ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -The poem is unfinished: Spenser’s original plan was for 12 books, but we have just seven, the last being incomplete. The first three books were published in 1590 and the second three in 1596.

Detailed explanation-2: -Each 12-canto book describes the challenges faced by one of the knights dispatched by the Faerie Queene (Elizabeth I) during her 12-day festival, and Book One is the story of the Redcrosse knight, representing holiness and England (he will in fact turn out to be St George).

Detailed explanation-3: -The knights serve the Faerie Queene, who represents Glory and Queen Elizabeth I. The first installment of the poem (Books I–III) was published in 1590; the second (Books IV–VI), in 1596. The first folio edition appeared in 1609.

Detailed explanation-4: -One of the most brilliant aspects of The Faerie Queene also makes this work inaccessible to most modern readers. For approximately 35, 000 lines, Spenser writes in verse (tight poetic form).

Detailed explanation-5: -Accompanied by a holy Palmer in place of a squire, Guyon struggles to subdue himself as well as his enemies. His adventures lead up to a climactic encounter with the arch-temptress Acrasia in her Bower of Bliss, which provides the occasion for some of Spenser’s most sensuous verse.