To what extent was Elizabeth I able to create a positive image throughout her reign?

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To what extent was Elizabeth I able to create a positive image throughout her reign?

Elizabeth I is most famous for her image as the Virgin Queen and Gloriana. Until recently historians have almost always seen Elizabeth as an amalgamation of these two images, and have scarcely questioned whether or not they were just illusions, or reality. The question of how well Elizabeth I lived up to her image, and how well she maintained it throughout her reign, especially in later years, has now become a topic that historians have a wide range of theories and answers about, that don’t necessarily correspond.

The assumption is that Elizabeth I created her own image, but there is debate over whether or not she did so. She strengthened it with her speeches and actions, but to a degree it was forced upon her at the beginning of her reign, and councillors advised her what direction to take a lot of the time. Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558 having being called a bastard, and “daughter of a whore” from the age of three. Catholics believed her illegitimate and Mary Queen of Scots the rightful heir, whilst her gender presented a great problem in Tudor patriarchal society. As a woman she was now associated with the largely disastrous reign of her sister Mary I, which didn‘t add to people’s acceptance of female rulers.

Although devout catholics would always see her as an illegitimate usurper, she could still persuade the majority of the English people who were more nationalistic than catholic, aswell as those who were protestant. She did this through her resemblance to Henry VIII. On the day of her coronation she wore her bright red hair down to play on the nostalgic feeling people had for her father and to emphasise her purity (hair in the style of a maiden). Derrick Murphy says that “Elizabeth herself was keen to reinforce the message that she was her father’s daughter”, and this, and various speeches that she made(“we hope to rule, govern … as the king my father”) show that she was prepared to emphasise parts of her character in order to keep her popularity. When she came to the throne Elizabeth and her advisors made sure that she pandered to what the English people wanted.  

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John Knox had also been decrying the “monstrous regiment” of women before Elizabeth came to power, but now he changed his tune, backtracking and coming to the conclusion that Elizabeth would be a good Queen as she was a protestant heroine and would rule as fairly and virtuously as a Deborah or Astraea. This view of Elizabeth was taken up by her subjects, as A.L.Rowse relates “[the pageant] showed a return to the Protestant theme: the Queen was Debora the judge, restorer of the house of Israel.” He goes on to document Elizabeth’s response, saying that “we see that ...

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