Spencer uses
personification a great deal in The Faerie
Queen. First, read this brief entry about
personification in The Princeton Encyclopedia of
Poetry and Poetics. Next, discuss the use of
personification that you've seen thus far in the
poem. An easy place to start is the character of the
Redcross Knight, who represents the militant
English church, the Lady Una, who represents pure
and innocent truth and faith, and the dwarf, who
represents common sense. How do these
characters, or other uses of personification, deepen
the meaning of the poem?