This is a new version of one of my earliest LHs, Gloriana, the title character of Edmund Spenser's 1590's epic poem The Faerie Queene.
Published in two parts, the first in 1590 and the second in 1596, the poem is an allegorical tale of English knights who are the personifications of Christian virtues. The knight Artegal personifies Justice, Britomart Chastity, Guyon Temperance, and so on. Six books of the poem were written, though Spenser had plans for 24 books consisting of 12 private virtues and 12 public ones. The Faerie Queene herself represents Glory, hence the name. Spenser presents the faerie as a thinly veiled allegory of Queen Elizabeth I, using the character to show her virtuous nature and right to the throne - in the story the House of Tudor is connected with the line of King Arthur. Naturally, the work won Spenser a great deal of favor with Elizabeth's court. The name Gloriana supposedly became closely associated with Elizabeth during her lifetime and afterward. It is also the title of a 1953 opera by Benjamin Britten about Elizabeth, an opera written for the coronation of Elizabeth II.
Published in two parts, the first in 1590 and the second in 1596, the poem is an allegorical tale of English knights who are the personifications of Christian virtues. The knight Artegal personifies Justice, Britomart Chastity, Guyon Temperance, and so on. Six books of the poem were written, though Spenser had plans for 24 books consisting of 12 private virtues and 12 public ones. The Faerie Queene herself represents Glory, hence the name. Spenser presents the faerie as a thinly veiled allegory of Queen Elizabeth I, using the character to show her virtuous nature and right to the throne - in the story the House of Tudor is connected with the line of King Arthur. Naturally, the work won Spenser a great deal of favor with Elizabeth's court. The name Gloriana supposedly became closely associated with Elizabeth during her lifetime and afterward. It is also the title of a 1953 opera by Benjamin Britten about Elizabeth, an opera written for the coronation of Elizabeth II.
