Commentary

In book III canto VII stanzas 22-28 of Spenser’s The Faerie Queene Florimell flees from a hyena-like animal. This creature was made by a witch specifically to destroy Florimell. Florimell tries to escape on her Palfrey until it cannot run anymore. She then jumps to safety into a shallop. Although, this seems like a simple storyline there are many interpretations and explanations of this passage. It is my intent to share with you a way of interpreting this passage so that you (the reader) can make your own conclusions as to how Spenser wanted his poem to be read.

Stanza 22
In stanza 22 Florimell spots the beast. This beast is said to have a horrible appearance that could have overwhelmed the most courageous person. This beast has thousands of spots on his back of clever choosing . This beast is said to be faster than all others. Spenser compares it to a hyena that feeds on women’s flesh. It is possible that the hyena in this a representative of lust. If so, there are many directions one can take to understanding this stanza. This would mean that Spenser is referring to lust as a hideous beast. Lust can affect even the most courageous. Lust has many spots or moral stains of his choosing because being lustful is a choice. Lust is fast because it does not take anything into account, but the here and now. The living eye does not detect lust because it is not visible. It would make sense that lust would feed on women’s flesh because women are the symbol of chastity. Women are supposed to deny the advances of lust and wait for love. Consider that the hyena may have been a representation of men in general. How would that change the allegory?

Stanza 26
In stanza 26 Spenser contrasts Florimell and Myrrha. Myrrha was a Adonis’ mother and sister. She snuck into her father’s bedroom repeatedly at night and committed incest with him. When her father Cinyras finds out that it was his daughter who had been coming to his room nightly. She flees and prays to be neither wholly living nor wholly dead. Myrrha is turned into a tree. She gives birth to Adonis while she is a tree. Spenser uses Myrrha as an example of extreme lust. Florimell is compared to Daphne. Daphne is the daughter of Peneus, a sea god. Daphne refused love. She fled from Apollo, who loved her. In contrasting Florimell and Myrrha, Spenser is saying that Florimell does not want to be lustful. In comparing Daphne and Florimell, Spenser is saying that Florimell does not want the love she is being offered. He could also be comparing these two because Daphne fled from Apollo and Florimell is fleeing from this creature.