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Book IV: Canto VIII
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Faerie Queene, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Virtue, Allegory, and Symbolism
British Identity and Nationalism
Protestantism
Deception and Lies
Love and Friendship
The Role of Women
Summary
Analysis
The narrator praises friendship, which, though different from love, is similar and virtuous in its own way. Arthur decides that he wants to help Placidas help his good friend Amyas, who is still imprisoned with Poeana. They take Corflambo’s lifeless body and stick it back on the camel, then put his head back on top to use as a decoy, then they force the dwarf to help lead them back.
The loyalty and friendship that Placidas shows to Amyas ends up being contagious and convinces Arthur to get involved, too. This section shows how virtuous behavior in one person can create an example that inspires others.
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They make it to the prison where Poeana is singing so sweetly about her sorrow that at first Arthur is captivated before he comes to his senses. Arthur sneaks up and captures her. At first, Poeana sees Placidas and thinks he’ll save her, but she soon realizes she’s been betrayed.
Poeana is described more sympathetically than some of the other tricky female characters in the story—even Arthur is temporarily enchanted by her.
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Finally, Amyas is let out of prison, and both Placidas and Aemylia run to greet him. Arthur then leads them as they ransack Poeana’s castle, which turns out to be full of hoarded treasure. Arthur eventually frees Poeana, but she can no longer take pleasure in her castle’s remaining riches, having lost both her father (Corflambo) and her lover (Amyas, though she mistook Placidas for him).
Arthur speaks to Poeana and convinces her to put aside her proud and lusty ways. He then asks Placidas to overlook Poeana’s past sins. They end up married and live together in peace in Corflambo’s old castle.
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Arthur rides on with Amoretta. Eventually, they cross paths with a troop of six riders: false Florimell, Braggadochio, a knight named Druon who loves being a bachelor, Claribell, Blandamour, and Paridell. The four knights in the group are brawling over false Florimell. Near these knights, Britomart and Scudamore are watching the scene unfold.
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The fight goes back and forth, with Paridell sometimes siding with Blandamour, other times siding with Druon. But when the knights notice Britomart, who embarrassed them all at the recent tournament, they all turn against her and Scudamour. As they attack, they ignore Britomart’s attempts to reason with them.
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Seeing that it’s not a fair fight, Arthur joins on Britomart’s side. The other knights are so angry that they start attacking Arthur, too, but he is fresh and ready to fight. They explain to Arthur how Britomart foiled them in the tournament, but Arthur says they are bringing shame to knighthood by their rash actions.
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Britomart says she has lost her former love, a gentle maid (meaning Amoretta), and Scudamore regrets Amoretta’s loss even more. (Though Amoretta was with Arthur, she’s not at the scene of the battle.) Claribell asks Scudamore to tell the story of his love for Amoretta, and though he initially hesitates to do so because it’ll be painful, Britomart encourages him, and so he starts.
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