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Example research essay topic: Italics Mine Red Cross - 1,069 words

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... Of wondrous worth; vulnerable, as expressed by the delicate description a few drops of liquor pure and this phrase also expresses its simplicity, especially when compared to the previous line which is swollen with Os depicting the splendour of the box. The box is like the covering of the allegory, protective and transparent, its ornamentation embellishing (confirming) rather than detracting from what lies within; it is the necessary container of its precious contents. Ultimately Spenser is trying to create in his epic romance the kind of knight and the kind of reader who will appreciate the precious nature of his allegory's contents, The general end therefore of all the books is to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline. It is quite frustrating therefore, to witness how easily the Knight is taken in by the deceptions of the various characters throughout the poem, where the cause is seen to be his naivety, as expressed in his first encounter with Duessa: Her doubtful words made that redoubled knight Suspect her truth: yet since no untruth he knew Her fawning love with file disdainful knight He would not shend. (1: 53 italics mine) The moral Spenser seems to be advocating here, is that his reader must not be naive, he must treat the important matters discussed seriously, learning from the untruth he encounters to be cautious. The reader, like the Knight, must pursue wisdom, for the allegory is not a naive form.

Discernment is a characteristic that both Knight and reader must seek at all costs and is exemplified by Prince Arthur who when confronted by Ignorance get his nature by his countenance, / And call his wrath with goodly temperance. (8: 34) The Red Cross Knight keeps falling under deception however, until Fidessa in the House of Holiness, that knight so much agate / That she him taught celestial discipline / And opened his dull eyes, that light mote in them shine. (10: 18) Thus understanding comes from a desire for truth, a commitment to knock at the gate of Holiness e in the first place, but also it is a gift of grace that is bestowed upon the Knight. The reader is shown a similar grace in Spenser's statement of intent, which brings light to our dull eyes, and this is another argument for the compatibility of style and content. Spenser informs the reader that he is creating a continued Allegory, or darke conceit, and in his opening letter and throughout the poem he proceeds to explain fairly clearly the relationship between his characters and their symbolic significance. There is no trickery here, he may be using a duplicitous form, but within that, there are clear signposts to enable the reader to discern what is happening. For example Duessa is double in nature, as the embodiment of Deceit; Una is pure and single-minded as Truth, and the narrator lets us know that his namings are trustworthy, for he states in his description of Ignorance, His name Ignore did his nature right are. (8: 31) This may all be very well when the characters appear undisguised, in their true nature, but what about when they are pretending to be someone else? However, even here Spenser does not leave his reader or his Knight without aid, for he uses the mechanics of verse to expose the imposters every time.

The most obvious case is in Canto 12 when Arch imago sends a message to claim Duessa's betrothal (under the name of Fidessa) to the Red Cross Knight. The message may be signed off Fidessa, but the running of the alexandrine into 13 syllables (which occurs nowhere else in the text) highlights a disunity with the rest of the verse. A true Fidessa (name derived from faithful) would have been faithful to the 12 syllables and her transgression of meter singles her out as having no place or claim here. Another, more widely employed technique, is the reversal of word order as a confirmation of deceit. Thus when Fradubio is describing his encounter with Duessa he tells how, Me changed of a knight encountered bee, That had a like faire Lady by his site, Like a faire Lady, but did file Duessa hyde. (2: 35) Then again, in stanzas 44 - 45 the Knight experiences Duessa's guile through reversal of found and fear in the word order: Then turning to his lady, dead with fear her found. 44 Her seeming dead he found with feigned fear, 45 The effect of bridging the stanza heightens her falseness as the 10 syllable line of stanza 45 fails to attain the 12 syllables of its predecessor and the seeming dead becomes an unconvincing imitation that we would expect even the Knight to recognize. The Knight, however, as I have mentioned is naive at the outset and so is undergoing a process of becoming throughout his quest.

Here is where I would like to suggest that the allegory and its multiple meanings, instead of being at odds with a condemnation of moral inconstancy, could actually play a part in what I term the sanctification of the Knight. I propose that the unavoidable duplicity of allegory creates a framework from which the Knight must escape (through his trials) and this is how he is offered the possibility of perfection. As a character who represents holiness and yet is not fully holy (as evidenced by his falling into temptation and despair) he is in a position of constantly striving as he undergoes a process of becoming holy. Caught between opposing forces of flesh and spirit and similarly trapped between at least two levels of allegory, he must attempt to become unified with his self, his imperfect knightly nature driving for the holiness he represents.

Thus his fighting is not only against dragons and Saracens, but the very duplicity of allegory that splits him form himself and the abstract quality of holiness that he functions as. This tension finds expression in the verse form with the extra two syllables at the end of the 9 line stanza straining forward as he tries to attain his goal: Full jolly knight he seemed, and faire did site, As one for knightly gifts and fierce encounters first. (1: 1) And as the first alexandrine leans forward, he begins his quest on the road to becoming a full jolly knight (italics mine) and not only one that see.


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Research essay sample on Italics Mine Red Cross

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