Equity in Book V of Spenser’s The Faerie Queene

Abstract

This article examines equity’s enigmatic treatment in Book V of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. It focuses on the central Isis Church passage, in which the Isis priest beguiles Britomart into believing that equity constitutes a subtle power women can exercise over men—but only from behind the scenes rather than in a ruling role. Britomart’s final action in the text—her sole ruling role—reflects this lesson: she resubjugates the Amazons to male rule. The sort of equity presented here does not correspond well to the equity described in legal and political treatises of the time, and reflects a little-documented sixteenth-century transformation in equity’s meaning, as well as Spenser’s profound appreciation for equity’s derivation from the Greek επιείκεια (epieikeia). The equity taught at Isis Church and its reflection in Britomart’s actions are comprehensible in terms of Book V’s historical allegory when viewed in light of the controversy over the Elizabethan succession. Spenser twists equity’s meaning to deliver a lesson to a select segment of his audience. This lesson involves persuading gentlemen such as Lord Buckhurst or Sir Walter Raleigh to attempt, very subtly, to influence Queen Elizabeth to favor the sole male contender for the throne, James VI of Scotland, rather than one of the female contenders.