The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser

Having realised that I can't keep listening to Suede on repeat every time I go for a walk for the rest of my life, I put the audiobook of The Faerie Queene on my iPod and listened to all of it over the space of about two months. Yes, the entire Faerie Queene. Do I regret this decision? Well, no. Besides having some truly wonderful poetic flights (once you tear through the forest of political allegory and moralising), it offers amazing insights into the values and language of the Elizabethan era. It's a very challenging read, because we're not used to reading allegory, and I was constantly trying to stop myself from thinking of 'characters', as it's a concept that doesn't exist in an allegory. Some parts are completely bizarre and disgusting to the modern reader (the entirety of Book V is a nightmare), and huge sections of it went so far over my head that I couldn't even see them (there is so much political allegory that probably not even scholars can understand all of its nuances). One of the most interesting things about it is the contradictions in values that arise throughout the book, especially in regards to women and sex. The whole (unfinished) book is written in praise of Elizabeth I, and her two allegorical representations (yes, she is so fancy that she gets two, to keep readers very confused), Gloriana and Belphoebe, are always treated as pinnacles of wisdom and leadership. Yet almost every other virtuous female 'character' is subservient to men, and submits humbly to be governed by them. But the otherworldly atmosphere of the text, the rambling digressions, the striking scenes that Spenser draws never failed to charm me, and the language is, of course, fascinating and lovely.