In The Faerie Queene, Spenser presents an eloquent and captivating representation of the Roman Catholic Church, her hierarchy, and patrons as the malevolent forces pitted against England in her exploits as Epic Hero. A discussion of this layer of the allegory for the work in its entirety would be a book in and of itself, so, for the purposes of this exercise, the focus will be confined to Book I, Canto 1, through the vanquishing of the dragon, Errour. Even in this small section of the work, however, it will be evident that Spenser very much took to heart both his duty as an Englishman to honour Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth I, and his duty as a Protestant Christian to champion the Church of England. The purpose of this exercise is not to prove whether Spenser was correct in his assertions, but to explore the manner in which he sets forth his views; it is, therefore, written from the position that his views are righteous, in the interest of eliminating the need for multiple caveats stating that the ideas herein are an interpretation of Spenser’s beliefs. That being said, Spenser’s multi-layered allegory sets him apart as perhaps the first Anglican Apologist, in whose footsteps C.S. Lewis would later follow with his own deeply symbolic tales. That Spenser displayed the literary and imaginative prowess to lay down so many layers of richly crafted allegorical fabric has made The Faerie Queene a work for the ages, both as lessons in English and Ecclesiastical history and as a fine example of the enduring beauty of the Language.
Spenser, in his letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, points out the most obvious allegorical devices that run through the…
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…urce. Internet. Available: http://www.intranet.ca/~magicworks/knights/fullmoon.html
Updated 20 March 1999; Accessed 20 October 1999.
Holy Bible, Authorised King James Version Moorman, J.R.H. A History of the Church in England. 3rd ed. London: A
Comparing Description and Imagery in The Foghorn and The Signalman
Description and Imagery in The Foghorn and The Signalman
For this assignment I will be looking at two short narratives. One was written by Bradbury, in the mid twentieth century ,’The Foghorn’ and the other was written by Dickens, ‘The Signalman” over one hundred years before. Both are based on supernatural themes and ideas.
It is obvious that Dickens tale was written in the mid nineteenth century because his style of writing is very different to the more modern techniques writers employ today. In his story he tells us about objects which no longer have a place in modern society ,such as ‘the telegraph’ and the ‘steam train’. Therefore it was necessary to look more closely at Dickens’ script to identify how he creates a sense of mystery , a complete contrast to the Brabury script which was easy to follow, and therefore easy to become fully absorbed in the story. Ultimately this meant that the ‘Fog horn’ automatically absorbs the reader enabling the audience to detect the deeper meaning, unlike the ‘The Signalman’.
Not only was the age of Dickens’ script evident in his style of writing, but also in the actions and reactions of his characters. Both the signal man and the narrator were uncomfortably polite and their language was noticably archaic:
‘I do apologise sir, but you were without your box’.
‘The Signalman’ opens with a lot of shouting and commotion. This is the first indication that something strange is due to happen. The narrator is shouting, from the top of an embankment, to the signalman who is standing on the lines. The first particularly strange happening occurs when the Signalman, does not reply to the calls of the narrator. He hears them, but does not respond. This c…
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…of the narrators, although we immediately come to trust Johnny from ‘The Foghorn’ because he is young, innocent and in a way quite vulnerable, he does not appear threatening in the least. This adds to the mystery of the tales. We do not know a lot about McDunn or the Signalman, their pasts are a mystery. The settings in both of the narratives are desolate and lonely, eerie and mysterious. In both stories the mystery is something which humans do not understand, so this is the real mystifying element.
Both Dickens and Bradbury use effective description and imagery to describe the happenings, which also adds to the mystery of their tales.
Works Cited
The Mammoth Book of Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories ed. Richard Dalby Carroll