“The Fairy Queen” is an epic poem written by Edmund Spenser in the 16th century – Renaissance England, but set in the Middle Ages due to its chivalric romance. Besides religious allegories, juxtapositions and contradictions, Spenser mentions the place of gender by giving his reader stereotypes, that is, a set of postulated ideas about the specific type of someone or something , which includes race, ethnicity, religion, culture as well as gender of women of this century. Protagonist and antagonist, Una and Duessa, are the representations of two opposite gender stereotypes in the literary sense in the “Faerie Queene”. The writer focuses on the virgin and the whore by combining the facts and his ideas about Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, which he is actually aiming at, giving examples from the Bible. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay To begin with, the 16th century was the era of discoveries, inventions, explorations and great works of literature. For example, Leonardo da Vinci built a flat water wheel, Peter Henlein invented the pocket watch, Zacharias Janssen – a compound microscope, Galileo Galilei invented the water thermometer, Isabella Cortese wrote a book on alchemical secrets and Thomas More wrote his “Utopia”… In addition, Elizabeth I was one of the most successful women and was treated as “a female monarch in a male world”; However, it was believed that women were affected by their emotions and passions and therefore should have been housekeepers and shown respect, whereas men had a rational way of thinking, which gave them the right to lead a country. (Norton 541) As the examples show, there are rarely women who have contributed to human history in this century. This question is bluntly addressed in the book “Who Am I This Time?” : Portraits of Women in British and American Literature” because “patriarchal society views women primarily as secondary characters in the drama of life. Men change the world and women help them. (Pearson and Pope) The reason almost all are men is that women were generally not allowed to work in fields such as medicine, law or education because they were considered weaker than men. There were certain sociocultural stereotypes that women were expected to obey; therefore, their only duty was, usually, to take care of their family, especially their husbands. These tasks included preparing food for them, cleaning the house, and having enough medical knowledge in case family members fell ill. While men had serious jobs, women in the 1500s were expected to be housewives, laundresses, milliners, dyers, bakers, nannies, servants... On the other hand, those who worked were not only paid less, but also were mistreated from time to time because of their gender. In addition, certain literary stereotypes are attributed to women as well as sociocultural stereotypes. These are used by writers, playwrights and poets to easily touch the lives of the audience, to help them understand and perceive gently, and sometimes to criticize these clichés. Edmund Spenser wrote this allegorical poem to show important virtues and vices by taking advantage of these literary stereotypes. Crudely speaking, women were expected to be either virgins, mothers/wives, spinsters or goddesses/whores in theliterary texts. In Faerie Queene, Spenser focused on two specific stereotypes who were virgin facing Una and whore facing Duessa in order to represent the real-life figures of Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. The main character in Faerie Queene is Una who stereotypes "virgin" in the poem. She is portrayed as the ideal Christian woman, who is actually a woman Spenser wants in his own life. First of all, virginity symbolizes purity and innocence and Una is described as "so pure and innocent as this same lamb, / She was virtuous desire and knowledge" (Book I, Canto I, Stanza 5, Lines 1 and 2). Moreover, his whiteness in his physical appearance is the sign of this purity, which is given in the previous stanza; “A beautiful lady rode alongside him, on a humble donkey whiter now than the snow, yet she was much whiter, but the same was hiding under a vele, this wimple was very low, and above all a black stole which she threw away, like one who cries internally; so she was sad, and sitting heavily on her slow palfrey, she seemed to have hidden worries in her heart, and near her, in line, a white and milky lamb which she carried. (Book I, Canto I, Stanza 4) Her innocence is conveyed through metaphor, which emphasizes the underlying meaning as well as her appearance throughout the stanza. “Snow” embodies purity and rebirth in literature and is usually used with “white” to denote purity, light and innocence. In the second line of this stanza, the speaker says, “whiter now than the snow,” and the next stanza repeats, “she is much whiter.” Snow and white are already synonymous with purity and Una is even more innocent than these images. Moreover, in the last verse, “a lamb white with milk” refers to his chastity; However, here there is an allusion to Christianity due to "lambe" which is one of the titles of Jesus Christ mentioned in the Bible, John 1:29 and John 1:36, which compares it to Jesus just like in the previous