(a) Moral Allegory.—The characters all represent various virtues and vices, whose intrigues and warfare against each other symbolize the struggle of the human soul after perfection. The Redcross Knight, for example, personifies the single private virtue of holiness, while Prince Arthur stands for that perfect manhood which combines all the moral qualities; Una represents abstract truth, while Gloriana symbolizes the union of all the virtues in perfect womanhood.
(b) Religious or Spiritual Allegory.—Under this interpretation the Redcross Knight is a personification of Protestant England, or the church militant, while Una represents the true religion of the Reformed Church. On the other hand, Archimago symbolizes the deceptions of the Jesuits and Duessa the false Church of Rome masquerading as true religion.
(c) Personal and Political Allegory.—Here we find a concrete presentation of many of Spenser's chief contemporaries. One of Spenser's prime objects in composing his epic was to please certain powerful persons at court, and above all to win praise and patronage from the vain and flattery loving queen, whom he celebrates as Gloriana. Prince Arthur is a character that similarly pays homage to Lord Leicester. In the Redcross Knight he compliments, no doubt, some gentleman like Sir Philip Sidney or Sir Walter Raleigh, as if he were a second St. George, the patron saint of England, while in Una we may see idealized some fair lady of the court. In Archimago he satirizes the odious King Philip II of Spain, and in false Duessa the fascinating intriguer, Mary Queen of Scots, who was undeserving so hard a blow.
KEY TO THE ALLEGORY IN BOOK I
| Characters | Moral | Religious and Spirtual | Personal and Political |
| Redcross Knight | Holiness | Reformed England | St George |
| Una | Truth | True Religion | |
| Prince Arthur | Magnificence, or Private Virtue | Protestantism, or the Church Militant | Lord Leicester |
| Gloriana | Glory | Spirtual Beauty | Queen Elizabeth |
| Archimago | Hypocrisy | The Jesuits | Phillip II of Spain |
| Duessa | Falsehood | False Religion | Mary Queen of Scots, Church of Rome |
| Orgoglio | Carnal Pride | Antichrist | Pope Sixtus V |
| The Lion | Reason, Natural Honor | Reformation by Force | Henry VIII, Civil Government |
| The Dragon | Sin | The Devil, Satan | Rome and Spain |
| Sir Satyrane | Natural Courage | Law and Order in Ireland | Sir John Perrott |
| The Monster | Avarice | Greed of Romanism | Romish Priesthood |
| Corceca | Blind Devotion, Superstition | Catholic Penance | Irish Nuns |
| Abessa | Flagrant Sin | Immorality | Irish Nuns |
| Kirkrapine | Church Robbery | Religious State of Ireland | Irish Clergy and Laity |
| Sansfoy | Infidelity | ||
| Sansjoy | Joylessness | Pagan Religion | The Sultan and the Saracens |
| Sansloy | Lawlessness | ||
| The Dwarf | Prudence, Common Sense | ||
| Sir Trevisan | Fear | ||
| The Squire | Purity | The Anglican Clergy | |
| The Horn | Truth | The English Bible | |
| Lucifera | Pride, Vanity | Woman of Babylon | Church of Rome |
4. THE SPENSERIAN STANZA.—The Faerie Queene is written in the Spenserian Stanza, a form which the poet himself invented as a suitable vehicle for a long narrative poem. Suggestions for its construction were taken from three Italian metres—the Ottava Rima, the Terza Rima, the Sonnet—and the Ballade stanza. There are eight lines in the iambic pentameter measure (five accents); e.g.—
v -/- | v -/- | v -/- | v -/- | v -/-
a gen | tle knight | was prick | ing on | the plaine
followed by one iambic hexameter, or Alexandrine (six accents); e.g.—
v -/- | v -/- | v -/- | v -/- | v -/- | v -/-
as one | for knight | ly giusts | and fierce | encount | ers fitt