Elizabeth Marriage example essay topic

"This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes", declared Elizabeth Tudor, (Bassnett, p. 31) on the unusually warm and sunny November 17th of 1558. The slender and beautiful 25-year-old, with flowing red hair which, on this day, shone in the sunlight, had just been pronounced Queen of England, at her residence in Hatfield. Little did she know that she was about to embark on a forty-five year long reign that would make her one of England's most fascinating, popular, influential, and even notorious rulers. It has been said that Elizabeth I was unnecessarily violent, strong-willed, and "manly".

However, it is evident that her childhood was unstable and difficult, based on her father's behavior toward her mother and other women, and Elizabeth's change in status that occurred after her mother's death. These incidents presumably shaped Elizabeth to be shrewd and cautious while making decisions, and also probably affected her rather controversial choice to never marry. On the night of September 7th, 1533, Anne Boleyn, the mesmerizing and handsome second wife of Henry V, had "taken her chamber" at Greenwich Palace in order to give birth to the highly anticipated son and heir to the throne of England. She suffered all through the night and finally produced a child, alive and healthy- "as goodly a child as hath been seen", wrote one observer (Erikson, p 26) but alas, a girl. Everyone was terribly disappointed, but King Henry was shocked and irate. He lashed out and harshly punished the astrologers who had predicted he would have a son, as well as the doctors and midwives who had been present at his child's birth.

It was believed by the populous that God was mocking or punishing him for going against the church and divorcing his first wife. From her first breath, Elizabeth was unwanted, but she was still given lavish privileges such as a well-run nursery, countless servants, velvet nightgowns, and little purple satin caps. After Elizabeth's birth, her half-sister Mary Tudor, from Henry's previous marriage to Katherine of Aragon, was demoted from the title of Princess Mary, to simply Lady Mary, and was made Princess Elizabeth's servant, despite the fact that she was used to having over 160 servants of her own. This was undoubtedly very painful for Mary, and paved the way for the rocky relationship between Mary and Elizabeth later on.

It is apparent that for the first few years of Elizabeth's life, she was well taken care of, happy, and oblivious to her parents deteriorating marriage. Henry had grown rather sick of Anne, and carried on flirtations with Jane Seymour and Margaret Shelton. Anne became pregnant several times, but continued having miscarriages. She then became pregnant again in November of 1535, soon after the much rejoiced death of Katherine of Aragon. This meant that the child would be born without the stigma of bastardy, and would be the true heir to the throne. It was Anne's last chance to save the marriage, and possibly her life, but she unfortunately lost the child which, "midwives admitted had the appearance of a male".

(Erikson, p. 28) After this insurmountable tragedy, Henry decided that he must be rid of Anne; that she was a witch who had held him spellbound and unfairly charmed and beguiled him. Anne was accused of a number of crimes, including adultery, witchcraft, incest, plotting to kill the king, and even of poisoning Katherine of Aragon. According to Lord Hussey, and "All the evil deeds ascribed to women since the time of Adam and Eve were nothing in comparison of that which has been done and committed by Anne the Queen". (Erikson, p. 34) Henry maintained that Anne had seduced and slept with over a hundred men, including Henry Norris, a servant, Mark Seaton, a musician, and most sensationally, her brother George Boleyn. This scandal was obviously of much interest to the court, and rumors and speculations spread rampantly.

Anne became known as "the Great Whore", and Elizabeth, thought to be the daughter of a lowly servant or even the product of incest became known as "the Little Whore". Gossip even spread that she was not actually the daughter of Anne Boleyn, and therefore not at all royal or noble by any means. Needless to say, she was declared a bastard and relegated to the same status as her unfortunate half-sister Mary. Less than three months following Anne's miscarriage of the male child, after her endurance of relentless gossip and trials, she was convicted of adultery and witchcraft, and sentenced to death.

On the day of her execution, Anne appeared to be serene, dressed in a gray gown with her black hair swept back. The condemned adulteress and traitor was beheaded while thousands watched, and her headless body was placed in a crude box and buried without ceremony. At the time, Elizabeth was three years old. The most immediate result on the young princess was her instant change in status.

