Elizabeth portrayed a marvelous ruler for England in times of need. She controlled religious chaos, kept England in an internal and external state of peace for a long time and served a symbol of national unity (Levin 8). Her sex had a great influence on the portrayal of her image of courage, religion, sexuality (Levin 66) and the limitations imposed by her female status continued to be present throughout her reign (Levin 145).
Since her birth, her gender provoked disappointments (Levin 5) once many believed only a boy would secure the succession and avoid civil war (Levin 5). Her mother, Anne Boleyn, accused of being incapable of providing Henry VIII with a son ended up being executed (Levin 6) and it led to the declaration of Elizabeth as
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She replaced the cult before dedicated to the Virgin Mary and used it in her favor, resulting in an ease of the damages caused by the rupture with the Catholic Church (Levin 26), serving as a symbol capable to unity the country under the love for the Queen. The cult of the Virgin Queen also served to symbolize her honor, once the honor of a woman relayed on her virginity (Levin 76) and by preserving one, she preserved the other. In another way to deny her submission to men, she always took the male role of courtship, granting position and power and controlling the level of intimacy and courtship (Levin 126). During her late thirties the marriages negotiations accelerated, once that by having a child she would secure the succession, avoid a civil war after her death and decrease the threat of the Queen being murdered, so some usurper would take the crown, besides the need of England to form an alliance (Levin 54). Elizabeth had many suitors, as the Archduke Charles. The marriage between them would bring advantages for both, England and Austria (Levin 48), but his Catholicism and the fact he would not travel to England to meet the Queen before the wedding, one of her demands, prevented the marriage from happening (Levin 49). After all, in 1574, she started to face in a more serious way the idea of marriage and started the negotiations with …show more content…
The people of English had to accept her as being less of a woman, so she could be their sovereign (Levin 3). In a way to show herself more powerful, Elizabeth called herself king (Levin 1), and she indeed liked to present herself as both king and queen of England (Levin 131). An act passed during Mary I’s rule, the 1554 Act Concerning Regal Power, which declared the separation of the bodies of the monarch (Levin 121) reinforced this image. The separation of the “body natural” and “body political” supported the idea of a female ruler (Levin 122), giving the Queen the political power of a King (Levin 121). Still, the idea of a woman in control of a nation had oppositors; as John Knox, who wrote a book characterizing woman unsuitable to rule and considered it against God’s will (Levin 10). The fact that the power of a monarch could be restrained by the Parliament made woman’s rule more acceptable to the people in England (Levin 11) . However, for religious matters, many still characterized Elizabeth as not qualified to “feed the flock of Christ” (Levin 14). Another way to assure her legitimacy, Elizabeth used the medieval practice of curing
Elizabeth I, daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn, a reputable young queen who was only 25 years old when she earned the title The Queen of Great England in 1558. After being crowned a queen, Elizabeth started bringing success to her people and country that she had been recognized as one of the most successful and significant monarchs England ever had. Her noticeable character was engraved deep inside the history of England as a country and Europe as a continent; her mark could not have been passed by unnoticed, and it is only appropriate to bring light upon it.
Secondly, Elizabethan women were considered to be inferior to men. The life of Elizabethan women was certainly a tough - arranged marriages, subordination to men, short life expectancy, constant child bearing and no right to education, no voting, not political participation, etc. were crucial facts about Elizabethan women’s life. Elizabethan women were categorized class wise as: Upper Class, Royal Class, Lower Class Elizabethan women. Elizabethan women were considered subordinate to men and they were dependent on males. They were also used for alliance with powerful families through arranged marriages not only in the lower class, but also in the ...
“’I am already bound unto a husband which is the Kingdom of England.’” (Briscoe). These words were spoken by none other than Queen Elizabeth I, one of the most prominent monarchs of England. Elizabeth’s childhood impacted the decisions she made as Queen of England. The Queen is well known for the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots as well as for defeating the Spanish Armada. Being the ‘Virgin Queen’ also added to her popularity. Elizabeth’s reign is considered to some to be an “era of glory” (Trueman), but her early years leading up to her reign were less than favorable.
Elizabeth is the daughter of Anne Boleyn and King Henry the 8th. She was declared a bastard in 1537 when her father finally had a male child. After this no one believed that she would ever inherit the throne of England. Elizabeth was very damaged by the fact that her father kept beheading his wives. One of her step-mothers Catherine Howard, who was her mother’s cousin, was kind to her and it deeply affected her that another person she loved was beheaded (Weir Pg. 13). Many people believe that this is one of the main reasons that Elizabeth never wanted to marry. The institution itself was deeply flawed to her reasoning. I would be the same way if every time my father married he got to chop the woman’s head off because he was bored with her.
Gender was the leading cause of distress in the 1500’s: King Henry VIII wanted nothing more than to have a son, yet was “cursed” with the legacy of a frail son, whom died before the age of 18 and two daughters, one of whom broke every convention of her gender. Queen Elizabeth I never married nor had children, yet can be considered one of England’s most successful monarchs. By choosing King James VI of Scotland as her heir, unbeknownst to her, she created the line that leads to the modern Queen of England, Elizabeth II. The question posed is then, how did Elizabeth I’s gender affect her rule?
