The Faerie Queene I: Book 1 Cantos 1-6

      In canto 4 of Book 1 of The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser, there is a lot of focus on the seven deadly sins, and the characters Spenser uses to personify the sins. The first of which is pride. Lucifera, queen of hell, daughter of Pluto and Prosperina, crowned herself queen, though she “had no rightful kingdom, or heritage of any native sovereignty at all.” The character is introduced looking into a mirror, sitting in her throne above a dragon with a hideous tail. Pride is introduced looking into a mirror, and is pleased by what she sees. She enjoys her beauty as much as how wrathful she is in all her glory.

     Pride is a tyrant, and her ideology misplaced. So, what is pride? Pride is a sin; it is not truly evil. Sin is an archery term for missing the mark. No sin is truly evil; it is all misplaced and without moderation. The problem with misplaced pride is that you must be analytical of yourself to avoid missing the mark. The mark is your goals. Within the story's context, Una is one of the main protagonists, and the part she plays in Spenser’s allegory is as the one truth. Among all your micro goals in the grand scheme of your life, the one truth should always be your goal.

     Pride misses the mark by failing to be truthful with herself. If you are not being truthful, you see what you wanna see in the mirror. That can lead to destruction and the negative feminine, which is chaos. There is no two way street with a mirror, you don’t ever have to see the little things that are slightly off. It is those who choose to see the truth who should take pride in themselves.

     If you can be analytical of yourself in a way that is safe, then your achievements are that much greater for it. Which is reminiscent of Disney, or, if you are familiar, A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas. Most every Disney princess has a moment where she looks into her reflection and something significant happens for her character arc. When Belle comes across her reflection at the beast’s castle the mirror is broken and her image is scattered. She sees the Beast’s flaws and helps him grow past them while she looks at her own flaws and does the same. Whereas, Gaston carries around a mirror like Lucifera and will never choose to look past his glory and greatness.

     Those without any pride at all end up like those with too much, like the knights who died in Lucifera’s castle for glory’s sake, or the Beast before Belle showed him he can be both flawed and good. On the other hand, Lucifera and Gaston will never hit the target.