Abstract
Appearance has a strong influence on characters' actions. A person or thing may appear one way, but its meaning may be quite different. This paper shows how, in the "Faerie Queen", Edmund Spenser employs the use of appearances to give characters and passages in his poem double meanings. Sometimes the message of the poem is clearly expressed, but the second meaning is only suggested by subtle means. Other times throughout the poem we can clearly see during the development of the story how characters make irreversible mistakes based on appearance. Often times throughout the story things are not how they appear.

From the Paper
"Appearances can be deceiving. In Book II, we are introduced to Sir Guyon and the Palmor. Sir Guyon represents temperance or self-restraint. The Palmor is his mentor or the voice of reason. Sir Guyon has been commissioned by the Faerie Queene to search for and destroy the Bower of Bliss. The focus of Book II is the controlling of human desire. The force throughout book II that seems to be the underlying cause of misery is Acrasia, a beautiful enchantress. Book II centers around temptation. Many things tempt the characters throughout the poem because they appear so pleasing to the senses. We will see how over indulgence can divert a character away from his chosen path."

Tags:guyon, palmor, bower, una, acrasia