Dominant, egocentric, proud, and self- willed, but a charismatic woman, Queen Elizabeth I brought England to the seat of power and a new age of English expansion, trade, and peace. Elizabeth represented and continues to represent the greatest monarch in English history. When Elizabeth Tudor became queen in 1558, she was twenty-five years old. She was only the third queen to rule England, her sense of duty was admirable. She was committed above all else to preserving English peace and economical stability, in simpler words she lived and died for her Reign.
In the film 'Elizabeth, the golden age', we can see a superficial interpretation of how to perceive the Reign of Queen Elizabeth I and other perspectives, such as her personality and different problems that she had to face during the period in which her Spanish cousin Phillip II and the catholic pressure wanted to destroyed her Royal power in England. The main actress, Cate Blanchet who interpreted Queen Elizabeth I in the movie, also performed the human characteristics of the Queen, showing to the audience how in those times her sexuality was also a very relevant issue to keep the power. But, why her sexuality and specially her virginity were so important?
To understand why Queen Elizabeth I never married we need to understand the role of a woman during the Tudors period. England was hundreds of years away from women right vote, even longer to the Women's freedom movement. Elizabeth lived in the times where women were governed by the rules of a chauvinist society. For that reason, Elizabeth was raised to believe that women were inferior than men. Understanding this role of women we are able to provide a picture of why Queen Elizabeth was never married, and why her nickname was the 'Virgin Queen'. Another big issue in her life was the fact that all of her immediate male relatives had died and she was answerable to no male member of the family. What if she wanted to marry with somebody? All the situation would have changed?, Elizabeth would have been expected to obey her husband?.
In any case Queen Elizabeth I had to gain the acceptance, obedience and respect despite the fact that she was a woman. Because of that, Queen Elizabeth I had to create a hard personality with different images of herself in order to show that she was a powerful and intelligent woman. Being an unmarried woman, Queen Elizabeth, enjoyed the constant attentions and adulation that she received from her handsome courtiers.
Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen was associated with many men who attended the Elizabeth Court, such as Sir Walter Raleigh, Robert Dudley, Sir Christopher Hatton to name a few. With all the stories of love that she had, can we really believe that Queen Elizabeth remained unmarried to her death, is there any doubt about her sexual life?, is representative to called her the Virgin Queen?. Despite her questionable sexual life, for history, Queen Elizabeth I is remember as the Virgin Queen.
One the one hand, making a kind of funny analogy, we can say that virgins probably have more success when popularity we talk. Even though the following analogy can be a little bit dangerous, we have Queen Elizabeth I "The Virgin Queen" and Maddonna "The pop Queen" who wrote a song about her virginity and how her sexual desition makes her more important among men and sociaty, like our British 'Virgin' Queen.
Finally, I completly recommend the movie for those viewers who want to watch how Cate Blanchet, the main character of the film, turn in another great performance. She inhabits the strengths and weaknesses of Elizabeth I in so convincing a manner that as a psychological portrait of a person it is fascinating viewing, despite the fact that we are not so sure how accurate the movie is.
