 The poem celebrates, memorializes, and critiques the House of Tudor (of which Elizabeth was a part), much as Virgil's "Aeneid" celebrates Augustus' Rome.The "Aeneid" states that Augustus descended from the noble sons of Troy; similarly, "The Faerie Queene" suggests that the Tudor lineage can be connected to King Arthur.The poem is deeply allegorical and allusive; many prominent Elizabethans could have found themselves partially represented by one or more of Spenser's figures.