# A Letter to Sir Walter Raleigh explained — The Faerie Queene > Chapter companion for The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser. ## What happens Spenser explains his overall intention for The Faerie Queene: to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline through a continued allegory. He outlines his method of using historical fiction, following Homer, Virgil, Ariosto, and Tasso, and describes how Prince Arthur represents Magnificence (the perfection of all virtues). He details the occasion of the first three knights' adventures: the Redcrosse Knight (Holiness), Sir Guyon (Temperance), and Britomart (Chastity). He also clarifies that the Fairy Queen represents glory in general and Queen Elizabeth in particular, with Belphoebe shadowing her virtuous beauty. ## Themes in this chapter ### Allegory and Symbolism Spenser explicitly describes The Faerie Queene as a 'continued allegory, or dark conceit' and explains how characters like Arthur, the Redcrosse Knight, and Belphoebe symbolize virtues and political figures. ### Virtue and Vice The entire work aims to 'fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline,' with each knight embodying a specific virtue (Holiness, Temperance, Chastity). ### Chivalry and Knighthood Spenser uses the history of King Arthur and the adventures of knights to portray the ideal of knighthood and the pursuit of moral excellence. ## Character check-ins ### Prince Arthur Spenser sets forth Magnificence in Arthur, who is perfected in the twelve private moral virtues and seeks the Fairy Queen after a vision. ### Redcrosse Knight The first knight, in whom Spenser expresses Holiness; he undertakes the adventure to rescue Una's parents from a dragon. ### Sir Guyon The second knight, in whom Spenser sets forth Temperance; he undertakes the quest against the enchantress Acrasia. ### Britomart A lady knight in whom Spenser pictures Chastity; she succours Scudamour and rescues Amoret from Busirane. ### Gloriana The Fairy Queen, representing glory in general and Queen Elizabeth in particular; she holds a twelve-day feast that occasions the knights' adventures. ### Belphebe Spenser uses Belphoebe to shadow the virtuous and beautiful lady aspect of Queen Elizabeth, naming her after Cynthia. ### Scudamour The lover of Amoret, who takes on the adventure against Busirane but is unable to perform it until aided by Britomart. ### Amoret A fair lady kept in grievous torment by the enchanter Busirane; she is rescued by Britomart. ## Key lines > The general end therefore of all the book is to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline. The overall purpose of the entire book is to shape a gentleman or noble person through virtuous and noble training. _Spenser states the didactic aim of his allegorical epic._ > In that Fairy Queen I mean glory in my general intention, but in my particular I conceive the most excellent and glorious person of our sovereign the Queen, and her kingdom in Faery Land. By the Fairy Queen I generally intend glory, but specifically I imagine the most excellent and glorious person of our sovereign Queen Elizabeth and her kingdom in Faery Land. _Spenser clarifies the dual allegorical meaning of Gloriana._ > For the method of a poet historical is not such, as of an historiographer. For an historiographer discourseth of affairs orderly as they were done, accounting as well the times as the actions; but a Poet thrusteth into the middest, even where it most concerneth him, and there recoursing to the things forepast, and divining of things to come, maketh a pleasing analysis of all. The method of a historical poet differs from that of a historian. A historian recounts events in order, including times and actions, but a poet plunges into the middle of the story, then refers back to past events and foreshadows future ones, creating a pleasing arrangement of the whole. _Spenser explains his narrative technique of beginning in medias res._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/a-letter-to-sir-walter-raleigh - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_faerie_queene_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters