Canto 7
“Vntill Duessa loud to him gan crye;
O great Orgoglio, greatest vnder skye,
O hold thy mortall hand for Ladies sake,
Hold for my sake, and do him not to dye,
But vanquisht thine eternall bondslaue make,
And me thy worthy meed vnto thy Leman take.
15 He hearkned, and did stay from further harmes,
To gayne so goodly guerdon, as she spake:
So willingly she came into his armes,
Who her as willingly to grace did take,
And was possessed of his new found make.
Then vp he tooke the slombred sencelesse corse,
And ere he could out of his swowne awake,
Him to his castle brought with hastie forse,
And in a Dongeon deepe him threw without remorse.
16 From that day forth Duessa was his deare,
And highly honourd in his haughtie eye,
He gaue her gold and purple pall to weare,
And triple crowne set on her head full hye,
And her endowd with royall maiestye:
Then for to make her dreaded more of men,
And peoples harts with awfull terrour tye,
A monstrous beast ybred in filthy fen
He chose, which he had kept long time in darksome den.”
From the Philokalia:
This passage takes place early in canto seven after Duessa has come upon the weakened Knight of Redcrosse. The knight drinks from a spring that weakens his sense of virtue and his physical body. Duessa, who has come from the House of Pride finds him and the two are ““Pourd out in loosnesse on the grassy grownd” (stanza 7). One can assume this means the two engage in some kind of intimacy. As the passage is coming to an end a giant is heard and seen approaching.
The giant is the son of the earth itself and of Aeolus, one of the Greek gods or personifications, of the wind. He is described as physically hideous and threatening, reaching very high into the sky, so heavy the ground groans underneath him, and is armed with a mace made from an oak tree that he ripped from the ground. There are several possible allegories going on here.
Starting with the knight, who we later learn is destined to be St. George, and famously slays a dragon who has taken over and is terrorizing a city. This epic battle does happen to take place later in the story, however first, Spencer chooses to insert what could be read as an allusion to the equally well known story of David and Goliath. Today we consider the story of David slaying Goliath as the victory of the underdog. In the story, David slays Goliath on the battlefield after Saul expresses fear at the single combat duel. By winning the fight despite being the weaker opponent, David declares that there is God in Jerusalem and that by being able to slay Goliath God has shown his hand in support of those who are faithful to Him. Unlike the story of David and Goliath, the Knight of the Redcrosse, already in a very weakened state, is taken captive by the giant. The knight is only taken captive and not killed because Duessa does something rather interesting in offering herself as the giant’s wife, of sorts. While we may recognize Duessa as a character who does not present traditional virtues and can be sneaky and crafty, her behavior encourages fragment 99, which speaks to judging the good or lack of good in an action. Although God is not invoked in this situation, the action does not have a clear leaning, although it serves to preserve the main character, the intention may not be selfless. We can also look at the lines in fragment 70, wherein the reason and direction of loving ones neighbor is instructed. Duessa “loves her neighbor” in her own measure, but the intention is again, unclear.
As a final note: This portion of the story also holds onto Greek myths like that of Polyphemus, a man-eating cyclops who lived in a cave on an island near italy. Notably, Polyphemus was not inherently evil, he was a good shepherd, and his story inspires a deeper look at black and white notions of good and evil. In the subsequent few stanzas the reader is told that Duessa is made dear to the giant. She is given beautiful rich clothing to wear and gives her a fearsome pet. Despite the giant’s intention to kill the knight the modern reader may lean towards him favorably for what he provides.
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