Research Paper on:
Repentance/ Spencer, Donne and Montaigne

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despair, but it should also then proceed to repentance. Sixteenth century writers Edmund Spencer, John Donne and Michel de Montaigne addressed the issue of repentance at length in their work.  An examination of three representative works from each writer suggests that they saw repentance in a similar light, as something essential to the spiritual health of the soul, but something  that is also a gift from God and not within the power of mere human beings. Edmund Spencer addressed the topic of repentance in Canto X of Book  I in his epic poem, "The Faerie Queene." The hero of Spencers poem is the Redcrosse Knight. Read as a romantic saga, the plot of Book I consists of  a series of chivalric exploits. However, on a symbolic level, the narrative depicts a Christians struggle for spiritual salvation. In Canto X of Book I, Spencer addresses the topic  of repentance. The Redcrosse Knight and his lady travel to the House of Holiness because they realize that the soul of the good knight is suffering. The knight is healed  through the power of repentance. This is accomplished by subjecting the knight to many ordeals and tortures, prescribed by his physician, Patience. And sad Repentance used to embay His  bodie in salt water smarting sore, The filthy blots of sinne to washe away, So in short space, they did to health restore The man that would not life,  but earst lay at deathes dore (Book I, Canto X, stanza 27). As this suggests, Spencer sees repentance with pain. He pictures the Redcrosse Knight expressing his repentance in  physical acts of contrition. His suffering is so great that he would often "roar" like a lion in his torment. However, the knight emerges from this processes with his body