~Faerie Queene~

Is it just me or does Duessa remind anyone of Morgan Le Fay from "Sir Gawain & the Green Knight"? (For those of you who have read about her- If not, she's an evil seductive sorceress who is always concocting malicious plans against her half-brother, King Arthur in Arthurian legend. ) Here's a painting of her to the right---

I see the same idea going on in "The Faerie Queene" as I did in "Sir Gawain" - concealing identities for malevolent deception. Façades and reality are obscured because the story meanders between the two, so one can become easily lost in the narrative. For this blog, I'm just going to note many symbolic characters from the first four cantos:

*The Faerie Queene represents Queen Elizabeth

*Redcrosse the knight symbolizes all that is holy and/or the Christian

*Una's name means truth.

*Duessa is Una's opposite- a sorceress who made me think of Ms. Le Fay

*Archimago- the evil magician

Then I have to mention Error, the beast Redcrosse slays- very symbolic that it vomited books that were Catholic propaganda. Lines 72-78 are revolting:

"Therewith she spewd out of her filthy maw / A floud of poyson horrible and blacke, / Full of great lumpers of flesh and gobbets raw, / Which stunck so vildly, that it forst him slacke / His grasping hold, and from her turne hum backe: / Her vomit full of bookes and papers was, / With loathly frogs and toades, which eyes did lacke"

Spenser "borrowed" from many texts for this work also: the Bible, the great epics, Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" along with Virgil's "Aeneid". Wonder what the next cantos will bring to this story?

Marriage then and now...

This Old English inscription is engraved on the inside of the band with a delicate interlacing pattern around the outside. The inscription says, "YOURS ONLI". * Aww.*

15th CenturyBritish Museum - London, England

After reading the Book of Common Prayer on Matrimony, I wondered why only the woman receives a ring, and not the man, during the ceremony since the doctrine states:

"Then shall they again louse theyr handes, and the man shal geve unto the woman a ring, laying the same upon the booke, with the accustomed dutie to the Priest and Clerke. And the Priest taking the ryng, shal delyver it unto the man, to put it upon the fourth finger of the womans left hand."

Nowhere is a groom's ring mentioned, (did I miss something?) and therefore doesn't adorn a ring so it makes me think that the bride is- somehow- branded or tattooed as his possession for all to see. Not only is the wedding band a symbolic circle of "never-ending love and unity," but let's be realistic to the fact that it's also a way of letting other people know that the ringed person is betrothed to another. It's not like it's worn on a hidden place on the body! Why wouldn't the man have a ring to show his forever and undying love since he's proclaiming,

" With this ring I the wed: with my body I the worship: and with all my worldly goodes, I the endow. In the name of the Father, and of the Sonne, and of the holy Ghost. Amen."

Weddings sure have come a long way since the Book of Common Prayer was written! These days many people choose to write their own vows and use them alone or in addition to the more traditional ones from the BCP. I believe I'd write my own vows. I'm not very conventional and I've always questioned everything when it comes to religion in general. It both fascinates and frightens me.

The two sides of love...

Ahhh yes. I enjoyed comparing the two poems, "The Passionate Shepherd..." by Marlowe and "The Nymph's Reply..." by Ralegh. Marlowe's romantic, lighthearted and passionate poem conjures up imagery from nature to show how he feels:

"We will sit upon the rocks/ seeing shepherds feed their flocks" continuing on with, "I will make thee a bed of roses/ and a thousand fragrant posies."

Sounds just lovely, right? But it's certainly not reality. In the infancy of relationships, everything is perfect, everyone is on their best behavior, people are appreciative, attentive, idealistic, life is beautiful...but eventually complacency sets in. Idealism breeds disillusionment. Darker sides to one's personality show through. That's what makes Sir Walter Ralegh's reply quite a tongue-in-cheek, almost cynical one:

"Time drives the flocks from field to fold/ When rivers rage and rocks grow cold/ Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses, / Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies / Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten / In folly ripe, in reason rotten."

Ooops there goes gravity! Back to reality! (Yes these are Eminem's words. He's a poet too. Ha!)

Ralegh's poem is not all pessimistic, however, for in the last lines he says:

"But could youth last and love still breed, / Had joys no date nor age no need, / Then these delights my mind might move / To live with thee and be thy love."

He is saying that in a perfect world, this achievement of love and great pleasure would prevail and these things would be possible.

