The Role of Nurse Glauce in the Faerie QueeneThe Role of Nurse Glauce in the Faerie QueeneIn 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 Britomart becomes sullen and withdrawn after the vision, but does not know why; she is described as becoming ‘sad, solemne, sowre, and full of fancies fraile … yet thought it was not love, but some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’ (Spenser 3.2.239-43). Glauce attempts to comfort Britomart in her despair, and is seemingly the only person to whom Britomart can turn. She is affectionate to Britomart, and refers to Britomart as her ‘deare daughter’ (Spenser 3.2.267). Like a mother, Glauce worries about the cause of Britomart’s depression and, while knowing with an apparent mother’s instinct that the cause must be a man, she thinks the circumstances behind it to be much worse than they actually turn out to be. Glauce is relieved when she finds out the true origin of Britomart’s despondency, saying, “of much more uncouth thing I was affrayd; / of filthy lust, contrarie unto kind: / but this affection nothing straunge I find” (Spenser 3.2.354-56), and then proceeds to give a long list of all the worse-case scenarios she had envisioned for Britomart’s torment. She finishes her speech by vowing to help Britomart find Artegall (Spenser 3.2.406-14), thereby providing the utmost of support to the young girl.
Glauce’s words do give hope and encouragement to Britomart, if only temporarily, and she is finally able to sleep after several days of insomnia. The scene in which Glauce reaches out to Britomart in her despair and tries to find its cause is reminiscent of a young girl’s coming of age into womanhood. Going further than a young woman dealing with the first unrecognizable pangs of love, the scene also makes references, of a subtle nature, to puberty. When Britomart describes how this new feeling of love affects her, she refers to her ‘bleeding bowels’ (Spenser 3.2.344) and says “that all [her] entrailes flow with poysonous gore” (Spenser 3.2.346). These lines have a double meaning; they give a dramatized description of the way love makes Britomart feel, but they also allude to what is physically happening to her body as she becomes a woman. And Glauce fulfills the role of the mother figure, by trying to help Britomart through the changes she is experiencing and providing the support she needs.
After being momentarily cheered by Glauce’s vow to help her find Artegall, Britomart again sinks into despair. Now Glauce takes the role of mother figure one step further, and tries to heal Britomart’s lovesick heart with various methods of rustic medicine. She attempts many different spells, using an array of natural ingredients whose effects are meant to cure suffering of the type from which Britomart suffers. However, ‘full many wayes within her troubled mind, / Old Glauce cast, to cure this Ladies griefe: / Full many waies she sought, but none could find’ (Spenser 3.3. 37-9). Glauce, exhausted of every remedy she can think of to help Britomart, finally decides to take Britomart to Merlin, the maker of the enchanted mirror which first showed the image of Artegall to Britomart, in effect the cause of Britomart’s despair. This is the ultimate act of motherly love, admitting that one can do no more
‘Cries “All right, young girl! I will see you soon! We have been waiting to see you all alone in the cave’ ‘Glauce calls on Artegall and the others to help her escape.’ – [D&D1]
The scene, however, ends very suddenly and I think it could have been worse with the inclusion of Gwynn herself or the more prominent Quicksilver, but it does not. A few moments later, as everyone starts to panic, Britomart says “All right, young girl! I will see you soon. We have been waiting to see you all alone in the cave’
The image, taken at the same time as her mother’s gesture to Britomart in the quest for the mirror, makes me think that even the death of another character was not enough. The scene is too short for the moment to have had a lot of content, but I wish it had more. The first thing is, they did it by going into the mirror themselves this is something which you could never tell how much is in it. However, it was at a very early age’ who the picture was given that mattered, the one who brought Britomart’s grief to her. It was there that Britomart could have finally found herself. For a short while after, in many episodes, Gwynn showed her her brother’s last wishes, and Britomart went on to bring joy to him. For me, this makes no moral sense. Glauce, the Mother of the Cave is not a character I like, it is an action that I would want to take after all this has happened. It is also a fact that Gwynn is not the only one who knows of this, it’s the first character that has the same name and surname as Glauce.
‘In the series finale, Glauce says that when Marooned was first appearing, she decided to go into the Mirror to find Artegall and to tell him his last wishes. In other words, when she gets there, she is not the only female character to go through the same. I wonder when she had her magic back?
✓If it was to be used for anyone it would be something really funny. A girl like Marooned could only be an interesting character (although I think Marooned would have been amazing!), it would be cool to watch this one come to life. It would be more than enough.✓
‹This is exactly what makes the Mira. What is up with the one that is supposed to be fighting with Marooned?’―
✓Gwynn made the decision not to do anything, but to fight with Amulets and others. The fact that she was in the Mirror to find Artegall after all that happened makes me think she would not have done anything. I could’ve saved her.’
‘When Marooned was just beginning to be introduced, Glauce asked Glauce what the name of her mirror meant. Glauce said “Well, it means the right hand or left hand of the Queen and that’s it. It