The Political Allegory in "The Faerie Qiieene" 13 



Earl of Leicester. Among the nobles of Elizabeth's reign, he 

 would be entirely fitted to wear on his shield the countenance of 

 the Maiden Queen as did Guyon, for in 1572 he was the Queen's 

 champion. He was knighted in 1544 when Henry VHI set out 

 for France. Sir Huon, of Bordeaux, may here refer to the 

 French King whom Henry met on this occasion. Sussex was one 

 of the six lords who bore the canopy of Henry VHI at the royal 

 funeral. His character, too, was peculiarly fitted to the part 

 which Guyon plays in the story. He was ever one of the most 

 temperate, level-headed statesmen of Elizabeth's reign, and one 

 who was never except temporarily out of Elizabeth's favor.^* 

 But in order to see how well he fits into the story, we shall have 

 to study the book canto by canto. 



In Canto i we first see Archimago, who has escaped from the 

 prison into which he had been cast by St. George in the last book, 

 and is determined to avenge himself upon that knight, now that 

 Una (True Religion) is beyond his power. He will try " forged 

 treason or open fight," any means that may be presented to his 

 hand. Of course, Archimago now is the Jesuits who had fled 

 from England, and came flocking back from the seminary at 

 Amiens with the purpose of harming England, either by treason- 

 able murder, or by foreign force. Among these the most famous 

 were Allan, Parsons, Sanders, Campion. The readiest means to 

 their hands was the claim of Mary, Queen of Scots, Duessa. 



Archimago now meets Guyon and persuades him to take up 

 the cause of Duessa, under the old name Fidessa, a damsel, he 

 says, who has been foully wronged by St. George. Guyon at first 

 takes up her cause, but as soon as he sees the maligned hero, he 

 changes his mind and the two knights are allied. The allegory is 

 clear. During Mary's reign in England, Sussex had been one of 

 her chief ministers. He had even gone so far as to help to sup- 

 press the Wyatt Rebellion. But when Elizabeth came to the 

 throne, he resigned his deputyship of Ireland and came to offer 

 his free allegiance to the new Queen. His religion, too, apparently 

 gave him little concern, for he gave his uncjualified assent to all 



** For an account of the chief events in the life of the Earl of Sussex, 

 see the Dictionary of National Biography. 



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