Superficiality and Responsibility: A Close Reading of Book 1, Canto 7 of The Faerie Queene Anonymous College

Canto 7 in Book 1 of The Faerie Queene follows Redcrosse and Duessa after Redcross escapes from the house of Pryde, and it explores the consequences of Redcross’ choice to remove his armor while he heals his battle wounds. The second stanza in Book 1 Canto 7 reveals the complexity of being a knight, and the superficiality of knightly qualities through the stanza’s structure, and its relation to the tone.

The structure in Stanza 2 of Book 1 Canto 7 is split into two sections each containing four lines. It begins with Duessa discovering that Redcross has abandoned her. Nevertheless, Duessa sets out to find him and discovers an armor-free Redcross relaxing by the waterside:

"Who when returning from the drery Night,

She Frowned not in that perilous house of Pryde

Where she had left, the noble Redcrosse knight,

Her hoped pray; she would no lenger byde,

But forth she went, to seeke him far and wide.

Ere long she fownd, whereas he wearie sate,

To rest him selfe, foreby a fountaine syde,

Disarmed all of yron-coted Plate,

And by his side his steed the grassy forage ate." (1.7.2)

The switch between the first half of the stanza to the last four lines invokes a sense of tranquility and recovery in contrast to the darkness in the lines...