I am a great fan of Alison Weir’s biography of Queen Elizabeth. In it she theorizes that Elizabeth was wary of childbearing as she had seen many poor outcomes as she was growing up. Weir presents a picture of Elizabeth as strong, but womanly. She was very intelligent and translated the Bible and other books from Latin to English. She was fluent in Latin, actually. But she also liked to flirt and to dance. She loved beautiful clothes. Weir presents her as a man’s woman. She preferred the company of men. The only women in her court were her ladies in waiting. Yet when her favorite one died, she died soon after. As she got older it became more difficult for her to retain the respect of her male courtiers.
But for me she was a role model from the time I was about 12. That’s when I started reading biographies about her, starting with “Young Bess.” At a time when women had no power, I chose a queen as my role model. She was unique in her time and would be unique in ours as well.
The white makeup was worn to conceal scars from her bout with smallpox, so far as I recall. She also did see England, the realm, as her husband. And given that she knew she was a catch for any male she married, she preferred to retain control of her body and her kingdom by not marrying. Who can blame her?
I am a great fan of Alison Weir’s biography of Queen Elizabeth. In it she theorizes that Elizabeth was wary of childbearing as she had seen many poor outcomes as she was growing up. Weir presents a picture of Elizabeth as strong, but womanly. She was very intelligent and translated the Bible and other books from Latin to English. She was fluent in Latin, actually. But she also liked to flirt and to dance. She loved beautiful clothes. Weir presents her as a man’s woman. She preferred the company of men. The only women in her court were her ladies in waiting. Yet when her favorite one died, she died soon after. As she got older it became more difficult for her to retain the respect of her male courtiers.
But for me she was a role model from the time I was about 12. That’s when I started reading biographies about her, starting with “Young Bess.” At a time when women had no power, I chose a queen as my role model. She was unique in her time and would be unique in ours as well.
The white makeup was worn to conceal scars from her bout with smallpox, so far as I recall. She also did see England, the realm, as her husband. And given that she knew she was a catch for any male she married, she preferred to retain control of her body and her kingdom by not marrying. Who can blame her?