Faerie queene book iii
In The Faerie Queene Book III, instead of inspiring himself from the classical literature like Ovid, Spenser took his inspiration from the Italian Romantic Epic with authors like Ariosto or Tosso, which were more interested in the subject of love stories. The Fearie Queene Book III is more a collection of episodes than a continuous plot, therefore it contains many love stories which are glorified or condemned by the narrator. So, we are going to see the representation of true love and true chastity, then chastity in women lacking other qualities and finally lust and other perversions of physical love.
The hero of the Book III, is Britomart who is chastity. She embodies chastity which is not only to be reluctant to lust but more like a many-sided virtue that leads to true Christianity. When we learn about Britomart’s circumstances when she fell in love with Arthegal, we can see that she tried to resist to her feelings, as her nurse says in Canto 2, stanza 40, lines 2 to 4:” Or why make ye such Monster of your minde?/Of much more uncouth thing I was affrayd;/Of filthy lust, contrary unto kinde:”. She probably saw that such a strong feeling could be a threat to her chastity but she managed to make the transition towards love within chastity. Her only weakness is her love for Arthegal as it is depicted as a wound, which is widened when Redcrosse praises his virtues and qualities. She is also wounded by “Gardante” because she had fallen in love with Arthegal at first sight. We can also see that Britomart is innocent and compassionate when she meets Malecasta. It is because of her innocence that she cannot see Malecasta’s vice and because of her compassion for Malecasta’s suffering because of unrequited love, Canto 1, stanza 53, lines 7 to 9:”But the chaste damzell, that had never priefe/ Of such malengine and fine forgerye,/ Did easely believe her strong extremitye.” As she embodies