Developing the Image of the Virgin Queen: The Writings and Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I

• Název práce v češtině: Vývoj zobrazení panenské královny: písemná tvorba a portréty královny Alžběty I
• Název v anglickém jazyce: Developing the Image of the Virgin Queen: The Writings and Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I
• Klíčová slova: Alžběta I.|anglická renesance|alžbětinská doba|raně novověká literatura|poezie|reprezentace|portréty|Tudorovci
• Klíčová slova anglicky: Elizabeth I|the English Renaissance|the Elizabethan Era|early modern literature|poetry|representation|portraits|the Tudors
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2019/2020
• Typ práce: bakalářská práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Ústav anglofonních literatur a kultur (21-UALK)
• Vedoucí / školitel: PhDr. Soňa Nováková, CSc.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno a potvrzeno stud. odd.
• Datum přihlášení: 14.11.2019
• Datum zadání: 14.11.2019
• Schválení administrátorem: zatím neschvalováno
• Datum potvrzení stud. oddělením: 18.11.2019
• Datum a čas obhajoby: 03.09.2020 00:00
• Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: 11.08.2020
• Datum proběhlé obhajoby: 03.09.2020
• Odevzdaná/finalizovaná: odevzdaná studentem a finalizovaná
• Oponenti: Mgr. Helena Znojemská, Ph.D.

Zásady pro vypracování

The subject of the thesis is the self-presentation of Queen Elizabeth I as the Virgin Queen. Elizabeth managed to transform herself from the sister of a king and then a queen expected to marry, to the Virgin Queen, who ruled without a husband by her side for forty-four years: “In a span of forty years an individual has been transposed into a symbol.”[1]This thesis examines the methods she used to achieve such a transition; primary focus is given to her own writings, the portraits she created of herself in her own texts, and the visual representation of her public royal body.
Elizabeth represented herself as a feeble woman and a strong monarch both at once. Her public persona was carefully crafted through her public appearances, royal portraits, and her own writings. The development of her public image can be traced via these, especially considering the propagandist character of her portraits which highlight her Virgin Queen image, and her own writings in which she purposefully manipulates her gender to suit her narrative. This thesis examines how these two artistic expressions correspond to each other and help Queen Elizabeth create the Virgin Queen. In both art forms, Elizabeth presents herself as a feeble woman, either through the use of white complexion or feminine silhouette, or by admitting that she is indeed a woman in her speeches or poems. Nevertheless, she manages to defy the patriarchal society of her time despite acknowledging this ‘weakness’. Both her portraits and her writings show how she manipulates her symbolic personality into a powerful monarch who, as the mother of the country, has its best interest at heart. This dichotomy is traced in the thesis via the examination of her portraits and a close reading of her writings. For the purposes of the thesis these have been divided into four categories: political texts, correspondence, semi-private texts, and private texts because their nature has a crucial effect on the way they represent the queen. In addition, she managed to successfully develop this symbol throughout her reign to keep it up to date with the current situation. The thesis supposes that it is exactly the above mentioned dichotomy that enabled her to create an unparalleled symbol out of herself as a result of clever manipulation of contemporary aesthetics, Tudor ideology and gender expectations.
Suggested structure
Introduction
The Representation of Queen Elizabeth I in Public
Royal Portraits
Public Appearances
Common Features and Aims of Her Writings
Elizabeth’s Education
Translation Work
Political Texts
Song on the Armada Victory, December 1588
Queen Elizabeth’s Speech at the Closing of Parliament, March 29, 1585
Correspondence
Sir Walter Raleigh’s letter to Queen Elizabeth and Her Answer
Letter from Princess Elizabeth to Queen Mary, August 2, 1556
Semi-private Texts
‘Twas Christ the Word
The Doubt of Future Foes
Written on a Window Frame at Woodstock
Private Texts
On Monsieur’s Departure
When I Was Fair and Young
Conclusion

[1]Roy Strong, Gloriana: the portraits of Queen Elizabeth I. (London: Pimlico, 2003)

Seznam odborné literatury

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