She was now considered to be of lower standing than her half-sister Lady Mary, and she was placed out of sight at meal times. The money for her supplies was drastically cut, and her father "all but disowned her" (Erikson p. 37) as he was more focused on his new wife, Jane Seymour, who he married a mere 10 days after the death of Anne. Elizabeth rarely saw her father, and when she did, he must have been a rather frightening character-extremely tall, and becoming mountain ously fat. He also encouraged corporal punishment and instructed the caretakers of his children, to "restrain them from vices by convenient discipline and castigation". (Weir, p. 61) Over the years, the forgotten bastard who once had a veritable army to look after her, now had one governess, Lady By ran, who in a letter to Lord Cromwell, stated that Elizabeth "hath neither gown, nor kirtle, nor petticoats, nor no matter of linen nor smocks, nor kerchiefs, nor rails [night gowns], nor body stitches [corsets], nor handkerchiefs, nor sleeves, nor mufflers, nor big gens [night caps]" (Bassnet p. 25) Elizabeth's descent into poverty, combined with the fact that she was a virtual orphan, made Elizabeth a somber and serious child.

According to Thomas Wriothesley, the young Elizabeth was "born with gray hairs", (Erikson, p. 42) implying that she was wise beyond her years, and also possibly that she seemed too grave and cynical to be merely a child. It is evident that the Elizabeth acknowledged the fickleness of fortune, both in her own life, and probably her mother's as well. She wrote this poem on a wall at Woodstock: Oh fortune, thy wresting wavering stare Hath fraught with cares my troubled wit, Whose witness this present prison late Could bear, where one was joy's loan quit. Thou caused st the guilty to be loosed, From bands where innocents were inclosed. And caused the guiltless to be reserved, And freed those that death had well deserved. But herein can be nothing wrought So God sent to my foes all they have thought.

(Bradner, p. 1) This shows that fortune was something Elizabeth considered to be a large part of her life. Elizabeth had had her share of both good and bad fortune in her life, and she recognized it as a dynamic and ever-changing factor. It was something very powerful, that no one could escape, and it could harm one as well as help one. This was probably the reason Elizabeth clung to the factors she could control, such as whether or not she married, and her authority over the kingdom. This poem could also relate to the plight of Anne Boy eln, with the bad fortune of miscarrying a child, and all that followed. The death of her mother had other effects on Elizabeth as well.

All throughout her life she demonstrated a fear and hatred of marriage that was probably a result of this event. The most obvious example of Elizabeth's phobia of marriage was that she herself refused to marry. As her childhood friend Robin Dudley recalled many years later, Elizabeth at age nine had told him, with great solemnity, that she would never marry. She kept this promise her whole life. In an address she once made to Parliament she declared, "When I shall let out my last breath, it shall be engraved on my marble tomb, 'Here lies Elizabeth, who reigned a virgin and died a virgin. ' " (Marcus, Mueller and Rose, p. 45) And, although it is debatable whether or not Elizabeth died an actual virgin, she certainly never married.

Although it is not documented, to Elizabeth marriage probably represented something closed off and frightening, like a tiny cell from which you could not escape. Marriage would get one killed if one made a wrong move. It limited one's power, and put one at the mercy of one's spouse. Elizabeth's distaste for marriage was such that she aggressively encouraged others to remain unmarried as well. This was demonstrated when she found out that Robert Dudley had secretly married Lattice Knolls in 1576, she was completely outraged, but was, with some difficulty, dissuaded from having them both thrown into the Tower. She did however, imprison women of the court when they married without her permission.

Another possible reason that Elizabeth never married is that she simply relished her independence and exclusive power over the kingdom too much to be willing to share it with anyone else. "Her mind has no womanly weakness", wrote her teacher Roger Ascham with the unselfconscious sexism of the age, "her perseverance is equal to that of a man, and her memory long keeps what it quickly picks up". (Neville, p. 23) Elizabeth was an intelligent, strong, and self-reliant woman. She had control over an empire with great potential, and probably knew that marriage would destroy her power. This was also the first time in her life when she was in a position of authority. The feeling of power was obviously a feeling she liked, and wanted to hold on to.

