Evil As The Passage Way To Self-Sacrifice

Evil as the Passage Way to Self-Demise

In the Renaissance texts The Faerie Queene, The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, and The Duchess of Malfi the presence of evil is recurrent. Although in The Faerie Queene the main character is not inherently evil nor does he succumb to evil, contrary to the other texts, he also encounters evil characters that play a role in their own demise. Although the motives that lead each character to commit sin vary, the end results remain the same. In each poem evil proves to be self-destructive, therefore projecting the tragic fate the evildoers wish to bestow onto others, back onto themselves.

In The Faerie Queene, an epic poem, the Red Crosse Knight happens upon numerous evil entities that try to harm him and

Spencer describes the House of Pride as, “a stately Pallace...which cunningly was without morter laid/Whose wals were high, but nothing strong nor thick/And golden foile all over them displaid” (1.4.4). Although the House looks lavish, the foundation it is built upon is detrimental to the structure itself. This is representative of those inside the House of Pride. The Red Crosse Knight’s Dwarf is terrified when he discovers a dungeon full of all the victims of pride. Spencer makes it clear that these victims played a vital roll in their demise through their evilness in the form of

Ferdinand not only kills Bosola, but also helps to kill his brother. Ferdinand’s last words are, “My sister, O my sister! There’s the cause on’t/Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust/Like diamonds we are cut by our own dust” (5.5.67-69). Ferdinand recognizes that he and his brother were the culprits for their own demise. Although killed by Bosola, it was their own evil that enabled them to self-destruct independent of any outside harm. Both brothers receive the evil that they hoped to bestow upon the Duchess. Ferdinand, who wishes to make his sister go mad, ends up going mad himself. The Cardinal dies because of his own doing by telling everyone in the palace to go to bed. He also dies while screaming for help, unlike the Duchess who accepts her death bravely and