The Faire Queene Analysis

People’s actions are often influenced by society’s expectation of them. Characters such as Viola and Olivia from William Shakespeare’s comedy, Twelfth Night, and Britomart from Edmund Spenser’s epic, The Faire Queene, are used to critique society’s conception of the masculine and feminine that expects women to be subordinate. These characters are confronted with various opportunities to assert themselves; however they must first overcome obstacles created by the general taboo against women asserting themselves. They highlight the double standards apparent in the contemporary gender roles and the relationship between society’s expectations of the feminine, appearances, and self-assertion. There is a stark contrast in the way Viola and her …show more content…
Since a knight is traditionally male, no one suspects that Britomart is actually a woman. This emphasizes how people depend far to much on their own pre-conceived notions of the masculine and feminine. In terms of Britomart herself, while at first glance she appears to be similar to Viola, simply because both dressed differently in order to suit there needs; however, Britomart is far more similar to Sebastian. Both of them are willing to assert themselves and fight in order to prove themselves. For them, there fights are matters of pride. Sebastian fights Toby and Andrew because they disrespect and threaten him, and Britomart takes such pride in her abilities that she refused to back down from a fight. Through Britomart, Spenser is able to expound upon the importance of self-assertion how it will lead to fulfillment as well as emphasize how gender should not be a factor in judging people’s ability or be a self imposed limitation. We see this bias from Sir Guyon when he is beaten by Britomart, “Great shame and / sorrow of that fall he tooke; / For neuer yet, sith warlike armes he bore, / And shiuvering speare in bloudie field first shooke, / He found himselfe dishonored so sore. “ (Spenser, III. i. 7). By portraying Britomart as an exceptionally honorable character and able to beat male knights in fights, Spenser is critiquing the stigma that contemporary society placed on …show more content…
Viola is a prime example of how these expectations cause women to overcome various obstacles in order to assert themselves while men, such as her twin, Sebastian, seemed to have a much easier time doing so. Olivia faces much more pressure to alter her behavior than Orsino and is also forced to use deception and otherwise shady means to assert herself. In contrast, Britomart is a woman who takes great pride in her abilities and refuses to sit by and wait for Arthegal to find her. Instead, she takes it upon herself to search for him while acting as a protector and heroine. These two pieces of literature point out how the feminine should not be so closely associated with certain appearances or an inability to self assert as these carry negative consequences for the individuals they