Interpreted In The Faerie Queene By Spenser And Foxe

Catholics were often criticized because Protestants such as Spenser and Foxe believed that they oppressed their people and only allowed them to interpret the scriptures in the way the church told them to. Foxe demonstrates his love of Protestantism and its importance by telling the stories of selfless and courageous men who translated the scriptures so that the public could read and understand them. This allowed the Protestants to interpret God and love in their own way, which was much freer than what Catholicism offered. Additionally, the book was able to condemn the Catholics for keeping the word of God away from the public. This is like what Spenser does in The Faerie Queene as he believes the high church Protestants are hypocrites since …show more content…
Spenser’s mentions, “heauens eternall towers,” (7.6.20.3) which demonstrates the permanence and stability that adhering to the Protestant faith provides them with. While a post-modern reader may glance at the heroic knights, such as Artegall, the knight of justice, and believe that they are truly just, they may overlook Spenser’s criticism of these knights. Artegall, who is represented as a just and merciful knight, believes so of himself. At the end of Book V, Artegall encounters hags who openly criticize him: “Then th’other coming neare, gan him reuile, / And fouly rayle, with all she could inuent; / Saying, that he had with vnmanly guile, / And foule abusion both his honour blent, / And that bright sword, the sword of Iustice lent / Had stayned with reprochfull crueltie, / In guiltlesse blood of many an innocent” (5.12.40.1-7). The hags are ignored by both Artegall and his executioner, Talus. After hearing how the hags speak ill of them, Talus’s first solution is to kill them: “But Talus hearing her so lewdly raile, / And speake so ill of him, that well deserued, / Would her haue chastiz’d with his yron flaile” (5.12.43.1-3). Artegall intervenes and forbids him, but ignores the hags’ reproaches and continues since, “So much the more at him mstill did she scold, / And stones did cast, yet he for nought would swerue / From his right course, but still the way did hold / To Faery …show more content…
As a radical Protestant, he wished to express his love and support for his religion in a way that would not cause him to get executed. By writing Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, he could describe the lives of Protestant followers who died cruelly for their faith and admire them, without outwardly showing support or revealing his radical Protestant beliefs. This book allowed him to highlight Queen Mary’s mercilessness and the countless Protestant deaths that happened under her rule. These stories are meant to inspire Protestants to remain who they are and evoke empathy from them. The book itself attempts to convert Catholics to Protestantism by showing them how remarkable it is if people were willing to die for