Occasion
A loathsome hag and the mother of Furor in Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene."
Introduction#
Occasion is a hag who appears in Book II of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. The mother of Furor, she represents the circumstances or opportunities that give rise to violent passion and madness.
Mother of Furor#
Occasion encourages Furor to attack knights and travellers who pass by their dwelling. Her role is therefore closely connected to that of her son: she creates or exploits the opportunity for violence, while Furor gives that impulse its destructive expression.
Spenser presents her as an ugly and threatening figure, contrasting sharply with the beautiful disguises and seductive enchantresses encountered elsewhere in the poem.
Captured by Guyon#
When Guyon discovers Furor savagely beating the squire Phedon, he intervenes. He overcomes Furor and captures Occasion, binding and gagging her so that she can no longer incite her son to violence. By restraining both Occasion and Furor, Guyon brings the destructive episode under control.
Allegorical Significance#
Occasion represents the circumstances, opportunities, or provocations that can awaken destructive passions. Her name is therefore significant: she is the occasion through which Furor’s violence is unleashed.
Her relationship with Furor provides a vivid allegory of how anger and violence can arise when circumstances provoke an already dangerous passion.
In the Arthurian Tradition#
Occasion is unique to Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. Like Furor, she belongs to Spenser’s extensive use of personification allegory, in which abstract qualities and forces become characters whom the knights must confront.
Sources#
The Faerie Queene | Edmund Spenser, 1570-1599
