The Role of Nurse Glauce in the Faerie Queene

In Book Three of The Faerie Queene, the character of Glauce plays an important role in aiding Britomart, the main character, to set off on her journey. Britomart, who represents Spenser 's idea of ideal Christian chastity, confronts some challenging and poignant issues before she heads off on her adventure; namely, she sees a vision of her future husband in an enchanted looking glass, and does not quite know how to handle the feelings of all-encompassing love that arise in her. The terror, doubt and confusion she experiences are similar to what is felt by any young girl embarking on the emotional rollercoaster of adolescence, but with the added factor of the spectral figure she sees in the mirror. In Cantos Two and Three of Book Three, the sections that deal with Britomart 's background, the only member of her natural family that is mentioned is her father. Therefore, in the absence of a natural mother, it is Glauce, Britomart 's nurse, who steps in to fill the role. Glauce, whose name ‘associates her with the mother of the goddess Diana and … with the owl, companion of Minerva ' (Spenser notes 807), works to help Britomart through her time of intense change, behaving towards the young girl as a mother would to her own duaghter. Although a seemingly secondary character in the scheme of Book Three of The Faerie Queen, as she only appears in the two cantos mentioned above, Glauce 's role as a mother figure to Britomart - a role she fulfills to the utmost degree - is a vital component behind setting the story in motion. Glauce exemplifies the role of motherhood in many different ways in her treatment of Britomart. First of all, she is immediately aware of Britomart 's change in attitude after viewing the image of Artegall in the enchanted mirror. Britomart becomes sullen and withdrawn after the vision, but does not know why; she is described as becoming ‘sad, solemne, sowre, and full of fancies fraile … yet thought it was not love, but some melancholy '

Cited: Spencer, Edmund. "The Faerie Queene: Book Three". Ed. M.H. Abrams, et al. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2000. 783-862. "The Faerie Queene". Renescence Editions. 1995. University of Oregon. November 13, 2002.