Duessa Character Analysis in The Faerie Queene

Duessa is an evil witch who is originally introduced as the lady of the pagan Sansfoy. In fact, she isn’t a fair lady but an old hag who disguises her appearance. In Book I she tricks the Redcross Knight (by pretending to be a faithful woman named Fidessa), but she is found out and punished by being exiled into the woods. She continues to deceive noble knights, however, and is eventually put on trial in Book V. Duessa represents the opposite of the true and virtuous Una, and she seems to also represent Catholicism, which could appear similar to Protestantism on the surface, but which for many Protestants in Spenser’s time was considered a false religion, just as Duessa is false.

Duessa Quotes in The Faerie Queene

The The Faerie Queene quotes below are all either spoken by Duessa or refer to Duessa. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Virtue, Allegory, and Symbolism Theme Icon

Young knight, what ever that does armes professe,
And through long labours huntest after fame,
Beware of fraud, beware of ficklenesse,
In choice, and change of thy deare loved Dame

Related Characters: Narrator (speaker), Redcross Knight, Duessa, Una

Page Number and Citation: 79

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote by the narrator of the poem comes at the beginning of Book I, Canto IV and poses some advice directly to a potential reader. Many cantos begin with commentary from the narrator, sometimes framed as advice to a reader, other times just presented as general musings. Often, these commentaries deal with the virtue or vice that is most important to the action of the canto. Here, for example, the narrator warns of “fraud” and “ficklenesse.” While the narrator’s advice is general, it could also be interpreted specifically as a warning to the Redcross Knight to beware the tricky Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sin

When they had seene and heard her doome a rights
Against Duessa, damned by them all;
But by her tempred without griefe or gall,
Till strong constraint did her thereto enforce.

Related Characters: Duessa, Mercilla, Arthegall

Page Number and Citation: 838

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote describes a scene in the court of the good queen Mercilla. The trickster Duessa, who has appeared several times in previous books, has finally been brought forth for a trial. Although Mercilla is a merciful queen who feels pity for Duessa, the implication seems to be that ultimately Duessa is executed. This scene can be interpreted as a parallel to the judgment and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots by Queen Elizabeth, a controversial event that happened not too long before Spenser wrote his poem. Though Spenser was a Protestant who approved of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth taking Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas

Duessa Character Timeline in The Faerie Queene

The timeline below shows where the character Duessa appears in The Faerie Queene. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...contains the words Sans foy (“without faith”). Next to Sansfoy the Saracen is a lady (Duessa) in scarlet who wears a Persian-style crown. She is the Saracen’s lover, and she asks... (full context)

After seeing her lover Sansfoy die, the scarlet lady (Duessa) pleads for mercy from the Redcross Knight. The knight is moved and asks who she... (full context)

...a tree, whose name was Fraelissa. He tells the story: Fraelissa and the disguised sorceress Duessa have a contest to see which of them Fradubio considers the fairest. Seeing that she... (full context)

Fradubio continues his story: At first, he and Duessa are happy. Then one day, Fradubio sees Duessa bathing, which reveals her true form as... (full context)

...Fidessa overhears this—it turns out that Fidessa is in fact just a new disguise for Duessa. Duessa looks afraid and faints, but the Redcross Knight doesn’t realize the truth about her... (full context)

...knights like the Redcross Knight of how they can be led astray by people like Duessa (who is still disguised as a fair lady named Fidessa). As the Redcross Knight travels,... (full context)

Lucifera usurped the throne through trickery and brutality, and she has become a tyrant. Duessa (still disguised) leads the Redcross Knight toward Lucifera. (full context)

Lucifera and the deadly sin beasts ride for pleasure across flowery fields, with Duessa sitting right next to Lucifera. The Redcross Knight, however, is out of place in this... (full context)

Night falls. While everyone is sleeping, Duessa gets up and goes to find Sansjoy, who is awake and plotting ways to defeat... (full context)

Duessa fears that Sansjoy may be defeated by bad fortune. Sansjoy reassures her. Duessa says she’ll... (full context)

...appears in full armor. Finally, Lucifera herself makes a stately procession into the hall, with Duessa at her side. (full context)

Duessa hangs Sansfoy’s shield from a tree—both she and the shield will go to the victor... (full context)

