Lecture Notes, Tuesday, July 22: Faerie Queene Book 3 Cantos 6-9

22 July 2008
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth

Faerie Queene Book 3 Cantos 6-9

Canto 6
*Belphoebe and Amoret’s birth
* without sin (i.e., sex), 3, 5-7
*a philosophical story of the sun’s powers 8-9
*the intervention of Venus and Diana (aka Phoebe), 27-28
*Venus takes Amoretta back to the garden of Adonis
*Garden of Adonis as neo-Platonic metaphor, 32-38
*Venus and Adonis as form and matter, 43-48
*Amoretta released into the world, 52
*beloved of Scudamore, 53

Canto 7
*Florimell comes to the witch’s hut, 11
*the witch’s son’s reaction, 13; his reaction to her, 15-17
*the hyena of slander, 22
*Florimell escapes in the boat, 27
*her horse is eaten, 28
*Satyrane finds the horse, fights it, and binds it, 30-36
*Encounters the Giant Argante with the Squire of Dames, 37-38
*she rings his bell and captures him, 42
*throws him away, 44 (line 2)
*he talks to the Squire of Dames
*the story of Argante, 47-50
*the Squire of Dames’s challenge, 54-60

Canto 8
*the witch wants to heal her son, who is obsessed with Florimell, 4
*she makes a Florimell of snow, 5-10
*Braggadocchio steals her, 13
*Sir Ferraugh challenges, 16-18
*meanwhile, back on the boat…24-27
*Proteus to the rescue, 30
*he also woos her, 39-41
*Florimell resists, 42
*Satyrane, the Squire of Dames, and Paridell go to Malbecco’s castle

Canto 9
*1-7 intro to Malbecco and Hellenore. Spenser says he’s going to talk about an unworthy woman, but does he Malbecco a share of the blame?
*Britomart fights Paridell for a place in the pig shed, 15-16
*they say they’ll burn down the castle, 17
*Malbecco lets them in, 18
*Britomart gets undressed, 20, 23-25
*Malbecco tries to hide Hellenore, 25-26
*Paridell flirts, 28-29
spilling wine, 30-31
*the history of Troy and the founding of “Troynovant” (London)