The Faerie Queene, Books Three and FourHackett Publishing Company, 2006 - 496 頁 These paired Arthurian legends suggest that erotic desire and the desire
for companionship undergird national politics. The maiden Britomart,
Queen Elizabeth's fictional ancestor, dons armor to search for a man
whom she has seen in a crystal ball. While on this quest, she seeks to
understand how one can be chaste while pursuing a sexual goal, in love
with a man while passionately attached to a woman, a warrior princess
yet a wife. As Spenser's most sensitively developed character, Britomart
is capable of heroic deeds but also of teenage self-pity. Her
experience is anatomized in the stories of other characters, where
versions of love and friendship include physical gratification, torture,
mutual aid, competition, spiritual ecstasy, self-sacrifice, genial
teasing, jealousy, abduction, wise government, sedition, and the valiant
defense of a pig shed. |