The Woman Ruler in Queen Elizabeth Essay Example for Free

The Woman Ruler in Queen Elizabeth Essay Elizabeth I is considered as one of successful monarchs in the history of England. The period where she ruled is deemed as England’s Golden Age where extravagance and luxury flourished as expressed in literature through writers like William Shakespeare, and territorial expeditions through explorers like Francis Drake. In other words, there was a breathtaking cultural and political achievement that the England people experience after a century of chaos from a former ruler. This age is always attributed to the reign of Elizabeth I because prior to this, in the sixteenth century, people lived through the ruthlessness of Mary I, Elizabeth’s sister where she prosecuted all Protestants in the country. Elizabeth I became a queen when she inherited her sister’s throne after she died. At the onset, she was confronted by the challenge and opposition of those who thinks that a woman cannot qualify as a monarch. She has proved England and the world that she can and a woman can become a ruler, and successful at that. She is known to be a different kind of queen. She is â€Å"quick-witted, clever and able to use feminine wiles to get her own way. Elizabeth could be as ruthless and calculating as any king before her but at the same time she was vain, sentimental and easily swayed by flattery (Briscoe). † Her brilliance and ability as woman ruler are specifically suggested by her writings and her speeches for the whole of England. As mentioned earlier, there was a contemporary assumption in England that women are naturally incapable of a monarchical rule; Queen Elizabeth established her magisterial authority. She constructed a â€Å"positive representation of feminine power from a melange of popular beliefs about exceptional women, such as her identification with the Virgin Mary (Levin , et al 192). † Elizabeth I as A Powerful Monarch As a queen she had to fulfil responsibilities that were most difficult to fulfil as a woman. But the whole England saw her as having all the dignity and ability as a ruler that resulted a very prosperous and successful reign. When England was being confronted by the forces of King Phillip II of Spain when he decided to attack England and suppressed their engagement in the trade between the New World. He set off the Spanish Armada to meet the British troops. Before the war, Queen Elizabeth I meet the British troops and addressed them a speech that displays optimism and trust of a ruler upon her citizenry. â€Å"My loving people, we have been persuaded by some, that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you, I do not desire to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear; I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects (Speech to the Troops at Tilbury). † Moreover, as a ruler she also displayed her concurrence and selflessness among the British troops when she said â€Å"And therefore I am amongst you at this time, not as for my recreation or sport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of battle, to live or die amongst you; to lay down, for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honor, my blood, even the dust (Speech to the Troops at Tilbury). † Despite being a woman, she always asserted her capability to rule as that of equal to men when she said that â€Å"I know I have but a body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England, too (Speech to the Troops at Tilbury). † This reiterated the fact that even though she is regarded as weak and incapable of ruling the kingdom, that doesn’t decreased her confidence in her ability to successfully rule England. She has proven that beyond doubts in her capability, she remains unafraid in facing everything from great responsibilities as a monarch to battles against the invaders. As a queen, she has nothing in mind but service that would bring England into a status that unimaginable before her reign. Her dedication to her people and her responsible leadership is expressed in her farewell speech to the parliament â€Å"There will never Queen sit in my seat with more zeal to my country, care to my subjects and that will sooner with willingness venture her life for your good and safety than myself. For it is my desire to live nor reign no longer than my life and reign shall be good for you. And though you have had, and may have, many princes more mighty and wise sitting in this seat, yet you never had nor shall have, any that will be more careful than loving (The Farewell Speech). † Queen Elizabeth as a Religious Leader While there were many chaos regarding the two opposing forces of Catholicism and Protestantism, Queen Elizabeth made little modification than what she was expected. What she did was just to imposed that prayers and services be rendered in English rather than in Latin. Moreover, she wanted that the Church be under the English Monarch, therefore establishing herself as a religious reader. While she acknowledges the Almighty God’s power as always reiterated in her farewell speech â€Å"Neither do I desire to live longer days than I may see your prosperity and that is what my only desire. And as I am that person still yet, under God, hath delivered you and so I trust by the almighty power of God that I shall be his instrument to preserve you from every peril, dishounour, shame, tyranny, and oppression, partly by means of your intended helps which we take very acceptably because it manisfesteth the largeness of your good loves and loyalties unto your sovereign (Farewell Speech),† she nevertheless want that the government will prevail over religion. Queen Elizabeth as Chaste and Virgin While most of her people and members of the Court persuaded her to marry and begot a child to become the heir of the throne when she dies, she remained unmarried throughout her lifetime. Moreover, she also had several suitors from different parts of England and the world such as France, Spain, Scotland, Sweden, and the Roman Empire. She has remained unmarried because she believes that marriage is not the best for her and for England. In her response to the proposal of Erik of Sweden she said that â€Å"And while we perceive there from that the zeal and love of your mind towards us is not diminished, yet in part we are grieved that we cannot gratify your Serene Highness with the same kind of affection. And that indeed does not happen because we doubt in any way of your love and honour, but, as often we have testified both in words and writing, that we have never yet conceived a feeling of that kind of affection towards anyone (Response to Erik of Sweden’s Proposal). † One by one, she rejected all her potential husbands not on the man’s weaknesses but based on her adverse thoughts and principles on the consept of marriage. In her refusal to marry and secure the line of the Tudor, she was regarded as a capricious woman insensitive of England’s welfare and future. When she was being pressured by the Parliament to marry before her reign ends, she replied â€Å" now that the Publick Care of governing the Kingdom is laid upon me, to draw upon me also the Cares of marriage may seem a point of inconsiderate Folly. Yea, to satisfie you, I have already joyned myself in marriage to an Husband, namely, the Kingdom of England And to me it shall be a Full satisfaction, both for the memorial of my Name, and for my Glory also, if when I shall let my last breath, it be ingraven upon my Marble Tomb, Here lieth Elizabeth, which Reigned a Virgin, and died a Virgin (Response to Parliamentary Delegation on Her Marriage, 1559). † Throughout her lifetime, she has proven to be a Queen that receives full credit for such a successful and prosperous reign that made England in the pinnacle of greatness in the world. Works Cited Briscoe, Alexandre. â€Å"Elizabeth I: An Overview†. BBC History. 01 October 2008. http://www. bbc. co. uk/history/british/tudors/elizabeth_i_01. shtml â€Å"The Farewell Speech†. Modern History Sourcebook:Queen Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533, r. 1558-1603) Selected Writing and Speeches. 01 October 2008. http://www. fordham. edu/halsall/mod/elizabeth1. html#Response%20to%20Erik%20of%20Sweden%27s%20Proposal Levin, Carole, Carney, Jo Eldridge, et al. Elizabeth I: Always Her Own Free Woman London: Ashgate Publishing, 2003. â€Å"Response to Erik of Sweden’s Proposal†. Modern History Sourcebook:Queen Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533, r. 1558-1603) Selected Writing and Speeches. 01 October 2008. http://www. fordham. edu/halsall/mod/elizabeth1. html#Response%20to%20Erik%20of%20Sweden%27s%20Proposal â€Å"Response to a Parliamentary Delegation on Her Marriage, 1559†. Modern History Sourcebook:Queen Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533, r. 1558-1603) Selected Writing and Speeches. 01 October 2008. http://www. fordham. edu/halsall/mod/elizabeth1. html#Response%20to%20Erik%20of%20Sweden%27s%20Proposal â€Å"Speech to the Troops at Tilbury†. Modern History Sourcebook: Queen Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533, r. 1558-1603) Selected Writing and Speeches. 01 October 2008. http://www. fordham. edu/halsall/mod/elizabeth1. html#Response%20to%20Erik%20of%20Sweden%27s%20Proposal