An Analysis of Selected Stanzas From Book II, Canto VII of Spenser’s Faerie Queene 1 :: Faerie Queene

An Analysis of Selected Stanzas From Book II, Canto VII of Spensers Faerie Queene 1 IHer face right wondrous faire did seeme to beeThat her commodious beauties beam great brightness threwThrough the dark shade, that all men might it seeYet was not that same her owne native hew,But molded by art and counterfetted shew,Thereby more lovers unto her to callNathlesse most heavenly faire in deed and vewShe by creation was, till that she did fallThenceforth she desire for help, to cloke her crime withall. Philotime, at first glance, seems an aristocratic Acrasia. Both employ art to improve upon their natural beauty captivate men with their looksin every grit of the word and lounge in luxury and ease. We also see a common insatiability Thereby more lovers unto her to call (my italics), though Philotimes desires never conciliateor at least are never seen to descend into the sexual realm of Acrasias. But here the similarities end. Philotime, like Acrasia, isto coin a wordbedecked wi th seemingness. She sits as in glistering glory and wondrous faire did seem to bee, (my italics). Clearly she is not all as she would seem2 and is making use of ornament to augment her beauty scarce where Acrasia was delivered of only a surface beauty, Spenser, most importantly, brings a decided grandeur to Philotime, by tracing the source of her fairness to creation. Indeed, to further strengthen this allusion, Philotime seems to possess many of the qualities of Eve. Her beauty, though artificially maintained, for it vanished with her Luciferian fall, was nevertheless divinely ordained. Any artificiality we see in Philotime is used to help satisfy a greed and a self-confidence that feeds upon the attention of men. Accordingly, as we have said, her artfulness brings not simply lovers but more lovers. Like Mammon, the god of riches, it is quantity that counts, not quality. Notice, also, that Philotime lives in dim shade. Indeed, dimmer than dim she lives in a cave. The light her looks beam, strangely, unnaturally, throw light not on others, but on herself. Here then is another indication of the unquestionable bureau of Philotime. If we might turn for a moment to Sir Guyon, still standing in the wings, and doubtless still feasting his eyes. We should remember that our noble knight represents no set Temperance, but a universal Temperance, one which addresses all temptationsand not only those of the senses.