"Armed To Point": Sansfoy And Imagining The Orient In Book I Of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene

The violent battle between Redcrosse and Sansfoy in Book I of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590) captures England's complicated relationship with the Eastern Other during its Renaissance—one based not on England's inherent sense of superiority over the Orient, but rather on fears of inferiority in comparison to its wealth and power. The depiction of Eastern characters in Spenser's texts reflects increased interest in the East during the sixteenth century, which saw increased contact with other nations due to advances in global trade and travel. As a sixteenth-century text imagining a national identity in the face of increased contact with other peoples, The Faerie Queene's portrayal of Sansfoy provides insight into how Renaissance England imagined the Eastern Other—a picture that would eventually solidify into English Orientalism.