stanza, “like this same lambe”. Instead of white, "just" is another word used for her both physically and spiritually. King also calls his daughter that; “Then he called that his daughter was fair, / The fairest One' his only daughter darling, / His only daughter; and his only heir; » (Book I, Canto XII, Stanza 21) Furthermore, the virgin is the one who remains like a girl and who remains intact, ignorant of earthly concerns, which makes her angelic; she never has to acknowledge sexual intercourse. Subsequently, this figure can transform into a mother/wife, or a seductress if she loses her purity and commits fornication as mentioned in Revelation; “And another angel followed, saying, Babylon, that great city is fallen, is fallen, because she has made all nations drink the wine of the wrath of her fornication. » (14:8) Una prefers the first, to become a wife, and she retains her chastity until she marries the Red Cross Knight who also mentions her as a virgin: “To you, oh then,” says the gentle Knight Red Cross, “Next it is to this love of ladies that will be the place, O most beautiful virgin, full of celestial light, whose marvelous faith, surpassing the earthly race, was most firmly fixed in my case the deepest. And you, my Lord, the patron of my life, of this great queen, you can well obtain a worthy grace: for you alone are worthy, by your prowess, of prayer, if a living man is more worthy to be, of 'to be his life' (Book I, Canto IX, Stanza 17) In addition to the phrase "the fairest virgin", the speaker once again emphasizes Una's innocence by saying "heavenly light". The light is also used as a religious allusion, as Una pulls him on the right track asJesus, as mentioned in the Bible; “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. » (John 8:12) She helps Red Cross find the right path, the light, in its journey. Likewise, he says: “You, my Lord, the Patroness of my life”, he sees her as his protector, he cannot be a hero without her and he needs her support. Indeed, these can be seen as a socio-cultural stereotype of women with their literary sense, as women are expected to take care of and help their spouses. Then, in the fourth verse, Red Cross underlines the “terrestrial race”, which refers to the pleasures of the world, to the fact that she is not obsessed with them and to her virginity. Similarly, men from time to time admire and revere the stereotype of the virgin because of her beauty and attempt to seduce her; nevertheless, she cannot be wrong whatever they do since she is the youngest daughter; “Who, after the defeat of the Archimago, took him into a wild forest; And changing the wrathful fire into lustful heat, she thought that she had defiled her with a bestial sin, and made the vassal of her pleasures vile. Yet he first ordered him, by treaty and platters, to persuade this stubborn fort to yield. (Book VI, Canto III, Stanza 3) Conversely, another main character in the Faerie Queene is Duessa who is the stereotype of the whore. She is absolutely the opposite of the virgin Una. Even Spenser calls her a “false Duessa” twenty-two times in the book. Literally, this stereotype is considered a goddess and she allows herself to be captivated by the weakness of men by tempting and seducing them with her beauty and sexuality. On the other hand, Arthur reveals that Duessa is not that charming in reality contrary to what we know when she is captured by him; “So, as she was evil, this witch was repulsed, and stripped of her royal robes, her purple mantle, and her richly displayed ornaments; Didn't spare them to undress her completely. Then, when they had stripped away her fatigue and her appeal, such as she was, their eyes could see her, that her deformed parts frightened them, a loathsome and wrinkled, ill-tempered, old witch, whose dirty and secret good manners do not require disclosure. » (Book I, Canto VIII, Stanza 46) This ugliness of her is the result of her moral and interior deformity. A verse from the Bible also counteracts this circumstance; “And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and gilded with gold and precious stones and pearls, and she had in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.” (Revelation 17:4) What is essential is not her physical appearance but who she is. Therefore, what Aristotle says comes true; “The female is a female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities.” In this quote, quality can replace its morality. So, what Redcross Knight has to do is choose either Una or Duessa, good or bad, virgin or whore… Moreover, Duessa takes advantage of the female power of seduction in order to lure men into a helpless position ; “Then, bowing to his old back, she kissed / … / Hid close; and yet a grace that seems so true” (Book I, Canto V, Stanza 27, lines 1 and 4) Even if she, even herself, affirms her seductresses; “Duessa I, the daughter of deception and shame” (Book I, Canto V, Stanza 26, Line 9), she further describes herself as a “virgin widow” (Book I, Canto II, Stanza 24, Line 8 ) which can never be achieved. She continues to offer herself to people like Orgoglia; “… hold your mortal hand for the ladies’ sake, / … / And take from me your worthy reward to your Leman./25104695>.