Question: Faerie Queene as a romantic epic- prove.
Introduction
Epic means a narrative poem with a heroic subject matter and a grand style. Edmund Spenser’s (1552-1599) “The Faerie Queen” is considered a romantic epic because of its features. In a romantic epic, we notice some quality by which we can judge any epic whether it is an ordinary epic or a combination of the romantic epic.
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Sympathetic heroine
This is the key point of any romance is the sign of a romantic epic. In the epic, Lady Una is the heroine of that epic is so much sympathetic. When Una’s parents were entrapped by the Dragon, she was going to find a way to rescue her parents. Here, we find the sign of her sympathy. From this point of view, we can say that “ The Faerie Queen is a romance.
A strong hero
This is one of the major elements of a romantic epic. In the epic poem “The Faerie Queen” book(l) the hero is the Knight is strong and he symbolizes the Truth. In their journey, we see that he has successfully fought against the Monster Error and the giant size Dragon. He has gained the testimony of his wisdom. To use his wisdom The Red Cross Knight had saved himself and lady Una from the evil magician Archimago. So, the second quality of any romance is fulfilled by Spenser’s “The Faerie Queen”.
A trustable plot
If we valued the epic The Faerie Queen so we see that the plot of book 1 is a believing story but here Spenser tactfully blended some fancy events like the house of Morpheus (God of sleep) and so on.
A happy ending
A happy ending is the last quality of a romance. In the last moment of the epic, we see that the Red Cross Knight has effectively rescued Una’s parents from the Dragon. They came back to their own kingdom. This epic is filled up it’s all the qualities of a romantic epic.
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Conclusion
In fine, we must be said that The Faerie Queen is designed as a romantic epic with its grand subject matter.
