Malecasta: The Opposite of Chastity

Malecasta is a villainous character that appears in book 3 of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene.

When we encounter Malecasta in The Faerie Queene, we learn that she is basically the embodiment of a lack of chastity. She is an example of what not to do.

First, we find six of her knights beating up the Redcrosse knight because he will not admit that Malecasta is more beautiful than his own lady.

Later, she makes sexual advances on Britomart, seemingly unaware that she is a woman.

While Britomart doesn’t show any interest, Malecasta is persistent, and eventually visits Britomart in her bed. This causes Britomart to throw a huge fit, which causes Malecasta to faint.

See our complete list of Arthurian characters for more entries like this one.

Arthurian Bibliography

• Norris Lacy, Geoffrey Ashe, Debra Mancoff – The Arthurian Handbook (Second Edition)
• Alan Lupack – The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend
• Ronan Coghlan – The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends
• Anonymous – Lancelot-Grail, the French Vulgate
• Sir Thomas Malory – Le Morte d’Arthur