Prince Arthur
The youthful Prince of Britain in Spenser's "The Faerie Queene."
Introduction#
Prince Arthur is one of the central figures in Edmund Spencer’s The Faerie Queene. Unlike traditional Arthurian legends, which focus on Arthur’s reign as king, Spenser presents him as a young prince whose adventures take place before his accession to the throne.
Prince Arthur should not be confused with the more familiar King Arthur of the medieval romances. In The Faerie Queene, Spenser imagines Arthur’s adventures before he becomes king, creating a youthful hero whose quest forms the framework of the poem.
Affiliations | Court of Fairy Land (through Gloriana, though not as a permanent member)
The Quest for Gloriana#
After beholding Gloriana, the Fairy Queen, in a dream, Arthur falls deeply in love with her and sets out across Fairy Land in the hope of finding her. Throughout his travels he encounters many of her knights, assisting them whenever they are overcome by powerful enemies or difficult trials.
His search for Gloriana remains incomplete because Spenser never finished the poem.
Champion of the Knights#
Prince Arthur repeatedly comes to the aid of Gloriana’s champions.
He rescues Redcrosse Knight from the giant Orgoglio, exposing Duessa’s deception and restoring the knight to his quest. Later, he saves Sir Guyon from Pyrochles and Cymochles, defeating both brothers before Guyon continues to the Bower of Bliss.
Arthur appears throughout the poem as the champion whose courage and virtue enable others to fulfil their own quests.
Allegorical Significance#
In Spenser’s allegory, Prince Arthur represents the virtue of Magnificence, which Spenser describes as the perfection and sum of all the other virtues.
Unlike the individual knights, who each embody a single virtue, Arthur unites them all within himself. He therefore serves as the moral centre of The Faerie Queene while foreshadowing the greatness he will one day achieve as king.
In the Arthurian Tradition#
Spenser’s Prince Arthur differs significantly from the Arthur of the medieval romances. Rather than portraying an established king ruling from Camelot, The Faerie Queene imagines Arthur’s youthful adventures before his coronation.
This imaginative reinterpretation allowed Spenser to present Arthur as an ideal Renaissance prince while preserving his place at the heart of the Arthurian tradition.
Sources#
The Faerie Queene | Edmund Spenser, 1570-1599
