Elizabeth I
(1533-1603)
The Sixteenth Century
Texts
Contexts
1557
Tottle’s Songs and Sonnets
(printing poems by Wyatt,
Surrey)
1558
1563
John Foxe, Acts and
Monuments
1567-68 Mary of Scots, forced to
abdicate; succeeded by
her son James VI; Mary
imprisoned in England
1567
Arthur Golding, translation
of Ovid’s Metamorphoses
1570
Elizabeth I
excommunicated by Pope
Pius V
1578
John Lyly, Euphues
1572
St. Bartholomew’s Day
Massacre of French
Protestants
1580
Montaigne, Essais
1583
Irish Rebellion crushed
Ca. 1587-90 Shakespeare begins career
as actor and playwright
Mari dies; succeeded by
Protestant Elizabeth I
1584-87 Sir Walter Ralegh's
earliest attempts to
colonize Virginia
Texts
Contexts
1588
Thomas Hariot, A brief and
True Report of…Virginia
1586-87 Mary, Queen of Scots, tried
for treason and executed
1589
Richard Hakluyt, The
Principal Navigations…of
the English Nation
1588
Failed invasion of the Spanish
Armada
1590
Sir Philip Sidney, Arcadia
1595
Ralegh’s voyage to Guiana
1595
Sidney, The Defense of
Poesy
1599
Globe Theater opens
1596-1598
Spencer, The Faire
Queene, Books4-6(with
Books1-3); Ben Jonson,
Every Man in His Humor
1603
Elizabeth I dies; succeeded by
James VI of Scotland(as
James I), inaugurating the
Stuart dynasty
Plot Overview
• This film details the ascension to the
throne and the early reign of Queen
Elizabeth I.
• The Main Focuses:
1.The endless attempts by her council to
marry her off
2.The Catholic hatred of her
3.Her romance with Lord Robert Dudley.
• When catholic Queen Mary dies the
succession goes to Elizabeth, the
protestant half-sister Mary was not
prepared to execute.
Movie clip:
• The new queen finds herself surrounded by
advisors, some supportive but some plotting to
restore the catholic line by almost any means.
• She is also under pressure to marry and produce
an heir, but her lover Lord Robert Dudley is not
considered suitable.
• Elizabeth realizes she has some decisions to
make, the most important being who rules
England.
Memorable Quotes
• Elizabeth: When I am queen, I promise...
to act as my conscience dictates.
Queen Mary: Well do not think to be
queen at all!
→self- conscious performer
Movie clip
(Ring)
• Elizabeth: This is the Lord’s doing. And it
is marvelous in our eyes.
→ gratitude
→ faithful , full of piety
Movie clip
• Elizabeth: Although my affection for you is
undiminished, I have, after an agonizing
struggle, determined to sacrifice my own
happiness for the welfare of my people.
Duc d'Anjou: Oh! My God, ha-ha...
→ very concern about her people
• Aided by Sir Francis Walsingham she
manages to kill all her enemies and
ascends the throne as the "Virgin Queen".
→ sharp contrast between her attitude
toward her people
and her enemies.
Film Mistakes
1.Sir William Cecil was only 38 at Elizabeth's
accession. In the film, he was an old man
over 50. Besides, he was never retired by
Elizabeth, but remained her chief minister
for the rest of his life.
2. Elizabeth was perfectly well aware that
Lord Robert Dudley was married.
Movie clip
3. Lord Robert Dudley was created Earl of
Leicester in 1564 and remained in favor
with Elizabeth for the rest of his life,
although she did refuse to marry him.
4. Elizabeth was arrested and sent to the
Tower in 1554, but was then placed under
house arrest at Woodstock (not Hatfield)
for four years.
5. Sir Francis Walsingham was only a year
older than Elizabeth.
6. Although King Phillip II did send an
ambassador to congratulate Elizabeth
while Mary was dying, he did not propose
marriage until a year later.
7. Elizabeth did not start
wearing wigs and heavy
makeup until later in her
reign. Elizabeth very
much wanted to keep the
image of an eternally
youthful Queen, both for
her own vanity, and to
belie the fact that she
was aging, and possibly
weak or ill.
8. The Pope did not excommunicate
Elizabeth, thus making her fair game for
Catholic assassins, until 1570.
9.
• Elizabeth was nearly twenty years older
than bisexual transvestite Duke of Anjou,
and they never met in person.
Movie clip
• He went on to become King Henry III of
France, and his younger brother became
Duke of Anjou. It was this Duke that
Elizabeth met, and they actually got along
very well and even talked about getting
married.
10. Mary of Guise did die mysteriously in
1560, but far from being near victory, she
was actually on the verge of defeat by an
allied army of Scottish rebels and English
troops.
11.The fictional character
• Isabel —The Queen’s maid
• Monsieur de Foix —
The ambassador of France
12. Duke of Norfolk
• Far from being the sinister
plotter portrayed in the film,
he actually seems to have
been somewhat weak and
easily dominated.
13. Horse-drawn carriages
• In the scene where Elizabeth is
being taken to see her sister,
Mary, she is in a horse-drawn
carriage. Horse-drawn
carriages, however, were not
introduced to England until late
in Elizabeth's reign.
14.Lady in waiting
• Elizabeth's lady in waiting Cat Ashley was
actually much older than her and took care
of her when she was a child, not the young
woman portrayed in the film.
15.The death of Bishop
• Bishop Stephan Gardiner is named as one
of the traitors and is mysteriously
murdered near the end of the film. In fact,
he died from natural causes in 1555 during
the reign of Mary I.
16. The Church of England
• In one scene, Elizabeth proposes to the
bishops of England that they create a
"single Church of England." In reality, the
Church of England existed since as early
as the 7th century.
Movie clip
17. Walsingham
• Elizabeth knighted Walsingham in 1573.
At the time depicted in the film he was still
plain Francis Walsingham.
18. The Death of Norfolk
• Walsingham did not trap and arrest
Norfolk. Norfolk was executed in June
1572. Walsingham was then in Paris as
English ambassador and returned to
England in May 1573.
19. The Parliamentary Bill
• The parliamentary bill to establish the
Anglican Church was forced through the
first session of Parliament by Cecil (not
Walsingham), using more complex means
than that portrayed in the film.
20.The War in Scotland
• Queen Mother Mary of Guise did
garrison Scotland with troops, but
Elizabeth sent a fleet, not an army.
Movie Trailer
- The Golden Age -
Thanks for
your listening!