Week 12 Reading Diary: Britomart, Part 2

(Britomart, by Walter Crane, via Wikimedia Commons)

I think I loved the second half of this unit even more than the first! Britomart has completely and utterly won my heart, and Spenser's The Faerie Queen is now definitely on my list of things to read when I actually have time to read things for myself. It's an actual need for me to find out what's going to happen to Amoret--which is actually one of the ideas that I was playing around with as a storytelling idea as I was reading. Some other scenes that really hit me were:

1) The procession from the Evil Enchanter's castle: I feel like this could be really interesting if you drew from present-day metaphors for all of the traits that were represented in the procession. It would also be cool to bring Britomart into the present day and figure out why she might be trapped in a room with two doors that she's afraid to open. This scene actually reminded me a lot of the Lady and Tiger puzzles I used to do when I was younger--they're fun, if you like messed-up logic...

2) The tournament. There are so many ways this could be done: as a present-day thing (Medieval Fair, anyone?) or another type of contest/fight/etc. Or told from a different point of view (I vote Amoret's; I love Amoret). Basically, though, the fact that Britomart went through all of the trouble of fighting against all of the other competitors just to ensure that Amoret would have the chance to be admired and chosen as the most beautiful and faithful lady is one of my favorite things. Their friendship was really heartwarming, and I think it would also be cool to put a bunch of how much they meant to each other in the story.

3) The scene where Artegall realizes Britomart's a girl. And he just kind of kneels and looks at her for a long, long time. It's so hopelessly romantic, and I am so hopelessly sappy this late at night, but like I said this unit made me really happy and this page in particular...so, yeah, Britomart is awesome...

Source: Stories from the Faerie Queene by Mary Macleod, with drawings by A. G. Walker (1916). Untextbook.