Gender was the leading cause of distress in the 1500’s: King Henry VIII wanted nothing more than to have a son, yet was “cursed” with the legacy of a sickly son, whom died before the age of 18 and two daughters, one of whom broke every convention of her gender. Queen Elizabeth I never married nor had children, yet can be considered one of England’s most successful monarchs. By choosing King James VI of Scotland as her heir, unbeknownst to her, she created the line that leads to the modern Queen of England, Elizabeth II. The question posed is then, how did Elizabeth I’s gender affect her rule?
Because she never married, Elizabeth had to cultivate her image of perpetual Virgin as an asset. As she did not have a male consort to legitimize her monarchy, she had to exploit her virginity in a way that would reinforce her single rule. The construction of the Virgin Queen drew once again on Ancient culture, as the Neoclassicism of the Renaissance was predominant in the arts. The Sieve Portrait of 1583 probably is the most powerful evocation of the Queen 's virginity (Fig. 2). The sieve that Elizabeth holds in her hand is a reference to an episode of Roman mythology where the Vestal virgin Tuccia had to carry water from the Tiber in a sieve, in order to prove her virginity after she was wrongly accused of being unchaste.1 In the Sieve Portrait, the Queen is represented as being larger and taller than her subjects, suggesting that her virginity makes her superior and more fit to rule, as she never succumbed to the temptations of the flesh.
Queen Elizabeth I is one of the most accomplished rulers of England. Queen Elizabeth I was born on September 7th, 1533. Queen Elizabeth truthfully had a terrifying upbringing. Both her mother and step mom both died from being beheaded. She also spent much of her early life virtually imprisoned.1 Many years later, in 1588 she was declared Queen of England. She came to a country completely divided, in economic turmoil, and distressed by the oppression that Queen Elizabeth’s I half-sister brought upon the people of England.2 Despite the odds being completely against Queen Elizabeth, she was able to bring upon a true golden age for England. The purpose of this essay is to examine her accomplishments in military, economics, and uniting a nation
When Elizabeth was young she was treated unfairly, she was thought of as a joke. She would watch her father, King Henry the VIII of England rule. She remembered how her father would be so sure of the decisions that he made, it seemed as though he would do anything to protect his nation. Even if it meant putting his life on the line. When she was young, Elizabeth wanted to rule just like him. Queen Elizabeth I is deserving of the praise that she receives as a powerful female ruler. One of the reasons Queen Elizabeth I is deserving of the praise that she receives as a powerful female ruler is because of the way Elizabeth was able to deal with religious strife. Another reason Queen Elizabeth I is deserving of the praise that she receives as a
Queen Elizabeth I’s gender appears as one of the main topics in her speeches. Elizabeth’s common mention of her own female gender, despite the fact that she could refer to herself with masculine terms, allows her to use gender stereotypes. Using these stereotypes along with mentions of motherly love and her knowledge of literature and when to manipulate her gender, she can rally others to her side, explain why she delays her answers to Parliament, and explain why she cannot knowingly harm her subjects, but by doing this, she provides people with evidence that women are unintelligent and incapable of ruling.
Elizabeth I was born on the seventh of September 1533 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, England. She was the daughter of King Henry VIII (1491-1547) and his second wife who was once his mistress, Anne Boleyn (1507-1536). However, after speculation of adultery, incest, and high treason, Anne’s marriage to the king was annulled and she was executed. This ultimately declared the young Elizabeth illegitimate. Her father remarried to Jane Seymour (1508-1537), who gave birth to a male heir named Edward VI (1537-1553). By the age of nine years old, Edward was placed successor to the throne after the death of Henry VIII. Unfortunately, he became terminally ill at the age of fifteen and passed away. He named Lady Jane Dudley; his first cousin
Queen Elizabeth I, also known as the “Iron Queen”, was a remarkable woman of her time, she ruled with great power and longevity. She was one of the greatest feminist of time. Coming to the throne in 1558, she took the place of her father, Henry VIII. She was given one of the most difficult jobs fit for a man or King, ruling England. At the time women were second class citizens, they could not vote nor own properties and such. Surprising England with her intelligence and fierce rulings, she changed herself to make better decisions. She proved through her rulings, to everyone that females were strong and could rule just as well as a king. She refused to marry, giving a feeling of “I don’t need a man for anything.” The Queen was responsible for giving females a voice in literature and it is shown through Shakespeare’s writings.
Queen Elizabeth I was born on September 7, 1533, in Greenwich, England. Elizabeth reigned queen of England and Ireland from November 17, 1558 until her death. Elizabeth never married, and died a virgin, sometimes called “The Virgin Queen” (Gale 2). Elizabeth was born to King Henry Tudor VIII and Anne Boleyn; she was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. This paper will prove Queen Elizabeth I was a woman wholly devoted to her country and brought it much prosperity and growth; these qualities made her the most respected leader of the entire history of England.
Queen Elizabeth the first was one of the first woman monarchs to rule alone in the history of Europe. Her character, the way she ruled, and even her gender transformed her country’s go...
Queen Elizabeth I was a legend in her lifetime. In terms of her personality, she was resourceful, determined, and exceedingly intelligent. The most important questions that we want to know about Elizabeth I and her rule are; Why has this monarch, known in her time as the Virgin Queen and Good Queen Bess, caught the public’s attention so persistently? Was her reign really a golden age?