Once as she spoke to Parliament Elizabeth said, "Concerning marriage, well of late, I have already joined myself in marriage to a husband-namely, the kingdom of England". (Marcus, Mueller and Rose, p. 45) Throughout her long reign, Elizabeth stayed committed to England, and didn't have to worry about relinquishing her power, as she would have had she married. If Elizabeth seemed afraid of commitment, she had reason to be. Three years after her father's death, at age 14, she supposedly became involved with 38-year-old Thomas Seymour, her stepmother Catherine Parr's husband. Although it has not been recorded, it is evident that this could have been a result of feeling the need for affection that she didn't receive from her parents.

She was also probably in search of the father figure that Henry V never adequately provided. After Catherine unexpectedly died of puerperal fever, Thomas Seymour offered her both marriage and financial deals, but she declined both, despite her fondness for him. She knew that any contract other than marriage would be construed as treasonable. In 1549, Thomas Seymour was tried for treason and found guilty.

At his trial Elizabeth was described as being able to, "wear people down with complaints and outclass a skilled interrogator by refusing to be pinned down". (Bassnett, p. 27) Many of the characteristics that came to public note later in life were already clearly present at her young age. After Seymour was executed, although Elizabeth did not respond outwardly, it probably was very painful for her, and cemented her fear of commitment. This is probably why in later years of her life she repeatedly lead on a suitors and gained emotional benefits from the relationships but then refused to commit. As the beautiful young ruler of England, Elizabeth was a very appealing marriage choice for many rulers of foreign countries to build up desirable political alliances with Britain. Her suitors included Phillip II of Spain, Archduke Charles of Austria, King Erik XVI of Sweden, Duke of Anjou from France, as well as Duke of Alen con, also of France.

Elizabeth treated all of her suitors in the same way; making deals with them, and then turning them down, stringing them along all the while. "Elizabeth liked being the object of desire without being possessed, she enjoyed this game and played it well". (Bassnet, p. 42) When, in 1566 the Parliament was pressuring Elizabeth to marry, she reassured them by saying", I will marry as soon as I can conveniently, if God take him not away with whom I mean to marry, or myself, or else some other great let happen". (Marcus, Muller, and Rose, p. 35) This was a typical response for Elizabeth-on one hand she announced her intention to do something, while on the other hand she proclaimed that she still had the right to not do it if her terms were not met. In this way she maintained the attention of her suitors, and could still manipulate them, without actually committing to them. It is apparent from reading Elizabeth's poetry that she seemed confused by her own emotions, especially those of love.

She loved others, naturally, but then tried to hide it so she would not appear weak, and that the object of her affection would not have power over her. I grieve and dare not show my discontent I love and yet am forced to seem to hate. I do, yet dare not say I ever meant I seem stark mute but inwardly I do prate. I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned. Since from myself another self I turned My care is like my shadow in the sun Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done. Let me float or skink, be high or low Or let me live with some more sweet content Or die and so forget what love ere meant.

(Bradner, p. 5 'On Monsieur's Departure') It was typical of Elizabeth to seem very unfeeling, but it is evident from her poetry that she had feelings indeed, but had trouble expressing them. She did not really understand her feelings of love, and in some ways wanted to get rid of them. She wanted to either have them in such a way that she could express them, or not have them at all. It is obvious that Elizabeth's childhood was strange and difficult. However, although aspects of it may have been painful, it endowed her with good skills for ruling. She did not commit to things easily, which made her more slow and methodical in her decision making.

She also did not marry, which kept all of the power in her hands, and she was not side-tracked by the emotional aspects of marriage. Elizabeth's childhood formed her to be the intriguing, shrewd, and well-loved monarch she was. Her powerful image of female authority, regal magnificence, and national pride has survived to the present.