Orgoglio

Orgoglio is a literary character in Edmund Spenser's famous epic "The Faerie Queen". He first appears in the seventh canto as a horrible beast and attacks the main character, Redcrosse, who symbolizes the ultimate christian knight during a moment of weakness. He represents the sin of Pride — The word "Orgogli" actually means pride in Italian — and Redcrosse's own error because he was about to sleep with Duessa, the deceptive woman whose name means "duality" and who Spenser often uses in "The Faerie Queen" to represent the Roman Catholic Church. He also represents the Satan. Orgoglio imprisons Redcrosse in his dungeon, a representation of hell, or perhaps purgatory. He has a sinful relationship with the character Duessa, who symbolizes the Roman Catholic Church, sometimes referred to as "The Whore of Babylon." This relationship is meant to represent powerful leaders of the time that granted the church favors in order to gain privilege. He is eventually defeated by Prince Arthur--meant to symbolize King Arthur, and also Britain's glorious past--when Arthur's shield blinds him(it's made of diamond apparently). Arthur is symbolic of Jesus himself defeating Pride due to the Christ-like characteristics that Spenser ascribes to him.

References

• Andrew Hadfield (2001). The Cambridge Companion to Spenser. Cambridge University Press. p. 212. ISBN 0521645700. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |isbn13= ignored (help)
• Edmund Spenser. "The Faerie Queen". The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Volume B.
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Further reading

• Jon A. Quitslund (2001). Spenser's Supreme Fiction. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802035051. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |isbn13= ignored (help)
• S.K. Heninger Jr (June 1959). "The Orgoglio Episode in The Faerie Queene". English Literary History. 26 (2). The Johns Hopkins University Press: 171–187.
• J.W. Schroeder (1962). "Spenser's Erotic Drama: The Orgoglio Episode". English Literary History. 29. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |paes= ignored (help)