Abstract: The moral implication of The Fairy Queen is twofold: one is moral or philosophical implication, and the other is historical or political irony. This paper focuses on its moral implication. A long poem is not a legendary story with an attractive plot, but a dull and trite story, but a milestone of human moral thought full of rich and profound ideological connotations. Many virtues involved and "virtue after virtue" are the complete embodiment of Spencer's "neo-Platonism".
Keywords: moral irony; Virtue; Neoplatonism; Speak or write in simple language
Edmund spenser is the most outstanding poet between Chaucer's era and Shakespeare's era in England, and is known as "the poet's poet". A large number of his poems have had a far-reaching and great influence on later generations. The "Spencer Poetry Festival" he founded is a great contribution to English poetry. His most important work, The Fairy Queen, was written in this form.
The Fairy Queen is an important religious and political epic in the Renaissance, which adopts the form of fable and legend commonly used in the Middle Ages. According to the original plan, the poet will write 12 volumes, each volume describes the adventure of a knight, and each knight represents a virtue. It's a pity that Xianhou only finished six volumes and two chapters. However, this unfinished great epic has shone like a splendid palace, standing at the peak of European literature.
First of all, the double meaning of "fairy queen"
Such a masterpiece looks like an interesting legend and is very popular with young readers. However, this epic obviously has richer connotations and thoughts. Specifically, as a fable, this poem has a specific symbolic significance. Only by understanding the specific symbolic meaning or realistic innuendo of the immortal queen can we really understand this epic.
Generally speaking, the meaning of the fairy queen has two aspects. On the one hand, it is a moral or philosophical implication, on the other hand, it is a historical or political allegory. The first aspect is clear and easy to understand; On the other hand, the second aspect is obscure (this is a feature that literature has been difficult to get rid of since ancient times), but people of insight can get the message. For example, the Queen Fairy symbolizes the ruling Queen Elizabeth: "Tussaud" symbolizes the Roman Catholic Church and the Scottish Catholic Queen Mary; The tyrant "Grando" symbolizes the Spanish Catholic King Philip, and so on.
Moral or philosophical meaning is obviously the poet's main intention. To really understand its true meaning, it is best not to deliberately understand or decipher it. Just like many things are inevitable, such as not asking yourself to fall asleep quickly when sleeping. Such a profound epic is best understood calmly and felt directly like a child full of innocence. In other words, we should get rid of all kinds of prejudices and prejudices in advance. Because during the Renaissance, all the old modes of thinking were gradually destroyed by the new forces. Humans no longer believe in the old shackles and fetters, but nothing new has been established. Spencer formed a new Platonism with the help of Plato, an ancient Greek thinker, who tried his best to pursue love and beauty. He tried to express his reset of human morality through the fairy queen. Therefore, if we want to know Spencer, we must first learn to forget. Forget what you already have, and explore human ideology and morality, even history and politics from scratch.
2. Is "Fairy Queen" straightforward or original?
However, people often complain that this epic is too prosaic and lacks readability elements that can be sung with modern people. This is inevitable. First of all, people in the sixteenth century are very different from people in the twenty-first century. It is not surprising that the thrilling changes for people at that time are likely to be commonplace for modern people. For example, equality between men and women seems to be taken for granted today, but it was out of reach in Spencer's time.
Secondly, the story written by the poet seems to lack obvious stimulation, even a little mechanical, but in fact, long poems are full of change and interest. Guyon (the knight who represents the virtue of "temperance" in the second volume) came to the villa in Accra, a place full of lust and temptation. Then the female knight Brittumat in the second volume came to Busslane Manor. This manor is also a trap of lust. If you write the same story, similar places and similar themes, it is difficult to make the second part not a repetition of the first part. Master Spencer skillfully solved this problem. Because in these two stories, we can hardly find any repetition. Acle Sally's country house is a rich and attractive garden, but of course its taste is not high. There are two naked girls playing in the pool to attract the knight's attention. Acle Sally, the hostess, was lying on the rose bed in transparent underwear, leaning against the young man who had just been captured. However, the manor building in Buxilan is huge and it is difficult to get in and out. Brittumat only stayed there for a few hours. Room after room seems endless. Finally, she found an iron gate, and the girl that the female knight wanted to save was suffering in it. After careful and patient comparison, it is not difficult to find that although the two stories have the same effect, they have no similarity. This is really where the poet's skill is superb.
One more thing, "Virtue Behind Virtue" makes the fairy queen effectively avoid straightforward narration. In the sixth volume, ceremony became the theme (at that time, "ceremony" not only included elegant manners, but also included a kind of spiritual connotation and cultivation, which was closely related to chivalry), including various behaviors that embodied this virtue. In the tenth chapter, we will find that although this virtue is too good, it can't make people "polite" in the true sense. In other words, a single pursuit of a certain spirit or virtue can't reach that realm. This noble character can only be realized when people are given the beauty and joy to dance with them.
For another example, in the fourth volume, we see that "justice" can never really become "justice" unless he goes into the temple of Isis to make up the lessons of "kindness" and "equality". Another example is the Red Cross Knight who struggled with "mistakes" and "arrogance" in the first volume. If he doesn't go to the villa in Kayalia, he can't go to the holy land. This is where the poet's thoughts are profound. No virtue can be absolute or isolated, but must be based on the best "truth, goodness and beauty" in human heart. In fact, the poet not only wants to tell people the importance of various virtues, but also calls for and pursues the best things in the world: beauty and love. Although this poem should be composed of 12 different virtues, all the virtues are expressions of beauty and love. It is not difficult to see that Spencer's "neo-Platonism" originated from the "Platonism" in ancient Greek culture, and creatively developed and exerted it, forming a new moral ideology that adapts to social development.
It can be seen that the Fairy Queen, as the most energetic epic in the poet's life, is by no means a collection of legendary stories with attractive plots, nor is it a trite work lacking passion and connotation. His profound thoughts and long-term vision are enough to guide the future generations.
Third, there are three incomprehensible reasons.
However, why is this long poem difficult for readers to really understand? There are three main reasons. First of all, the narrative technique of the poem is not a realistic and rigorous narrative, but only an important plot is chosen to describe it. Readers can only read some of the most expressive fragments, which is determined by the characteristics of this art form. Compared with novels and plays, this epic is doomed to be difficult to understand.
Secondly, a major feature of The Fairy Queen is its pictorial and symbolic artistic conception. Scenery and objects with clear symbolic significance at that time have long lost their original intention today. For example, why do you ride a goat in the first volume? Modern people (especially readers from non-English-speaking countries) are unknown. In Elizabethan times, goats were regarded as a symbol of lewdness. Another example is the lair of two famous brothels, acle Asia and Busilane. Cupid often appears in Busilane's room, but never visits acle's garden. This is because in Elizabethan times, the symbol of pure sensuality was not Cupid, but his mother Venus.
In addition, our mindset or prejudice prevents us from understanding this poem smoothly. We are very familiar with the meaning of a word, but we can't transfer this meaning to long poems. There is a ridiculous example to prove this problem. If we think that "abstinence" (the theme of book two) means not getting drunk, it is wrong. Because temperance does not contain such restrictions in poetry.
The above three points are the main obstacles that prevent readers from reading The Fairy Queen. As long as we work hard to overcome these three obstacles, the understanding of long poems will not become difficult.
To sum up, the Renaissance epic Fairy Descent is by no means a mediocre work in name only, but a milestone of human thought with rich and profound connotations. The poet tried to change and build a new world through this moral and political epic. It is entirely possible to understand as long as fixed concepts and prejudices are abandoned.