The Faerie Queene
by Edmund Spenser
1. Who is known as the poet's poet? [NU 2016]
Ans: Edmund Spenser is known as the poet’s poet.
2. Why is Edmund Spenser called “the poet of the poets”?
Ans: Edumund Spenser is called “the poet of the poets" because of the very high quality of his poetry and because he enjoyed "the pure artistry of his craft".
3. What stanza and rhyme scheme did Spenser use in writing The Faerie Queene?
Ans: In writing The Faerie Queene, Spenser used Spenserian stanza each of which contains nine lines in total: eight lines in iambic pentameter followed by a single 'alexandrine' line in iambic hexameter. The rhyme scheme of these lines is "ababbcbcc."
4. What do you mean by Spenserean stanza?
Ans: Spenserian stanza is a nine line stanza; eight lines of which is in iambic pentameter followed by a single iambic hexameter line. The rhyme scheme of these lines is "ababbcbcc."
5. What kind of poem is "The Faerie Queene"?
Ans: “The Faerie Queene” is an allegorical romance.
6. What is an allegory? [NU 2012]
Ans: An allegory is a story with several layers of meaning: behind the literal or surface meaning lie one or more secondary meanings of varying degrees.
7. How is ‘The Faerie Queene’ an allegory?
Ans: ‘The Faerie Queene’ is an allegory because the good characters of the book symbolize various virtues, while the bad characters symbolize the corresponding vices. For example- Lady Una stands for Truth, and Dragon for Evil.
8. What is moral allegory?
Ans: Moral allegory refers to such allegory where characters represent virtues and vices and the underlying meaning always has some moral implications.
9. Why is ‘The Faerie Queene’ an epic?
Ans: The Faerie Queene is an epic because it begins in medias res with an invocation to Clio, uses Homeric simile and frequent, long speeches in elevated tone, presents the intervention in human affairs by gods, describes the journey to the underworld etc.
10. What kind of epic is "The Faerie Queene”?
Ans: "The Faerie Queene” is a romantic epic.
11. Write down the epic features of The Faerie Queene.
Ans: The epic features of The Faerie Queene includes it’s beginning in medias res with an invocation to Clio, use of Homeric simile and frequent, long speeches in elevated tone, the intervention in human affairs by gods, description of the journey to the underworld etc.
12. Give an example of romantic epic. [NU 2016]
Ans: The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser is an example of romantic epic.
13. Why is “The Faerie Queene” called a romantic epic?
Ans: “The Farie Queene” is called a romantic epic because it deals with both the epic and the romantic elements like love, war, adventure etc.
14. What is the theme of The Faerie Queene?
Ans: The theme of The Faerie Queene is the heroic deeds of the knights.
15. Whom does the poet invoke in The Faerie Queen?
Ans: In “The Faerie Queen” Spenser invokes to Clio, the Muse of history, for her help in writing his poem. He also appeals to Cupid, Venus and Mars for their patronage in writing the romantic epic.
16. Who is the noble Briton Prince?
Ans: Prince Arthur is the noble Briton Prince.
17. Who is referred to as Briton Prince in ‘The Faerie Queene’?
Ans: Prince Arthur is referred to as Briton Prince in ‘The Faerie Queene’.
18. Who was Queen Gloriana? [NU 2013, 2017]
Ans: Queen Gloriana is an idealized portrait of Queen Elizabeth I. Although she does not appear in the poem, many of the knights set out on their quests from her court, and they often praise her virtue and splendor.
19. Whom does Queen Gloriana represent? [NU 2016]
Ans: Queen Gloriana represents Queen Elizabeth I.
20. Who is the “Great Lady of the greatest Isle?”
Ans: Queen Elizabeth is the "Great Lady of the greatest Isle".
21. Whom has ‘the Queene' assigned the task of rescuing Una's parents? [NU 2014]
Ans: 'The Queene' has assigned the task of rescuing Una's parents to the Red Cross Knight.
22. For what purpose did the Lady appoint the Red Cross knight?
Ans: The Lady appointed the Red Cross knight for the purpose of taking revenge on the infernal Dragon and making the Lady’s parents free from the Dragon.
23. Who is Lady Una? How did Lady Una look?
Ans: Lady Una is the heroine of ‘The Faerie Queene’. Lady Una was whiter than her white donkey.
