Reading Notes: Fairie Queen - Britomart Part A

From Stories from the Faerie Queene by Mary Macleod

Part A

• Starts in the middle of something - not the beginning of the whole story
• Originally written in poem form - this version is not 
• Storybook potential? - Maiden acting as a knight (Britomart)
• Also a super badass knight. Wins every battle. Refers to her "lady"
• Exaggerated physical descriptions - Maiden is glowing and golden, man is brutish and disgusting
• Formal, flowery language
• Plot jumps around. Two separate groups of characters?
• Based on the title I had assumed that Britomart was the fairie queen, but it seems like she's maybe just a chapter of the book 
• Didn't work out with the invasive tower woman!
• Britomart shows clear distaste for "women's work" 
• Long blocks of dialogue. Old English. 

Fire by Tiago Cabral via Flickr

• "to upbraid so scornfully" I love it 
• Jumping around from present to flashbacks 
• Animal symbolism? Ermine
• Very hetero despite the gender bending aspect  
• Reads more like a novel than the other stories I've read
• A happy-ending prophecy takes the pressure off. Not a lot of suspense.
• Girl power element
• Castle of Churl Malbecco for storybook
• or How Britomart Walked through Fire