Despite the wide range of worlds occupied by different fantasy series, a universal theme of the genre is the presence of evil forces working in opposition to a band of hero. . More often than not, the group of heroes sets out on a quest to defeat evil, and naturally, evil forces try to stop them. The fantasy works of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene and JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings are no different. Both sagas feature evil wizards acting in direct opposition to the heroes: Spenser's Archimago, an old wizard, and Tolkien's Saruman, the former head of the Wizards' Council. But despite this parallel, the two authors create characters who differ radically in their methods and motivations, revealing the fundamental difference in how Spenser and Tolkien viewed the nature and influence of evil. For Spenser, evil is the absence of justice and the rejection of religious obedience, while Tolkien sees evil as the corrupting influence of power and selfishness that comes from within. Examining how authors write their villains and understanding the context in which they wrote provides evidence for their respective interpretations on the nature of evil. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Archimago is one of the main villains of Spenser's The Faerie Queene. He is a master of deception and disguise, relying on his magic to seduce others away from the straight and narrow path by manipulating emotions and reason. The appeal of its form of evil is to abandon piety and religious obedience, yielding instead to indulgence. We meet him in the first canto, and at that point he immediately begins to cause trouble in the band of heroes consisting of the Redcross Knight, Una the Lady, and a dwarf. The resulting deception illustrates Archimago's character and methods. First, he attempts to disrupt the integrity of the trio by tempting Red Cross's chastity with a lusty dream of Morpheus, the god of dreams, and a sprite impersonation of Una: "Who all this time with hidden charms and artes, had made a lady of this other spirit, and framed with liquid ayre its tender parts so vivid and so similar to the eyes of all men, that a weaker sense it could delight: the creator himself for all his wonderful spirit, was almost seduced by so beautiful a sight: he dressed her all in white, and threw over a black stole, more like to appear suited to Una. (Canto 1, p19-20) This Una-imitation will then try to trick Redcross into sleeping with her, thus dishonoring her chastity. Note that Archimago does not rely on convincing arguments to achieve his goals, but instead relies on "hidden charms and artes", that is, his magic. Certainly, the imitation-Una tries to convince Redcross of fornication, but since she is a conjured facade, we can say that she is only an extension of Archimago's magic. This is a great example of Archimago using his magic to manipulate existing feelings in his targets, such as the liveliness he instilled in Redcross via Morpheus' dream. It is also interesting to note that Archimago targets chastity with his deception. Chastity was one of the most valued rules in Christian practice during Spenser's time, proving that Spenser believed that evil was primarily rooted in disobedience to God's law. However, Red Cross proves too faithful in its obedience to the order of the chivalrous knight and the law of chastity. In his next demonstration ofdeception, Archimago manipulates the strict obedience of Red Cross to divide the heroic trio by taking the imitation-Una and another imp disguised as a young squire and placing them "in a secret bed, covered with darkness and insulting night, the two together.” seated, to joy in vain pleasure” (Canto 2, p.24). This time, the ruse succeeds and Red Cross abandons Una in anger. Once again, Archimago did not need to resort to persuasive arguments, but instead relied on his magic to accomplish his evil goals. Archimago's methods contrast sharply with those employed by Saruman, as shown by the latter's attempt to persuade Gandalf to join him. Gandalf traveled to Saruman's home, Isengard, seeking answers and wisdom to the rumors regarding the nine ringwraiths and what to do with the Ring of Power. However, it soon becomes apparent that Saruman has abandoned the good side in favor of the rising forces of evil and intends to have Gandalf join him. The resulting encounter is remarkably tamer than in Peter Jackson's film adaptation, where a grand battle of magic takes place. force involving powerful staffs and spinning wizards. Instead, the written scene involves no use of magic, as Archimago might use, but rather a speech from Saruman. He chooses to convince Gandalf with an intellectual argument: “The time of the Elves is over, but our time is near: the world of Men, which we must govern. But we must have power, the power to order all things as we wish, for that good which only the wise can see” (p. 259). The power Saruman is referring to is the power of Sauron in Mordor. Sauron represents absolute evil, but Saruman is more interesting in that his form of evil is more seductive and subtle. Saruman's speech to Gandalf boils down to the classic argument that the end justifies the