An interesting thing about the 16th century to me is the amount of religious turmoil there was. Since Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife and the Catholic church would not let him, he started Protestantism in England. His decision placed England in religious uncertainty since, for the first time, the king was the head of the church and state. If the change in religion was not already confusing for the English people, Mary Tudor or “bloody Mary” came to power after Henry and began earning her nickname by killing the Protestants since she was Catholic. This ushered in a new era of religious turmoil mixed with persecution of the people. Eventually Elizabeth came to the throne, however, and made Protestantism acceptable and encouraged once more.
After all of the turmoil and tension which England had undergone, Elizabeth needed to solidify her crown and help stable her kingdom. I was impressed by her confident approach to this since she stated, “I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king”. Since women reigning as queens was relatively uncommon, I think it was brilliant of her to encourage people to look past her “body natural” and instead look at her “body politic”. I believe her encouragement for people to focus on her idea of kingship, instead of on her gender, enabled her to have a broader range of support.
This support carried over into the literature of the time since authors like Edmund Spenser dedicated their works to her. For instance, in Edmund Spenser’s “Faerie Queene”, the Faerie Queene represents Queen Elizabeth. He depicted the Catholic church, on the other hand, as a demonic villain. I think it is ironic how Spenser was openly against the Catholic church in the “Faerie Queene” since the previous queen of England was a staunch Catholic who persecuted Protestants. This again shows how much religious turmoil there was in England at that time.
I like that the “Faerie Queene” is both a moral allegory and a historical allegory since it was relevant to the readers at that time and also enabled them to learn from the characters. An example of the complexity of the allegory is shown through the knights, since their allegorical characteristics are coupled with normal human behaviors. By making characters relatable to the readers, it pulls readers in more and allows them to learn from the character’s mistakes since they are similar to the readers.