The Influence Of Gender In Elizabeth I's Rule Of England

In 1508, Queen Elizabeth I had taken the throne to rule England. Many people in that time didn’t believe that a woman couldn’t rule a country. Queen

In the Elizabethan period, women were subordinate to men. They were considered to be ‘inferior' beings who were controlled by their husbands, fathers or any other men in the family. Women were not allowed to hold their own opinions, views or lifestyles. Men had control of everything, some of these included money, politics, work, children, women and home.

In her speech to Parliament in 1559, she claims that she has already been married to England (Document 7). This means that she will take care of England like a dutiful wife would care for her husband. However, because it was published after her death, the purpose of this document was to explain the legacy of Queen Elizabeth, and how great of a ruler she was despite being a woman. Another response to views on women in leadership was the execution of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, due to the threat Elizabeth felt from Mary in an attempt of assassination. This shows how Elizabeth is able to make the most difficult decisions, which is a skill required to have when ruling over a nation. One must also note that women were viewed as weak emotional human beings. But Elizabeth showed that she was not weak by executing her family member and thus, shows her sense of duty to her kingdom. Another example of a positive response was at the start of her reign, when England was on the verge of bankruptcy, due to the financial destruction caused by the previous Tudor reigns. Nonetheless, she managed to make England debt-free, proving that she had the capability of dealing with difficult monetary tasks and therefore, responded to the opinions of women not being able to rule successfully. Finally, before the invasion of the

Elizabeth I was the daughter of King Henry VII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. She ¿˘claimed the throne of England at the of age 25 through the years (1558-1603).Elizabeth I marked one of the highest milestones in english monarch history. She became the first queen in european history to rule a state/country without a male companion. However because this was new idea and it didn't follow the bible directly, it stirred up many controversial opinions amongst the people of England during the 16th-17th century. Near the beginning of her reign a majority of people had the idea that a women should not hold such high power; However as time went on many individuals changed their minds about the idea of a female heir .

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

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

Using these four sources in their historical context, assess how far they support the view that female rule was a serious problem in the 1550s Female rule was a problem for some people, including protestants as they did not believe women should be on the throne as they were considered to be incapable of ruling and looking after the country. Some people also believed that they were unable to control a faction or lead an army into battle; they put across the stereotypical weaknesses of women forwards to put an argument together that woman are weak and cannot rule. Another weakness of the female rule was foreign marriages could weaken England and the laws and customs will be bought over and changed, this is what source A supports – the weakness of women due to foreign marriages. Source D also supports the idea that a female on the throne was a weakness.

Life during the Elizabeth Era men were more respected in society than women. Women during the Elizabeth Era were raised to believe that they were inferior to men. Depending on your social class, determined your role in society. Women weren’t allowed to vote along with the men from lower social classes. Women who were born into the upper class were afforded the right to an education, compared to women of the lower class who were not.

Elizabeth had to embrace female sex roles in order to keep both her advisors and subjects at ease. In handling marriage negotiations, she would play the role of a worthy maiden in order to preserve her freedom: “Elizabeth enjoyed toying with the idea of marriage; but courtship was one thing, while actually to marry and have someone else in control would have been quite another (Levin 132). She summoned masculine strength in her voice when she needed to conquer her womanliness. Through her reign, she did present herself as a double image—metaphorically and literally— such as in her speech ‘To the English Troops at Tilbury, Facing the Spanish Armada’ where Elizabeth stated about having “the body of a weak and feeble woman, but…the heart and stomach of a king” (1083), showing that while “weak and feeble” in body, the person who would take arms and lead her people into battle was herself, not as a queen, but with the spirit of a king; the tone of her speech too is spoken in a powerful, masculine voice, which further complicates the subject of gender and power during the

Elizabeth recognised that husbands in the 16th century were deemed to hold dominion over their wives, and that any marriage would inevitably lead to her loss of her authority. Elizabeth also regularly encountered debates over female leadership and whether or not her status as a woman would compromise her position as a monarch. ‘Young, female and powerful: Was Elizabeth I a feminist?’ is a blog post by Kate Wilkinson, a somewhat unreliable journalist and writer at the Royal Museums Greenwich, discussing the effect of gender on Elizabeth’s leadership and representation, the inequalities of male and female rulers, and Elizabeth’s reaction to critics insisting her gender should excuse her from ruling, and her brand and label of ‘The Virgin Queen’. This label became a political function for Elizabeth as it suggested morality and purity, with these traits, as well as her appearance and feminine presentation, Elizabeth garnered support for her reign, “She had to present herself without the traditional

The subject of gender appears as one of the main topics these three samples of Elizabeth I’s speeches. While she commonly mentions gender to sound humble and motherly, she also combines her gender with her knowledge to drive her points when explaining or avoiding topics, influencing the people’s opinion, and rallying the people. Some of these ideas have been captured in her portraits.

As a result of this, women were viewed with a lower intelligence and it was assumed that they had weak morals (Thomas, 1998). Their role in life was to bear children, boys to be specific (Loades & Trow, 2011). Instead of subjecting herself to these gender roles, Elizabeth refused to marry; she did not want to

politically. Although she had, at times, a horrible temper and a disagreeable personality, and suffered through many physical and psychological problems as an adult, Elizabeth proved to be one of the most remarkable monarchs in English history. Firstly, I will discuss Elizabeth’s family (including her many stepmothers), and then I will talk about her relationship with her siblings under their power. Thirdly, I will examine religion and how it affected her opinions and politics during her reign. Lastly, I will look at foreign politics of the time and some of Elizabeth’s decisions

The Elizabethan Era was undeniably more partial to males than to females. Women were often characterized as dependent, passive and obedient (Weiner

In her motivational speech, the monarch, Queen Elizabeth I attempts to persuade her misogynistic contemporaries that she is indeed a honorable leader, capable of defending the country and people in it from any would-be invaders. The queen convinces her soldiers of this parallel-reality by equating herself with a man. Elizabeth advocates that she is willing to die with her people in order to express her ability to rule like a king, which appeals to the pride of her misogynistic subjects. She then acknowledges the claim that she is unfit to lead her queendom, and swiftly turns around and dispels the rumor by declaring that she is as much a man as any ruler of another nation, and as such they would be downright foolhardy to so much as throw a menacing glance at her mighty and prosperous queendom. Queen Elizabeth I adopts authoritative tone to continue to grip the hearts of her soldiers and motivate the men to fight for queen and country.