means: "The Wise, like you and I, can with patience, manage at last to direct his courses, to control him. We can bide our time, we can keep our thoughts in our hearts, perhaps deploring the evils committed along the way, but approving the high and ultimate goal: Knowledge, Rule, Order; all that we have hitherto endeavored to accomplish in vain, hindered rather than helped by our weak or idle friends. There need not be, there will be no real change in our conceptions, only in our means” (p.259). He proposes that by following in Sauron's footsteps, a much simpler strategy than fighting Sauron, they can eventually control his power and achieve an ultimate goal of knowledge, rule, and order. This seductive argument for gaining power is repeated later in the series, first by Galadriel and then by Boromir when he attempts to take the Ring from Frodo. We even find it in other series outside the Lord of the Rings universe, such as in Star Wars when Darth Vader tries to persuade Luke to join him in overthrowing the Sith Lord to rule the galaxy or even in the Harry Potter series, when Grindelwald tries to persuade a young Dumbledore to create a wizarding empire over muggles. In all cases, the approach is to appeal to the intellectual side to rationalize bad actions. As Saruman tells Gandalf: “We can join with this power. That would be wise, Gandalf” (p.259). This form of evil deceives not through magical illusions, like Archimago's methods, but rather through a rationalization of the pursuit of power for a greater good. By tapping into the natural selfish desire for power, evil can cause even those who initially stand for good to beled astray into darker paths. Tolkien depicts a much more sinister version of evil, capable of exploiting the inner desires of good characters to accomplish nefarious goals. This seduction of power is much more nuanced and mimics real life than Archimago's deceptive magical methods. This difference between Archimago's and Saruman's methods can be attributed to the motivational factors of each of the sorcerers. Combing through the first four cantos of The Faerie Queene reveals no immediate motivation for Archimago's deception. When the heroic trio arrives home, they simply seem to enjoy meddling in their affairs, going to extreme ends such as sending sprites to Morpheus and going to the trouble of summoning fake Una. Spenser provides us with no history of Archimago nor is there a rehearsed speech as in the case of Saruman to indicate to readers his objectives. Looking at the results of Archimago's deception, one could infer that he desires Una for himself. This would explain why he is so determined to keep Redcrosse away from Una. Another argument in favor of this hypothesis can be found when Archimago disguises himself as a Red Cross to deceive Una into believing that she has found her companion: "But now it seemed best, the person to clothe in this good knight, his late guest seduced… And when he was satisfied with his free steed, you would have considered him to be Saint George himself” (Canto 1, p.26). Choosing Red Cross as a disguise must have been a deliberate choice, so perhaps Archimago harbored some jealousy against the knight when he saw Una. This choice would have been reinforced when Una was almost too ecstatic about having supposedly found Red Cross. While this explanation may be plausible, a stronger argument can be made that Archimago as a character is much more symbolic in nature than the dynamic player that Saruman is. Archimago seems to serve more as a generic trap for a tempter rather than a nuanced villain. His deception with Red Cross indicates that his main goal is to make the hero fall into sin. This supports Spenser's interpretation of the nature of evil as a rejection of justice and its appeal as primarily a temptation to indulgence, which in this case is the violation of the law of chastity. Understanding the context in which Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene provides us with additional information. an overview of the symbolism and purpose of Archimago in the text. Spenser wrote this series in the late 16th century, after the Protestant Reformation had swept through England. The few not-so-thinly veiled references to the Catholic Church throughout the early cantos indicate one of the main goals of at least the first book, which is to criticize Catholicism and praise the virtues of Protestantism. When we are first introduced to Archimago, he is described as carrying "long black grass" and "at his belt his book which he hung" and "all along the way he prayed as he walked, and s 'is often thumped in the chest, like the one who did it.' repent” (Song 1, p.14). As the footnotes show, these descriptions are attributes of a Roman Catholic cleric. It is also interesting to note that Una is a modification of the Latin word "unus", meaning unity and truth, while the red cross that Redcrosse is named after is a symbol of the Anglican Church. With this in mind, one could interpret Archimago as Catholicism trying to separate the truth from the Anglican Church. This provides Spenser's alternative view of evil as the absence of truth or godliness. While Archimago is more of a static character.