The Faerie Queene, Books Three and Four (Bk. 3 & 4)
These paired Arthurian legends suggest that erotic desire and  the desire for companionship undergird national politics. The maiden  Britomart, Queen Elizabeth's fictional ancestor, dons armor to search for a  man whom she has seen in a crystal ball. While on this quest, she seeks to  understand how one can be chaste while pursuing a sexual goal, in love with  a man while passionately attached to a woman, a warrior princess yet a  wife. As Spenser's most sensitively developed character, Britomart is  capable of heroic deeds but also of teenage self-pity. Her experience is  anatomized in the stories of other characters, where versions of love and  friendship include physical gratification, torture, mutual aid,  competition, spiritual ecstasy, self-sacrifice, genial teasing, jealousy,  abduction, wise government, sedition, and the valiant defense of a pig  shed.------The Faerie Queenefrom Hackett Publishing CompanyGeneral Editor, Abraham StollSpenser's great work in five volumes. Each includes its own Introduction,  annotation, notes on the text, bibliography, glossary, and index of  characters; Spenser's "Letter to Raleigh" and a short Life of Edmund  Spenser appear in every volume.Book OneEdited, with Introduction, by Carol V. Kaske, Cornell UniversityBook TwoEdited, with Introduction, by Erik Gray, Columbia UniversityBooks Three and FourEdited, with Introduction, by Dorothy Stephens, University of ArkansasBook FiveEdited, with Introduction, by Abraham Stoll, University of San DiegoBook Six and theMutabilitie CantosEdited, with Introduction, by Andrew Hadfield, University of Sussex--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.