Part-B

(3)
This quotation is taken from the book-1,canto-2,stanza-33 of The Faerie Queene. The meter is
iambic pentameter. Each line contains ten syllables. The six lines in the question are line 1 to line
6 from the particular stanza. Here the magical tree who once was a man named Fradubio is
expressing his sufferings to the Red Cross knight.
The “Legend of Holiness” the Redcrosse Knight, plucks a branch from a tree in the dark wood to
make a garland for his ill-chosen beloved, Fidessa, who is actually disguised Duessa representing
falsehood. Suddenly the Red Cross hears a voice groaning in deep pain. The tree confirms that,
“it is neither the voice of a damned ghost nor a deceitful spirit who is speaking these words to
you”. The tree claims himself as Fradubio who was a man once. He was turned into a tree by the
evil sorceress Duesssa. Fradubio had loved a gentle lady Fraelissa, who is also turned into a tree
and stands beside him. The cruel witch Duessa turned Fraelissa into a tree with spell so that she
could have Fradubio for herself. She seduced him with fake beauty. Foolish Fradubio was
persuaded to leave Fraelissa and to go with Duessa. After sometime he saw the witch in her true,
ugly form while she was bathing. He tried to run away, but she turns him into a tree as well. Now
huis is neither a human nor a strong tree like the real trees. Cruel Duessa placed him in an open
plain land where strong wind causes him extreme pain, the scorching sun dries his hidden veins.
Fradubio’s transform can be explained in the light of Protestant moral impulses. Fradubio’s
capitulation to Catholic Duessa’s seduction results in his transformation to a rationally lower,
vegetative form of life, and causes unbearable pain. On the other hand, Redcrosse’s plucking the
brunch for Duessa’s garland and unknowingly causing bloodshed points towards his loosing
path. The knight who has been seduced by Duessa and led astray from the path of righteous
Protestant truth and causes violence.