Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene follows its protagonist Redcrosse on a traditional hero's journey, which is a religious and historical allegory of the Church's conflicts taking place in the time of Spenser. During his journey, Redcrosse meets the mysterious Duessa, a figure he initially trusts, but who ultimately wants to overthrow him. Duessa not only plays the role of villain during the story, but she also acts as an allegory for the Catholic Church and the biblical temptress, thus adding to Spenser's message about the truth of the Protestant Church and corruption of Catholicism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get Original Essay Duessa's constant trickery and deception represents the corruption associated with the Catholic Church. When Redcross meets Fradubio, the tree man explains that Duessa tricked him into "taking Duessa for my Lady" (805) and engaging in a relationship with her for a time, before accidentally finding her bathing and seeing her in her true nature. form, observing that "her misshapen, monstrous belly parts // were hidden in the water, which I could not see // but they seemed more foul and hideous // than the form of the woman that man would believe to be a bee” (805). Duessa tricks Fradubio into believing she is the beautiful woman he fell in love with, when in fact she is a deformed witch, and once he figures out who she is, she turns him into a tree. Duessa creates an image of beauty and innocence, but is in reality corrupt and bent on destruction, an attitude that carries over into her interactions with Redcrosse. He is about to discover who she really is after Fradubio tells her story, but as soon as he turns on her, Duessa pretends to faint, manipulating her appearance so that she takes on a "pale and mortal” (806). Red Cross immediately worries about her and forgets her doubts; she manages to manipulate him into caring for her again by portraying herself as innocent, sweet and helpless. By adopting this facade that allows her to deceive other characters to advance her own plans, Duessa also stands out as an allegory for the corruption that Spenser and other Protestants of her time believed to be embedded in the Catholic Church. Duessa attracts men to her side by presenting herself as a beautiful and innocent girl in need of a protector, just as Spenser believed that the Catholic Church attracted potential worshipers by presenting itself as the one true church, whereas in reality the institution faced considerable levels of corruption. , from religious leaders enjoying luxury goods to high-profile clergy accepting bribes. Duessa's role in The Faerie Queene is to reinforce Spenser's allegory about the truth of the Protestant Church, a role reinforced by the fact that she comes from Rome. She goes down in history as a symbol of the corrupting nature of the Catholic Church; A representative of Rome, she quickly sets out to deceive Red Cross and others into believing that she possesses only beauty and innocence, when in reality she is corrupt and only wants to cause destruction . In addition to being a force of corruption and destruction, Duessa's mission to distract the Red Cross from its true mission reinforces Spenser's allegory that Catholicism distracts from the one truth of the Church Protestant. Redcrosse sets The Faerie Queene on a quest to help Una find her family and save her kingdom from a dragon, butonce he meets Duessa and hears her talk about his "sad, friendless, unhappy lot" (801), he is immediately distracted from his original quest and tells Duessa that "may you rest // having both of you a new friend to help you” (802). While he was previously deeply devoted to Una, all his thoughts fly out the window as soon as Duessa presents her case. While traveling with her, Redcross encounters many horrors, from the House of Pride to the giant Orgoglio, and engages in many battles on behalf of someone who is both cruel and who doesn't care about him at all , rather than using one's strength to fight for good. Duessa distracts Redcross so he can't see his real enemies. When Orgoglio attacks, Redcross is attacked "before he could put his armor on him // or his shield" (857). Duessa makes him let his guard down to the point that he is completely unprepared for potential attacks and, as a result, is almost killed by a rather large monster. When the giant is finally killed by Arthur, his body “had completely disappeared, and from this monstrous mas // nothing remained, but like an empty bladder” (873). Orgoglio is described as being a large and formidable enemy, but in reality he is simply filled with air and completely insignificant once defeated. Redcrosse may have easily defeated him, as he has defeated larger monsters, but because Duessa has weakened him and distracted his mind from his original mission, he is unable to defeat even small and insignificant enemies. Duessa is established as Una's ultimate foil: Una's name literally means "one", thus establishing her connection to the one truth of Protestantism, but Duessa's name means "two", alluding to ideas of duality and deception associated with the Catholic Church. By distracting Red Cross from its mission to help Una and weaken her in her fight against her enemies, Duessa establishes herself as a counter-current to Protestantism and the truth that Spenser and his English contemporaries believed she brought . It is not only an obstacle with which the Red Cross must be content; it represents the distraction from the truth that Spenser and his fellow Protestants believed Catholicism offered to the English people after the Reformation. Duessa's seduction alludes to biblical seduction and temptation, establishing it as a religious allegory for the temptress. When Red Cross first encounters her, she is dressed in red, “adorned with gold and pearls of rich proportion” (798) and wears “a Persian miter on her neck” (798). Duessa is dressed in finest attire and exhibits physical beauty, both of which help attract Red Cross to his cause: he is attracted to the image of a beautiful woman. Her main method of distracting Red Cross over the course of the poem is to seduce him: Spenser explains that they are both "poured into freedom" (857), implying that they have had sex. Every time Redcrosse gets closer to discovering who she really is, she uses her beauty to seduce him into sleeping with her. Her seduction escapes the image of the temptress in the Bible: when she first meets Red Cross, her appearance also resembles that of the whore of Babylon, who attracted people with her beauty and finery but who was blasphemous. His Red Cross temptation also alludes to Eve, who many Bible readers interpret as having tempted Adam to eat the forbidden fruit and caused them both to fall from paradise. Duessa is not only a historical allegory for the Catholic Church: she is also a religious allegory for the figure of the temptress, and in addition to serving as an enemy to the Red Cross, she also serves as a continuation of the.