Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth I was the Queen of Ireland and England for a long period from 1558-1603. She was the fifth monarch of the Tudor dynasty. Her rein is also referred to as the Golden Age and it was this period that most writers like William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and Christopher Marliwe all flourished. Although much is talked about the period of literature that bears her name, there is very little recognition of her skills as an author. According to Sharpe (2008), most critics only looked at her as an inspiration for various writers as mentioned above but generally knew her as an author of some translations and some mediocre poems. However, it should able understood that her speeches and letters were also very good pieces of writings that had influence on people. Such pieces were well crafted to an extent that there were many requests for revised publication (Sharpe 187).  

She defined the age in which she ruled as the Golden age. Her rein was marked with so many honors and made he more popular than her sister. During her early days as an author, she wrote articles that resembled school exercises that were not perfectly done. The best thing however was that they responded to some of the political issues that existed during her brother's reign. This clearly demonstrated that she could use language to conceal as much information as she could reveal. She also had the capability to thread a fine line between self-abnegation and self-assertion. There was a time she wrote to her brother reminding him of their protestant and humanistic background where she used the techniques of copious variation and parallelism that she had learned. She wrote,

"..for though from the grace of the picture the colors may fade by time, may give by weather, may be spotted by chance: yet the other nor time with her swift wings shall overtake, nor the misty clouds with their lowerings may darken, nor chance with her slippery foot may overthrow." (Bradner 22)

In addition she looked at her period of rule as a blessed period where she was guided by God in all that she did. For instance, she says "..be born a servitor of almighty God." (Bradner 34). This means that her rein was special and guided by God and that's why it was the Golden age. No one else had witnessed such blessings and protection before. She considered herself so much appreciated by God. Even though she inherited a tattered realm where there was a dissension between protestants and Catholics, she managed to bring them together at some point. Most Catholics did not like her claims of the throne in the beginning. After sometime, continental problems also added more salt to the wound. However, she proved to be calculative and calm by employing distinguished and capable men to assist her in royal prerogative.

There was a time when a delegation form the parliament went to her asking her to marry soon. They also requested that she was not to marry a foreigner. The main reason for this push was to ensure that she left behind a male child who would have guaranteed them of succession. One good thing about her is that she did not show her resistance practically or chase them away. Instead she gave them a speech in which she thanked them for their love and reminded them of how much she loved them. In the end she said "...that a marble stone shall declare that a Queen having reigned such a time lived and died a virgin." (Bradner 23). This insinuated her intentions and plans were less inclined to marriage. This was therefore a decision she had made from long a go and therefore she could not accept any proposal from any man. On several occasions, she revised the speeches she wrote to the parliamentary delegation and even printed them just to demonstrate how firm her decision was and she had no intension of changing his position on the matter.

The reason as to why she received so much protest from the Catholics is because she used her image as a virgin queen to have Protestants to worship her as a replacement of the Virgin Mary. On several occasions she claimed that she was never in love neither was she the mother of her people. At one point she said "though my death you may have many stepdames, yet shall you never have a more natural mother than I mean to be unto you all." (Bradner 45). This is an indication that she loved all of her followers even though she could never be a biological mother to anyone of them. She was contented with leading the people by herself and was never interested in getting married.

Religion was a very important aspect of Queen Elizabeth I's rein. Even though she seemed leaned to Rome more than he public opinions and policies demonstrated, there were to main guiding principles that guided her ruling and belief on religion (Rice 32). First, she was dedicated to create the church of England as a bridge between the Purifin beliefs and the extremes of Catholic. She therefore held a middle course and made it known to the parliament through one of her speeches that she could have lived to prescribe to them if she had not been persuaded that her ways were the true will of God. She therefore assured them that there will never be any single point where she will tolerate new-fangleness or animate Romanists rather, she will guide both of them by the will of God's holy rule.