Edmund Spenser's Class-Consciousness in the Squire of Dames' Tale of The Faerie Queene

Abstract

The Squire of Dames' tale is a tale adopted from one of Ludovico Ariosto's indecent novelle, Orlando Furioso, 28. The Squire of Dames' cynical attitude toward women and love undercuts Spenser's idealistic celebration of chastity in Book III of The Faerie Queene. However, the most problematic question in this tale of the Squire is Spenser's choice of a country damsel, instead of a noble lady, as the only chaste woman who refuses the Squire's lewd temptation for the sake of chastity itself. This choice is indeed strange, for Spenser was one of the most conservative Elizabethans who were keenly conscious of the hierarchical structures of society or different qualities of human blood.This paper is to bring to light Spenser's class-consciousness reflected in this tale by examining several points at issue: how Spenser has dealt with his source, why he has chosen a country girl as a model of chastity, and whether she is really a woman of low degree or not. On the whole, it is hard to believe that the country damsel is really of low degree. One should therefore consider that the damsel might have an unidentified noble origin like Pasrorella. And Spenser himself might not have felt the necessity to reveal her secret origin as he does in the case of Pastorella in Book VI, for the Squire of Dames is never equal to Sir Calidore (the Squire is even a man base enough to visit the whorehouse), and he is a man of low quality and degree, who cannot be matched with the gentle chaste country damsel.(Dongguk University)