenser
intended to have him appear briefly in each book, usually
to save the day when things look hopeless. Beyond that,
the character of King Arthur had deep significance for a
16th-century English audience. Arthurian legend was well
developed by Spenser's time and had turned a semi-historical
fifth-century king into a timeless hero. Arthur
represents Britain's golden age. Spenser suggests that
this age could, in a way, return to England in his time--by
championing religion, instead of damsels in distress. This
connection will be strengthened later in the book when the
poet suggests a connection between Arthur and Queen
Elizabeth.
The return of the Catholic Church as the main enemy of this
Book is also emphasized in the battle outside Orgoglio's
caste. Duessa rides out on a very strange beast, in a
scene that, more than any other passage, is a direct
parallel to the Book of Revelation. That book, which is
supposed to be a prediction of the future of Christianity
in the world, reads: "And I saw a woman sitting upon a
scarlet-colored beast...having seven heads and ten horns.
And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and
covered with gold...having in her hand a golden cup full of
abominations (Rev.17.3-4)." The woman in the Biblical
passage is known as the whore of Babylon, and Protestants
traditionally associate her with the Catholic Church. Her
"golden cup" pours out the filth that temporarily overcomes
the squire. Thus, the battle outside the giant's castle
firmly associates Duessa with the Roman Church. And yet,
she is not the greatest evil in the poem; Una finally
reveals Redcrosse's ultimate goal: to free her parents from
the giant dragon. This beast represents all evil--the evil
that Spenser claimed was in the Catholic Church and all
other forms.
