What is Spenser's view of women as portrayed in The Faerie Queene?

In many ways, Spenser's view of women as depicted in the epic is ahead of its time. While many of the damsels in distress are vapid and frail, major characters such as Britomart stand out as examples of strong femininity. Britomart's gender serves the purpose of the allegory in making her immune to evil feminine wiles, but Spenser goes further in his depiction of Britomart as a woman equal in beauty and battle-prowess. Only her future husband, Artegall, can master Britomart, and he only achieves a form of equality on the field of battle, not superiority