This is a collection of instances of decapitation and dismemberment in Book I of the Faerie Queene. It is intended to visualize when Spenser specifies how certain characters are defeated. Error, for example, is decapitated without prior dismemberment in the first canto by RCK; Orgoglio, however, is dismembered by Arthur before being decapitated. Arguments may be constructed as to the significance of a character’s defeat in one motion, such as Error by RCK, or the methodical dismemberment, such as Orgoglio by Arthur. This data only includes instances from Book I of the Faerie Queene, but the same method can be applied to the remaining books of the poem.
