The Construction Of English National Identity In Spenser's The Faerie Queene

The Faerie Queene,as a national epic of England,carries Edmund Spenser's political imagination of the English nation.His idea of imperialism and colonialism runs through the whole poem.The adventures of his noble knights are seemingly individual quests for knighthood.Yet taken together,their quests and trials symbolize the quest for English national identity.In the poem,Spenser ingeniously constructs English national identity by knitting things concerning the English church,English history,as well as English territory into the adventuring stories of his noble knights.Therefore,this thesis interprets Spenser's construction of English national identity in The Faerie Queene from three aspects: the establishment of the Church of England,the construction of English history and the demarcation of English territory.The first chapter discusses the establishment of Protestantism as the Church of England.In the poem,Spenser constructs Protestantism as the religious self by rendering Catholicism as the religious other,notably in Book One.He makes the characters fall into two broad camps,the camp of good and just Protestants represented by Red Crosse and Una and the camp of evil and monstrous Catholics and pagans represented by Duessa and the three pagan brothers.Through Red Crosse's quest for Protestantism and the promotion of Protestantism by those Protestants,Spenser constructs an English Protestant community in Cleopolis,or rather in England.By so doing,he establishes the identity of the English as the champions of Protestantism,and thus,the English acquire their missionary identity.The second chapter explores Spenser's construction of English history in The Faerie Queene,notably in Book Two,Book Three and Book Five.Spenser constructs English history through rewriting the ancient British history and the contemporary history of the House of Tudor.Through rewriting,he endows English history with an ancient British origin as well as continuity.The English history constructed by Spenser is an idealized version,which bears the collective memory of the English nation and serves as the national myth of England.Through this,Spenser establishes the role of the English as the descendants of the British Empire and endows the English with imperial identity.The third chapter analyzes the territorial strategy that Spenser uses in the construction of English national identity,including territorial differentiation and territorial bonding.In his geographic narrative of English rivers,Spenser demarcates the existing territory of England by defining the boundaries between England and those neighboring countries,including Ireland and Scotland,which helps maintaining English national identity.Meanwhile,Spenser expresses his advocacy of English colonial expansion around the British Isles and even beyond,which manifests his intention of endowing the English with British identity and thus legitimating the rule of the English over Britain.Yet,worrying that colonial expansion may dilute English national identity,Spenser centralizes England,territorially and emotionally,which helps preserving the Englishness in English national identity and bestowing the English a sense of missionary purpose.Thus,the English become not only the chosen people to live in Troynovant the New Jerusalem but also the chosen one to create and rule the future English-British nation.Through this,the English acquire their cultural identity as the creators of the future English-British nation.In conclusion,Spenser constructs English national identity in The Faerie Queene applying three strategies: religious strategy,historical strategy and territorial strategy.Through these strategies,the English are endowed with missionary identity as the champions of Protestantism,imperial identity as the descendants of the British Empire,and cultural identity as the creators of the future English-British nation.