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
Like her father Elizabeth took England into a different direction. She would be attributed for many advancements in the English kingdom. Under Elizabeth Arts flourished, exploration heightened, literature increased, and foreign trade succeeded. Elizabeth like her grandfather won the hearts of her subjects. Perhaps one of the more outstanding accomplishments in Elizabeth’s reign is peace. Although she was raised Protestant, unlike her brother she did not condemn and punish Catholics. She took a more peaceful approached and tried to bridge a barrier amongst Protestant and Catholics that allowed them to live in peace. Elizabeth may have had many intelligent advisors, but she did not allow herself to be dominated and repressed. Equally intelligent, Elizabeth was able to further support the suffering of her kingdom. She failed to supply proper income to fund her wars, but she was able to sustain the wealth within her own kingdom. This alone made Elizabeth the final Tudor, a successful
If the nobles of England could have foreseen that Elizabeth would elude her obligation to marry and produce a (preferably male) heir, she would probably never have been allowed to mount the throne. Her marriage was thought to be as much a matter of course, and as necessary, as her coronation. Ultimately, one historian, S. Doran reminds us of why there is so much debate- because “there is very little evidence” for a definitive answer. It could have been her supposed implacable hostility to marriage; a determination to rule alone; a bad state of health; traumatic childhood memories; or merely that Elizabeth never found a candidate approved by the Council who she thought was worth considering.
At such a young age to witness her own mother and stepmother that she loved die could be a possible reason why she never got married. Another possible reason is that Elizabeth saw how terrible and rebellious the country had gotten when Mary I married. When Elizabeth took the reign she didn’t want to depend on someone else to control the country, she wanted to control it herself. Elizabeth had many affairs with men and kept them as “romantic friendships”, but she truly loved Robert Dudley, even thought that was the love of her life, she still couldn’t marry him. Elizabeth also used her unmarried status as a diplomatic tool. Since she was not married, she would make negotiations to get married to prevent wars, but at the end she always found a way to cancel off the
Queen Elizabeth was an intelligent, courageous person. She could be described as the ideal queen of all times. Her bravery is one of the most admired traits which caused everyone in England to love her, based on her grand encounters. It was quite a popular detail of Elizabeth’s life th...
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?
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
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.
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.
Daughter to a tyrant and sister to a Protestant persecutor, Queen Elizabeth I strayed from her predecessors’ oppressive authorities, commanding her people rather with the weight of her words than the force of her fists. Yearning for a male heir to succeed him on the throne, her father King Henry VIII was crestfallen with Elizabeth’s birth, so when Elizabeth was only three years old, Henry sentenced Elizabeth’s mother Anne Boleyn to death on false accusations of treason, witchcraft, incest, and adultery. As a consequence, Henry’s marriage to Anne was annulled, and Elizabeth was deemed an illegitimate successor to the throne. Although her early life was gravely marked with such great obstacles already, Elizabeth was fortunately born in the heart
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...
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 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?
To place this assumption into retrospect, in Shakespeare time, from the 1558 to the 1600s, England society was ruled by Queen Elizabeth. Although a women took ownership of the country, in Elizabethan’s society married women and minor girls were entirely in the power of their husband and guardianship of their father. None the less, even after Elizabeth I took the throne, she was expected to wed and “have her rights to rule limited or completely take up by her husband” (Wagner, 21). Women living in a society built upon Renaissance beliefs were only m...