Description
Book SynopsisFocusing on criticism of Elizabeth I by her contemporaries, this is a collection of essays considering various forms the dissenters used for their critique.
Trade Review“This extremely valuable collection of essays speaks clearly over silences imposed by the discretion of earlier scholars, mostly male, brought up to believe that one does not speak ill of a lady. . . . [T]he essayists of
Dissing Elizabeth, casting off the oppressive sort of courtesy that declares a woman fragile by treating her as if she were, show the queen in all her intelligence, toughness, and political effectiveness by pointing out just whom she angered and what they did about it. The collection is also valuable in that it deals with some less than canonical but culturally important texts, such as sermons, popular verse, and with visual representations, as well as with works by well-known authors, including that famous mixed message to a maiden ruler, Spenser’s
Faerie Queene. . . . This collection will certainly enrich the study of the queen’s reputation, but it will also be of interest to students of censorship and public response to governmental efforts to control access to information and freedom of speech.” - Anne Shaver,
Journal of English and Germanic Philology“
Dissing Elizabeth looks at Elizabeth’s contemporary reputation, and finds critics among artists, poets, preachers, and collectors of commonplaces.” - Christopher Haigh,
English Historical Review“This collection of eleven essays proposes to explore ‘the dark side of the cult of Elizabeth’ and to mount a new historicist challenge to ‘the canonical secondary texts in Elizabethan studies.’ ” - Simon Adams,
History Today“This extremely valuable collection of essays speaks clearly over silences imposed by the discretion of earlier scholars, mostly male, brought up to believe that one does not speak ill of a lady. . . . [T]he essayists of
Dissing Elizabeth, casting off the oppressive sort of courtesy that declares a woman fragile by treating her as if she were, show the queen in all her intelligence, toughness, and political effectiveness by pointing out just whom she angered and what they did about it. The collection is also valuable in that it deals with some less than canonical but culturally important texts, such as sermons, popular verse, and with visual representations, as well as with works by well-known authors, including that famous mixed message to a maiden ruler, Spenser’s
Faerie Queene. . . . This collection will certainly enrich the study of the queen’s reputation, but it will also be of interest to students of censorship and public response to governmental efforts to control access to information and freedom of speech.” - Anne Shaver,
Journal of English and Germanic Philology"This engaging and scholarly collection has uncovered numerous hitherto neglected expressions of disrespect toward the virgin queen. . . . By documenting the surprising extent of anti-Elizabethan discourse, and showing how this was invariably focused on the queen’s gender,
Dissing Elizabeth provides important new insights into the ‘shadow’ side of Elizabeth’s reign."—Philippa Berry; King’s College, University of Cambridge
"Walker’s collection of often amusing and always compelling essays adds unexpected shadows to the face of England’s Gloriana; even the queen’s admirers will welcome the chiaroscuro, the greater depth and texture of the resulting portrait."—Anne Lake Prescott, Barnard College, Columbia University
“
Dissing Elizabeth looks at Elizabeth’s contemporary reputation, and finds critics among artists, poets, preachers, and collectors of commonplaces.” -- Christopher Haigh * English Historical Review *
“This collection of eleven essays proposes to explore ‘the dark side of the cult of Elizabeth’ and to mount a new historicist challenge to ‘the canonical secondary texts in Elizabethan studies.’ ” -- Simon Adams * History Today *
“This extremely valuable collection of essays speaks clearly over silences imposed by the discretion of earlier scholars, mostly male, brought up to believe that one does not speak ill of a lady. . . . [T]he essayists of
Dissing Elizabeth, casting off the oppressive sort of courtesy that declares a woman fragile by treating her as if she were, show the queen in all her intelligence, toughness, and political effectiveness by pointing out just whom she angered and what they did about it. The collection is also valuable in that it deals with some less than canonical but culturally important texts, such as sermons, popular verse, and with visual representations, as well as with works by well-known authors, including that famous mixed message to a maiden ruler, Spenser’s
Faerie Queene. . . . This collection will certainly enrich the study of the queen’s reputation, but it will also be of interest to students of censorship and public response to governmental efforts to control access to information and freedom of speech.” -- Anne Shaver * Journal of English and Germanic Philology *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction: The Dark Side of the Cult of Elizabeth / Julia M. Walker 1
History and Policy
The Bad Seed: Princess Elizabeth and the Seymour Incident / Sheila Cavanagh 9
Why Did Elizabeth Not Marry? / Susan Doran 30
The Royal Image in Elizabeth Ireland / Christopher Highley 60
"We shall never have a merry world while the Queene lyveth": Gender, Monarchy, and the Power of Seditious Words / Carole Levin 77
Pamphlets and Sermons
"Soueraigne Lord of lordly Lady of this land": Elizabeth, Stubbs, and the
Gaping Gvlf / Ilona Bell 99
Out of Egypt: Richard Fletcher's Sermon before Elizabeth I after the Execution of Mary Queen of Scots / Peter E. McCullough 118
The Power of the Poets
"The Image of this Queeneso quaynt": The Pornographic Blazon 1588-1608 / Hannah Betts 153
Queen Elizabeth Compiled: Henry Stanford's Private Anthology and the Question of Accountability / Marcy L. North 185
"Not as women wonted be": Spenser's Amazon Queen / Mary Villeponteaux 209
The Image of the Queen
Fair Is Fowle: Interpreting Anti-Elizabethan Composite Portariture / Rob Content 229
Bones of Contention: Posthumous Images of Elizabeth and Stuart Politics / Julia M. Walker 252
Secondary Works Cited 277
Notes on Contributors 293
Index 295