24. What does Lady Una stand for? [NU 2012]
Ans: Lady Una stands for truth, goodness and wisdom.
25. What does the Red Cross knight stand for?
Ans: The Red Cross Knight stands for the virtue of Holiness and the Reformed Church of England.
26. Who is the Red Cross Knight? What do you mean by Knight?
Ans: Red Cross Knight is the protagonist of The Faerie Queene Book I by Edmund Spenser. Knight means an honorary title given by a monarch or other political leader especially for military service to the monarch or country.
27. Why is the Gentle Knight called "The Red Cross Knight"? [NU 2012, 2015]
Ans: The Gentle Knight is called "The Red Cross Knight" because a blood-red cross was inscribed both on the breastplate of his armor and on his shield.
28. What is the most desired reward of the Red Cross Knight?
Ans: The most desired reward of the Red Cross Knight is to win the favour of the Fairy Queen.
29. What was the purpose of journey of the knight?
Ans: The purpose of journey of the knight was to save the castle of Lady Una’s parents from a dragon.
30. Who accompanies Red Cross Knight and the Lady Una?
Ans: A dwarf accompanies Red Cross Knight and the Lady Una.
31. What does the Dwarf represent in "The Faerie Queene"? [NU 2014]
Ans: In "The Faerie Queene", the Dwarf represents common sense, or common prudence of humble life.
32. Who is "Error"?
Ans: The monster “Error” is one of the evil forces against whom the Red Cross Knight has to fight.
33. What does 'Error' in The Fairy Queen symbolize?
Ans: The Monster Error in The Fairy Queen symbolizes errors committed by human beings in the course of their lives.
34. How did the lady warn the Knight at the entrance of the cave?
Ans: The lady warned the Knight at the entrance of the cave by telling him to be well aware and to use his sword at the time of danger.
35. How did the children of Monster Error look?
Ans: The children of Monster Error looked like little serpents having different shapes. All of them were foul.
36. How did Lady Una attempt to dissuade the Red Cross Knight from entering the Error's den?
Ans. Lady Una attempted to dissuade the Red Cross Knight from entering the Error's den by saying that monster Error was hated by both God and man.
37. How did the Red Cross Knight fall in the tight grip of Error’s tail?
Ans: The Red Cross Knight fell in the tight grip of Error’s tail suddenly at one point in the course of their fighting.
38. What is the Nile? Why is it famous?
Ans: The Nile is the name of an Egyptian river famous for being the longest river in the world.
39. What did the monster Error vomit? [NU 2013]
Ans: The monster Error vomited out black poison, full of lumps of flesh, books, papers, frogs and toads without eyes.
40. What was the colour of Error's blood?
Ans: The colour of Error’s blood was black.
41. How were the children of Error killed?
Ans: The children of Error were killed by over-sucking their mother’s blood that made their belly swell and burst.
42. Who is Archimago? [NU 2012, 2015]
Ans: Archimago is a sorcerer in “The Faerie Queene” by Spenser.
43. What is the meaning of the word 'Archimago'?
Ans: The word Archimago means “arch-image”.
44. What does “Archimago” symbolize?
Ans: “Archimago” symbolizes hypocrisy.
45. What is ‘Ave-Mary’?
Ans: Ave-Mary, meaning ‘Hail Mary’, is a prayer to the Virgin Mary.
46. Where from did Archimago call the spirits?
Ans: Archimago called the spirits from deep darkness.
47. Who is the God of Sleep in 'The Fairy Queen'?
Ans: Morpheus is the God of Sleep in 'The Fairy Queen'.
48. Where was the house of Morpheus situated?
Ans: The house of Morpheus was situated in the underworld where the light of the day could never enter.
49. Who was banished from entering the house of Morpheus?
Ans: Care was banished from entering the house of Morpheus.
50. Who was Hecate?
Ans: Hecate is the queen of witches.
51. Who is 'Pluto's griesly Dame' in The Faerie Queene?
Ans: Proserpina is 'Pluto's griesly Dame' in The Faerie Queene.
52. Who is the protagonist of "The Faerie Queene, Book-1"?
Ans: The Red Cross Knight is the protagonist of "The Faerie Queene, Book-1".
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