“Driuen by fatall error”: Genealogy and Succession in the 1590 Faerie Queene

Abstract:This article offers a reading of the genealogical cantos of Edmund Spenser’s The Fa-erie Queene in light of late sixteenth-century debates over the Elizabethan succession. Although commenting on the succession was declared treasonous, various writings on the subject survive, and these have usually been taken by scholars to represent the considerable anxiety and uncertainty that characterized the final decades of Elizabeth’s reign. Through attention to both the historical context and the formal features of The Faerie Queene, I argue that Spenser’s poem instead proposes an attitude of resignation, whereby readers should place their faith in divine providence rather than concern themselves with the monarch’s will. The article’s first section examines the narration of Briton moniments, the genealogical history that Arthur and Guyon discover in Alma’s castle in book 2, while the second section turns to Merlin’s prophecy in book 3. In the article’s conclusion, I suggest that Spenser’s providentialism has implications beyond the Elizabethan succession, especially relating to his justification of the violent colonization of Ireland.