Duessa shouts to encourage Sansjoy, but the Redcross Knight believes she’s encouraging him. He begins to... (full context)

Meanwhile Duessa weeps until the evening. When it’s dark, however, she ventures out to see Night, a... (full context)

...Knight will pay a price in his own blood for slaying Sansfoy. Night asks who Duessa is, and she replies that she’s the daughter of Deceit and Shame. Night says that... (full context)

Together, Night and Duessa ride to the place where Sansjoy is laying on the ground. They take him away... (full context)

In the smoke- and sulfur-filled underworld, where the god Pluto reigns, Night and Duessa continue to ride their chariot with the wounded Sansjoy. Along the way, they see many... (full context)

Night and Duessa present Sansjoy to Æsculapius for treatment. At first, Æsculapius is reluctant to help because he’s... (full context)

When Duessa gets back to the palace, she finds the Redcross Knight and the dwarf visiting the... (full context)

In the disguise of Fidessa again, Duessa comes in search of the Redcross Knight. She finds him without his armor on near... (full context)

Duessa suggests that instead, Orgoglio can claim the Redcross Knight as a prisoner and force him... (full context)

...she faints three times. The dwarf tells her about how the knight was misled by Duessa and Archimago and how he was captured and taken away by Orgoglio the giant. (full context)

...reach Orgoglio the giant’s castle. They blow a horn at the gate, and Orgoglio leaves Duessa to see what the noise is. Orgoglio is ready to fight, and he lifts up... (full context)

...arm, causing streams of blood to flow out. The giant lets out a fearsome bellow. Duessa hears it and rides out the gate on her seven-headed beast, but Arthur’s squire stops... (full context)

Angered by the magic Duessa used on his squire, Prince Arthur smites off one of the heads of Duessa’s mount.... (full context)

...off his shield, and it lets out a blazing light that stuns both Orgoglio and Duessa’s beast. Orgoglio realizes that the shield represents a power that he won’t be able to... (full context)

Duessa grieves to see the fall of Orgoglio. The squire captures her and brings her to... (full context)

Prince Arthur asks what they should do about Duessa, the source of all their recent misfortune. Una suggests that instead of killing her, they... (full context)

...as the way he was false with Una and instead chose to serve the evil Duessa. Despair says it’s God’s law that sinners should die, and so it is better that... (full context)

...because the knight is already betrothed to another: Fidessa (the disguised form of the witch Duessa). (full context)

The King asks what this message means. The Redcross Knight explains how the witch Duessa used her magic to trick him into betraying Una. Una steps forward to say that... (full context)

...him to be righteous. It turns out this lady is in fact the evil sorceress Duessa, once again in disguise. (full context)

Archimago and Duessa met up while Duessa was wandering naked in the woods after being defeated in the... (full context)

...side-by-side with a lady. As it turns out, however, one of the ladies is false Duessa (the sorceress who appeared in previous books) and the other is Ate, who is known... (full context)

...Her ultimate goal is to overthrow Concord, and along the way, she has been helping Duessa to hurt good knights. (full context)

The knight with Ate is Blandamour, who is fickle and unreliable. The other knight, with Duessa, is Paridell (who carried off and then unceremoniously abandoned Hellenore in the previous book). Britomart,... (full context)

Just then Duessa intervenes and tells the knights they have no reason to be angry at each other.... (full context)

Scudamore accuses Ate of lying. Duessa, however, says that she did in fact see Amoretta kissing another knight. Although Duessa is... (full context)

...of all the ladies present. Cambina (who is with Cambell), Canacee (who is with Triamond), Duessa (who is with Paridell), and Amoretta (who is with Britomart) are all in contention, but... (full context)

...Britomart if she has any news. Britomart says she isn’t sure; after saving Amoretta from Duessa, and traveling with her for a while, one day Britomart woke up and Amoretta wasn’t... (full context)

A woman who looks beautiful but is accused of serious crimes (Duessa) is brought before the court. A man called Zeal stands up and tells of Duessa’s... (full context)

The narrator praises mercy, a virtue that Mercilla has in abundance. Duessa is seen as guilty by all in the court and Mercilla regretfully allows her to... (full context)

Duessa Character Analysis

Duessa Quotes in The Faerie Queene

Book I: Canto IV Quotes

Book V: Canto X Quotes

Duessa Character Timeline in The Faerie Queene