Weakness of the plot of The Faerie Queene

Edmund Spenser writes The Faerie Queene. It is basically an allegory with many symbols in the form of characters. It is a tremendous heroic poem that defines the true merit of Edmund Spenser. The Faerie Queene is also known as an incomplete epic or incomplete English epic poem. He planned to execute his poem in twelve books, but it currently complies with seven books; however, its seventh book is also incomplete. But if we talk about its plot. The plot of The Faerie Queene is Dark, obscure, and faint, which is exceedingly elaborated.

Criticism on The plot of The Faerie Queene:

Moreover, it is stuffed with many incidents and diversions. The Faerie Queene is noticeably weakened in the fifth book. The Book-I of The Faerie Queene starts with the in-progress adventure of Holiness, i.e., Knight. Therefore, only half of the story is finished. For a better understanding, Spenser had to write the preface, which was actually a letter that he wrote to his friend, Sir Walter Raleighdue, due to the obscurity of the plot. The style of The Faerie Queene has a weakness; lack of judgment and diffuses in many places. Since it is an allegorical poem, some characters’ actions do not justify that it is an allegorical poem. The character of Venus, who took a stand for her love which, does not manifest allegory. Likewise, the story of Scudamore and Amoret is nothing to do with allegory. Moreover, Edmund Spenser also places himself in making his own myths, but not mythological tradition, as there is an unfavorable comparison of the temple with the marriage of the Thames and Medway. The Faerie Queene also goes through a series of dualities, and Spenser had to control and keep their balance. There are two centers of The Faerie Queene as he writes for two types of audiences- i.e., middle and courtly class to satisfy both of them. According to Greogory A. Marshall (1973), the complete epic of The Faerie Queene is found in the fourth epic character- i.e., Tillyards. There is a lack of unity in the first V books of The Faerie Queene, and for fulfilling that unity, he wrote VI book.

Moreover, the series of the sonnets also created confusion as there were irregular numbers of sonnets used in the poem. Likewise, the letter which was the preface in the poem was dedicated to noble, Knight, and Valorous, but it seems to address Queen Elizabeth.