Faerie Queen LUCIFERA THE WHORE OF BABYLON
... The Faerie Queene, by Edmund Spenser, once elaborated, reaches far beyond quaint tales of heroic and valiant, dragon-slaying knights, fair maidens, dwarves, and satyrs, appealing to a much broader and intellectually-based theme. ... This analogy, follows consistently throughout the Faerie Queene. ... Implied in the opening stanza of the Faerie Queene, by an invocation of a muse, this is an epic poem. ... Similar to Dante’s epic, the Divine Comedy, the Faerie Queene is presented in Cantos with structured stanzas, made up of a consistent rhyming scheme. ... In Book 1, Canto 4, we are introduced to Lucifera, who can be said to represent a number of ideas, contributing to the overall theme. ... Lucifera, herself is a personification of pride which was perceived as the greatest sin, as this is the sin that is attributed to Satan. ... She is not meek and humble as Una, who is excepting of her earthly and mortal position; Lucifera intends to be among Gods. ... Lucifera also represents something more than pride and the Catholic Church. ... By the line, “made her selfe a Queene” we can interpret Lucifera to symbolize Mary, Queen of Scots, who tried to undermine Queen Elizabeth by questioning her lineage and divine right to rule. ... Respectively, keeping consistent with the Mary Queen of Scots analogy, these would be James V, who tried to reassert Scottish independence and Mary of Guise, who also represented Scotland’s past as pro-Catholic and pro-French.