So all is not lost. Or is it?

King "Hothead" Henry VIII & his beloved Queen Anne

Tis' sad to read the love letters from King Henry to his second wife, Anne Boleyn, if you know the history that he later had her beheaded. In the letters, which are mainly one-sided because there was only one from Anne, it wasn't difficult to determine what seemed to be going on between the two (at least from his point of view). King Henry's love letters were unapologetically demanding yet affectionate and kind. He even sent her gifts along with his letters at times. However, it is apparent that Anne kept King Henry at an arm's distance and that only made him want her more. I don't know if she was simply uninterested, but felt obliged because he was the king or if she was an ambitious woman who knew to keep her distance until a marriage could be arranged, for if they had children out of wedlock, they would have been illegitimate. (He was already married and that had to be taken care of before they could even be together!) Either way, he seemed obsessed with her because of her indifference to him. I guess it was the "thrill of the hunt" that kept his dogged persistence of pursuing her intact- that is until the actual marriage, for soon after the wedding, Henry was already taking other mistresses and became enraged when Anne couldn't provide a male heir to the throne. As if it were her fault! He seemed a vile and heartless man who thought nothing of killing his wives to be rid of them once they were of no use to him. I hope Anne made the most of it while she still had her head!

Renaissance Men and the Women Who Loved Them...

So what is a "Renaissance Man"? And why were women so limited in their roles of this "rebirth" otherwise known as The Renaissance? Well, he can be described in many ways such as in The Book of the Courtier that says that these men were to be aware of the world around them, yet modest in their interpretation of it. They were to lead the troops, charm the ladies and always have their wits about them- all while remaining calm, cool and collected.
The ladies, on the other hand, were to have their eyes downcast always, expected to be loyal and unquestioning of their husbands, to be modest and chaste... which seems to be the opposite of the women who are remembered from the time of the Renaissance. Perhaps you've heard of some of the following:
Onorata Rodiana
Art blossomed during the Renaissance. Onorata Rodiana, a talented fresco painter, was commissioned by a Marquis to do some extensive work in his palace. Accosted by one of his staff, she stabbed her assailant and then fled. The Marquis eventually called off his hounds, but Onorata had, in the meantime, joined a band of “condottieri”(mercenaries for hire). Onorata soon became leader of her own mercenary band and over the next 30 years she excelled not at painting frescoes, but at banditry and died with a sword in her hand fighting invading Venetians in 1472. Brutal! A mercenary?!
Grace O'Malley
Grace O’Malley was a sea raider and sailed the high seas along the Irish coast harassing the English and stealing from other pirate captains. She gave birth to four children and buried numerous husbands. After one of her sons and her brother were captured and imprisoned, legend has it that she paid a personal visit to Queen Elizabeth to bargain for their release. The Virgin Queen was so impressed by the Pirate Queen’s tenacity and courage that Elizabeth handed over immediate pardons for both Grace’s relatives -- and also gave her a generous retirement pension. Nice. "Sea raider" must be a better name for a pirate.
Charlotte Guillard
Charlotte Guillard inherited Soliel d’Or, a prestigious publishing house, when her husband died prematurely. Soon re-married to a bookseller, she worked tirelessly to expand her business and her quest to make her publishing house the most prestigious in Paris. She hired women as editors and published long lists of humanist histories, references and textbooks. To this day her company is still in business. Sweet. A successful business woman who still influences in our time.
Elizabeth the First
Elizabeth the First is considered by some as the greatest of all the British rulers. By the age of eight she’d already survived considerable turmoil. The church labelled her a bastard and her father, King Henry VIII, ordered the beheading of her mother, Anne Boleyn. She was kept imprisoned in the Tower of London during her half-sister, Mary Tudor’s, short reign. When Elizabeth finally took over the throne at age 25, she quickly proved herself a born ruler. During her 45 year reign England thrived culturally, economically and politically. Elizabeth went on to introduce social welfare and further reform. She died in 1603 without ever marrying or producing an heir. The Queen Bee. Perhaps the most well known of those I've listed here.

I really just wanted to post this information I found on some women that definitely did not fit the mold of what they were supposed to. Maybe that's why the misconception exists that women didn't have a Renaissance. They did. It was just in their own ways.

These biographies were found at this site:
http://www.allsands.com/History/People/womanoftheren_vzp_gn.htm