The Faerie Queene (version 2)

Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599)

Spenser planned a 24-book romance-epic consisting of two parts, of which he completed half of the first. The first twelve books were to illustrate the development of virtues within the individual soul, and the second twelve were to depict the application of these moral virtues to remedying evils that afflict the world. Each of the first set of quests was to begin at the court of the Fairy Queen, Gloriana, and the knights were to return thither after having defeated some foe representing a personal weakness. Having thus proved themselves, they were qualified to undertake the second quests, in the world. The neat plan becomes somewhat muddled by Book 3, which nevertheless contains the philosophical core of the poem's allegorical structure: the Platonic notion that love (grace) unifies the cosmos and draws the will, through the pursuit of beauty, into virtuous action, returning to God at last in worship. The plot structure of the poem is rich and complex, with many strands interlinked and overlapping, each replete with allegorical significance. (Summary by Thomas Copeland)

Genre(s): Epics

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 Faerie Queene Front Matter Thomas A. Copeland
00:35:56
Play 01 Faerie Queene I.i Thomas A. Copeland
00:29:45
Play 02 Faerie Queene I.ii Thomas A. Copeland
00:22:00
Play 03 Faerie Queene I.iii Thomas A. Copeland
00:21:49
Play 04 Faerie Queene I.iv Thomas A. Copeland
00:27:14
Play 05 Faerie Queene I.v Thomas A. Copeland
00:25:22
Play 06 Faerie Queene I.vi Thomas A. Copeland
00:22:50
Play 07 Faerie Queene I.vii Thomas A. Copeland
00:25:01
Play 08 Faerie Queene I.viii Thomas A. Copeland
00:25:41
Play 09 Faerie Queene I.ix Thomas A. Copeland
00:28:39
Play 10 Faerie Queene I.x Thomas A. Copeland
00:31:27
Play 11 Faerie Queene I.xi Thomas A. Copeland
00:26:42
Play 12 Faerie Queene I.xii Thomas A. Copeland
00:20:32
Play 13 Faerie Queene II.i Thomas A. Copeland
00:33:18
Play 14 Faerie Queene II.ii Thomas A. Copeland
00:21:18
Play 15 Faerie Queene II.iii Thomas A. Copeland
00:22:42
Play 16 Faerie Queene II.iv Thomas A. Copeland
00:22:42
Play 17 Faerie Queene II.v Thomas A. Copeland
00:19:34
Play 18 Faerie Queene II.vi Thomas A. Copeland
00:25:32
Play 19 Faerie Queene II.vii Thomas A. Copeland
00:32:10
Play 20 Faerie Queene II.viii Thomas A. Copeland
00:27:29
Play 21 Faerie Queene II.ix Thomas A. Copeland
00:28:28
Play 22 Faerie Queene II.x Thomas A. Copeland
00:37:13
Play 23 Faerie Queene II.xi Thomas A. Copeland
00:23:30
Play 24 Faerie Queene II.xii Thomas A. Copeland
00:41:58
Play 25 Faerie Queene III.i Thomas A. Copeland
00:32:40
Play 26 Faerie Queene III.ii Thomas A. Copeland
00:24:50
Play 27 Faerie Queene III.iii Thomas A. Copeland
00:30:32
Play 28 Faerie Queene III.iv Thomas A. Copeland
00:30:25
Play 29 Faerie Queene III.v Thomas A. Copeland
00:25:39
Play 30 Faerie Queene III.vi Thomas A. Copeland
00:25:11
Play 31 Faerie Queene III.vii Thomas A. Copeland
00:29:30
Play 32 Faerie Queene III.viii Thomas A. Copeland
00:26:02
Play 33 Faerie Queene III.ix Thomas A. Copeland
00:25:27
Play 34 Faerie Queene III.x Thomas A. Copeland
00:30:29
Play 35 Faerie Queene III.xi Thomas A. Copeland
00:27:56
Play 36 Faerie Queene III.xii Thomas A. Copeland
00:26:31
Play 37 Faerie Queene IV.i Thomas A. Copeland
00:31:20
Play 38 Faerie Queene IV.ii Thomas A. Copeland
00:28:40
Play 39 Faerie Queene IV.iii Thomas A. Copeland
00:26:51
Play 40 Faerie Queene IV.iv Thomas A. Copeland
00:23:05
Play 41 Faerie Queene IV.v Thomas A. Copeland
00:23:16
Play 42 Faerie Queene IV.vi Thomas A. Copeland
00:22:48
Play 43 Faerie Queene IV.vii Thomas A. Copeland
00:23:39
Play 44 Faerie Queene IV.viii Thomas A. Copeland
00:31:41
Play 45 Faerie Queene IV.ix Thomas A. Copeland
00:19:47
Play 46 Faerie Queene IV.x Thomas A. Copeland
00:29:59
Play 47 Faerie Queene IV.xi Thomas A. Copeland
00:28:06
Play 48 Faerie Queene IV.xii Thomas A. Copeland
00:17:51
Play 49 Faerie Queene V.i Thomas A. Copeland
00:20:36
Play 50 Faerie Queene V.ii Thomas A. Copeland
00:27:16
Play 51 Faerie Queene V.iii Thomas A. Copeland
00:19:42
Play 52 Faerie Queene V.iv Thomas A. Copeland
00:24:35
Play 53 Faerie Queene V.v Thomas A. Copeland
00:29:05
Play 54 Faerie Queene V.vi Thomas A. Copeland
00:19:44
Play 55 Faerie Queene V.vii Thomas A. Copeland
00:21:33
Play 56 Faerie Queene V.viii Thomas A. Copeland
00:23:56
Play 57 Faerie Queene V.ix Thomas A. Copeland
00:25:59
Play 58 Faerie Queene V.x Thomas A. Copeland
00:18:46
Play 59 Faerie Queene V.xi Thomas A. Copeland
00:30:48
Play 60 Faerie Queene V.xii Thomas A. Copeland
00:21:13
Play 61 Faerie Queene VI.i Thomas A. Copeland
00:25:56
Play 62 Faerie Queene VI.iii Thomas A. Copeland
00:22:30
Play 63 Faerie Queene VI.iii Thomas A. Copeland
00:23:26
Play 64 Faerie Queene VI.iv Thomas A. Copeland
00:19:01
Play 65 Faerie Queene VI.v Thomas A. Copeland
00:19:33
Play 66 Faerie Queene VI.vi Thomas A. Copeland
00:21:22
Play 67 Faerie Queene VI.vii Thomas A. Copeland
00:23:59
Play 68 Faerie Queene VI.viii Thomas A. Copeland
00:23:25
Play 69 Faerie Queene VI.ix Thomas A. Copeland
00:22:17
Play 70 Faerie Queene VI.x Thomas A. Copeland
00:21:19
Play 71 Faerie Queene VI.xi Thomas A. Copeland
00:24:57
Play 72 Faerie Queene VI.xii Thomas A. Copeland
00:20:09
Play 73 Faerie Queene VII.vi Thomas A. Copeland
00:27:18
Play 74 Faerie Queene VII.vii-viii Thomas A. Copeland
00:31:27