Although critical understanding of The Faerie Queene has developed strongly in recent years – especially in relation to the separate books of the poem – the work remains one which is not easily kept in focus as a totality. Its unfinished state is a factor here, as are its sheer scale and inclusiveness; but in addition there continues to be scholarly disagreement about the nature of the ideas which underpin its structure. Is the poem to be regarded as a treatise on the powers of the imagination? is it shaped above all by the requirements of encomium? are its books arranged to form Neoplatonic triads? or does it pluralistically affirm the existence of three distinct valuesystems? Perhaps one reason why A. S. P. Woodhouse's theory about the poem's frame of reference had such lasting influence was that it seemed to offer a clear-cut, well-informed reading of a work which often eludes definition. According to this theory the intellectual scheme is quite precise: Book I moves ‘on the religious level’ and has ‘reference to the order of grace’, while ‘the remaining books’ move ‘on the natural level only’.

The impact made by the theory can be measured by the fact that the relevant article found its way into at least four separate collections of essays on Spenser. But at the same time reservations and qualifications became audible, voiced by Robert Hoopes, Harry Berger, Jr, Alastair Fowler and others. Nowadays few readers would accept the Woodhouse theory in an unmodified form, since Book II clearly includes much more Christian material than Woodhouse allowed.