Pastorella Character Analysis in The Faerie Queene

Pastorella is a fair maiden who lives among shepherds and who temporarily distracts Calidore from his quest to find the Blatant Beast. Coridon is the shepherd most in love with Pastorella, but she prefers Calidore. She and other shepherds get kidnapped by brigands, but Calidore saves them, although eventually he has to leave to continue his quest to find the Blatant Beast.

Pastorella Quotes in The Faerie Queene

The The Faerie Queene quotes below are all either spoken by Pastorella or refer to Pastorella. 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

So there that night Sir Calidore did dwell,
And long while after, whilest him list remaine,
Dayly beholding the faire Pastorell,
And feeding on the bayt of his owne bane.
During which time he did her entertaine
With all kind courtesies, he could invent;
And every day, her companiee to gaine

Related Characters: Colin Clout, Coridon, Melibee, Calidore, Pastorella

Page Number and Citation: 984

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote comes from the beginning of a long interlude when the genre of the poem temporarily changes to pastoral. Pastorals were a genre of poetry in ancient Greece and Rome that celebrated rural life, and variations of this genre existed in some form up until Spenser’s day and beyond. In fact, some of Spenser’s other poetry is entirely in the pastoral genre. In this passage, Sir Calidore begins to fall in love with the fair maiden Pastorella, which in a larger sense symbolizes that he is falling in love with a pastoral shepherd’s lifestyle and perhaps even considering leaving 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.

Pastorella Character Timeline in The Faerie Queene

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

...home, where there is a fair damsel wearing a garland of flowers. Her name is Pastorella, and she is loved by all the shepherds, particularly by one named Coridon, although she... (full context)

Melibee, the father of Pastorella, sees that Calidore is alone and invites him into his house. Calidore accepts and courteously... (full context)

Calidore begins his new life as a shepherd, looking longingly at Pastorella in the fields. Pastorella, however, isn’t used to refined knightly ways and instead prefers the... (full context)

When Coridon sees Calidore trying to win Pastorella’s affection, he’s annoyed. He starts giving her lots of little presents, like squirrels and sparrows,... (full context)

...that he’s suited to the pastoral life after all and eventually wins the love of Pastorella. (full context)

...his old quest of pursuing the Blatant Beast to continue his new quest of loving Pastorella. One day, he is walking and comes across a lovely hill called Mount Acidale that... (full context)

Calidore apologizes to Colin Clout for interrupting him. His heart aches for Pastorella, so he returns to her and continues doing whatever he can to serve her. Coridon,... (full context)

One day, Calidore, Coridon, and Pastorella are gathering strawberries in the woods when a tiger runs at Pastorella. Coridon runs to... (full context)

Calidore joyfully woos Pastorella, but one day the shepherds’ peaceful life is interrupted by the arrival of some brigands... (full context)

Pastorella remains trapped for a while in the dark den of the brigands. The captain of... (full context)

One day while Pastorella is faking an illness, some merchants come to the brigands’ den hoping to buy all... (full context)

...some of them, including Melibee, although Coridon manages to sneak away. The captain fights for Pastorella with his life, and when he is mortally wounded, Pastorella falls down with him, looking... (full context)

...then sneak into the den of the brigands, and Calidore is overjoyed to see that Pastorella is actually alive, although there are no other survivors. He breaks in and kills a... (full context)

Having rescued Pastorella, Sir Calidore decides to return to his original quest of pursuing the Blatant Beast. First,... (full context)

...but after he died, they regained their freedom and lived in harmony. Sir Calidore and Pastorella get along well with Bellamoure and Claribell, so Calidore leaves Pastorella with them when he... (full context)

Pastorella misses Calidore after he leaves. While he’s off on adventures, she remains at the castle,... (full context)

Pastorella Character Analysis

Pastorella Quotes in The Faerie Queene

Book VI: Canto IX Quotes

Pastorella Character Timeline in The Faerie Queene