Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene is well known as an allegorical work, and the poem is usually read in relation to the political and religious context of the time. The term allegory tends to be defined loosely, making an entire work an extended metaphor, or even implying "any writing in verse or prose having a double meaning" (Cuddon 20). In true Spenserian style, where everything has a double meaning, both uses of the term allegory are applicable to his writing. Thus, during this essay, it is best not to think of allegory in terms of the size of a body of writing, but as writing with "a distinct second meaning partially hidden behind its literal or visible meaning" (Baldick 6). While reading a political and religious allegory is essential to understanding Spenser's message, reading a moral allegory also provides readers with detailed insight into the text. It is for this reason that I chose to focus not only on the political and religious allegory, but also on the moral allegory which accompanies the episodes of the first book dedicated to Una and Duessa. The two characters represent a multitude of allegories; truth and falsehood, Protestantism and Catholicism being the most important. Una and Duessa represent a binary opposition, and it is for this reason that they help produce an allegorical richness when read carefully. The characters represent contradictory ideas, but neither would be conceivable without the other. The two characters can only function in the poem when they are supported by each other; if a character were to be removed, the binary opposition would be removed and the allegory drawn from Una or Duessa would be less productive. The two episodes I will be investigating are Canto I, Stanzas 4...... middle of paper ...... depicting someone or something more true to life. Roberts is right that “Spenser's allegorical poem requires the active engagement of its reader to produce an allegory” (1). Although he never allows it to be said directly, he is also right to note that a close reading of The Faerie Queene provides a much wider range of allegories. The stanzas examined are somewhat misleading; they are short, seemingly unimportant introductions that do not contribute to the plot. However, in keeping with the true dual nature of Spenser's writing, they bring much more to the text than that. Spenser uses stanzas as a gateway to begin our study of his characters. Each close reading offers the reader a different allegory, and it is through these multiple interpretations that Spenser manages to reveal part of all of his political, religious and moral messages...