Female were never given important roles during Edmund Spenser's time. Usually portrayed as helpless and fragile, the females were hidden in the background and only provided humorous relief. In "The Faerie Queene" there are few female characters, the males take the lead. Within the first canto it is evident that the lead female character will be the inner voice that the reader will hear as the poem progresses. The provider of truth, Una aids Redcross Knight in his quest to save a King and Queen being held captive by a dragon. Within the poem Una is the representation of innocence and truth, traits that are symbolic of the characteristics that must be held by a Christian in order to reach holiness. .
"Oft fire is without smoke, and peril without show:" (I.i.12 103-104) Early on in the poem Una is urging Redcross to be wary of his choices, warning him that although the paths and caves he chooses to enter may not seem dangerous, the true dangers are hiding within. This reigns true for many of the characters Spenser places in the poem. Innocence is not always true and truth is not always innocent. Una represents the truth that Redcross must find in order to achieve true holiness and conquer the dragon that holds Una's parents captive. Una urges Redcross to "Add faith unto your force, and be not faint," (I.i.19 165) meaning Redcross must believe in his self and his faith to aid him in his battles. .
Una's innocence saves her from terrible beasts and wicked men. In Canto iii of Book I Spenser displays how truth's innocence holds power over natural law, (Richard Jordan, Una Among the Satyrs, 123-132). .
"A ramping Lyon rushed suddainly, .
Hunting full greddie after salvage blood;.
Soone as the royall virgin he did spy,.
With gaping mouth at her ran greddily, .
His bloudie rage asswaged with remorse,.
And with the sight amazd, forgat his furious forse" (I.iii.5 38-41, 44-45).
The lion with his intent to eat Una stopped in his tracks when he witnessed Una's beauty.
