Elizabeth I Gender

Elizabeth’s character was a mystery to most people at the time she inherited the throne. She had learned to keep her own council, control her emotions, and always behaved cautiously, thus being able to disprove all rumors about her. Always dignified and stately, she could be vain, willful, dictatorial, temperamental, and imperious. She had courage, both in her decisions, and in the face of danger. Possessing an innate of humanity, she was not normally cruel, unlike most rulers of her day. Most regarded her to be unusually tolerant in that age of religious conflict. She saw herself as one who was always honest and honorable, who

“ The belief that women were inherently inferior in intelligence, strength, and character was so persuasive that for men like Knox, a woman ruler was almost a contradiction in terms” (“Documents for Chapters 5&6”). In the 16th century, women were looked upon as a gender that should stay in the house and work, not have power and rule over a country. Discussing the govern of Queens during the 16th century, such as Mary Tudor, Lady Jane Grey, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I, allowed prejudices to be lessened but never completely be erased. No matter how these four notable ladies came into power, the accomplishments they overcame, achieved and wrote about proved to be great and substantial in making history as it is written today.

In the sixteenth century the role of women in society was very limited. Women were generally stereotyped as housewives and mothers. They were to be married, living their life providing for her husband and children. The patriarchal values of the Elizabethan times regarded women as the weaker sex.’ Men were considered the dominant gender and were treated with the utmost respect by females. Women were mainly restricted within the confines of their homes and were not allowed to go school or to university, but they could be educated at home by private tutors. Men were said to be the ones to provide for their families financially. Women were often seen as not intelligent. Property could not be titled in the name of a female within the family. Legally everything the female had belonged to her husband. Poor and middle class wives were kept very busy but rich women were not idle either. In a big house they had to organize and supervise the servants.

Elizabeth showed much leadership and strength in defeating the Spanish. She heeded Machiavelli 's advice and was able to drive England towards a prosporous Golden Age of wealth and power.

The main ideas about gender against Elizabeth’s reign were related to the Church. When she began ruling in 1558, Elizabeth immediately became Head of

One of the biggest challenges Elizabeth faced during her reign was the misogyny against her brought about by religious institutions and figures. Bishops from the Church of England showed this by writing in The Second Book of Homilies “but as for wives, they must obey their husbands, and cease from commanding, and perform subjection.” (doc 3) this statement told women that they were not equal to men, that men must make all the decision for the women leaving women only to do as asked by a man, therefore clearly stating women are incapable of ruling a country or even a household the archbishops of York also believed that women should not lead but rather stand behind their husbands Nicholas Heath said

During the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I experienced a lot of oppression during her reign in England. Many religious figures opposed the idea of a female ruling a country, saying that it is against God’s will. Other citizens of the country, specifically personal associates of Elizabeth, however, stood behind the queen and admired her bravery, confidence and love for England. Elizabeth responded to the gender ideas in an authoritative way, She had to live with female stereotypes, and used it to her advantage when possible but she asserted that the stereotypes did not completely apply to her and that she was perfectly capable of ruling England.

During Elizabeth I’s reign, she was forced to face many stereotypes in England. In document 1, Knox expressed that women had no place to hold a high position of any form. This belief was prominent throughout the entirety of the 16th century. Many people doubted Elizabeth, justifying these criticisms through their

Elizabeth’s strength, independence, and her intense willpower to assure that her marriage is coordinated only by love demonstrate the feminist portrayal of Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s desire for

Throughout Europe there was a heated reaction to Elizabeth’s rule because of her gender. Many English religious leaders and reformers expressed much discontent with a female ruler. The figureheads were discontent because not only

It is undeniable that the Catholic threat represented a serious threat to the Elizabethan church. However, it was not always a more serious threat than the Puritan threat. In fact, it could be argued that towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign, neither Catholicism not Puritanism represented a threat anymore, because she dealt with most opposition effectively. Nevertheless, in the beginning of her reign, Catholicism represented one of Elizabeth’s most threatening counterparts, partly due to the remaining influence of her sister, Mary I as well as Mary Stuart, the Queen of Scots. Similarly, in the middle years of her reign, Catholicism still represented a much more serious threat than puritanism, as seen through the Northern Rebellion of the nobles

In the Elizabethan Era, men and women were treated completely different and seen as not the same. They basically saw the men as the earner and “money maker” whereas the women were viewed as just the housewives and mothers. The women were always expected to care for the children and nothing else because they felt that women could only raise children. People during this time viewed men as the superior sex because they were stronger and more tough than women were. Women, on the other hand, were seen as inferior and that they were fragile and had to be taken care of by their husbands or any other male that was somehow related to them.

This paper will examine the ways in which Elizabeth I’s gender created challenges in her role as Queen, that male rulers would have encountered, and how those choices led to her remain unmarried until the end of her reign. Essentially,

According to Pitt, the people of that society believe that “man represented the supreme height of God`s creation, while women were inferior to him.” (Pitt, 16) and in the New Testament advised wives to submit to their husbands. In the traditional view of the hierarchical Elizabethan society, women were expected to be obedient. For the patriarchal society to function, women had to submit to the will of men. Rose advised: “The ideal woman was weak, submissive, charitable, virtuous and modest.”.

As a queen, you make lots of important public appearances to either make people feel a certain emotion (happiness or sadness)or to show the importances of something. Queen Elizabeth I did all of these things, but some appearances were more important than others. Especially her famous speech at Tilbury in 1588. At this point in English history, there is a lot of drama and war happening in and around England. Just a year before this speech occurred, Queen Elizabeth had sentenced Mary Queen of Scots to be killed for treason against England. The Spanish used this time of inner turmoil to force their way into Europe and invade, which they had been wanting to do for many years prior. The Spaniards reason for invading was to take over and put a Catholic