(Mis)representing Elizabeth: Spenser, the Five-Factor Model, and the Personality of the Queen

Abstract

Close analysis of Spenser’s six primary “mirrours” of Queen Elizabeth I—Gloriana, Una, Belphoebe, Britomart, Mercilla, and Cynthia—suggests that they go beyond representations of the queen’s moral character to reveal traits of personality. Drawing on the Five-Factor Model that dominates current studies of personality, this essay interrogates the historical accuracy of Spenser’s composite portrait of the queen. Having served under or befriended two of Elizabeth’s most intimate favorites, one of her bishops, and a number of her chief courtiers and soldiers, he clearly had gleaned detailed knowledge of her nature. Yet on one primary trait he seems to misrepresent her, creating mirrors that oscillate between extraversion and introversion and tend to the latter. Two explanations are compelling: his views of ideal monarchy and womanly conduct and his unexpectedly subtle insights into personal psychology, particularly the behavior of neurotics. The explanation we choose depends on the Spenser we seek, whether the idealistic humanist, the shrewd political observer, or the intuitive psychologist. The fullest reading of the poem requires balancing all three, seeing the interplay involving the philosophical and theological allegory, the topical allegory focused on famous personalities of the day, and the psychological allegory intent on personality itself.