Shekhar Kapur's Brilliant Film Interpretation Of Elizabeth example essay topic

Shekhar Kapur's brilliant film interpretation of Elizabeth radiates a spectacular combination of cinematography and talented actors to dramatize the magnanimous character of England's most reputable former queen, Elizabeth I. Although not void of historical inaccuracies, the film generally respects the significant events and circumstances leading to Elizabeth's succession to the throne. The historical timeline, however, is much too expansive and the film unfortunately exhibits the flaws of such time constraints. The distorted facts are purposeful: they allow directors flexibility to achieve the demands of Hollywood entertainment and most importantly, to exaggerate the impact of the film's perspective on gender roles: an insecure, fragile woman who ascends the throne must exchange her weaknesses for the dominant leadership abilities of a man in order to unite a country shattered by religious differences. The film commences with violent riots between Catholics and Protestants. England's religious conflict was eminent in all social levels from peasant rivalries to the monarchial disputes that collapsed the economy and generated crude violence. Mary, Elizabeth's half sister was a conservative Catholic and held a strong opposition against Protestantism which may have been her motive for imprisoning Elizabeth for allegedly supporting a Protestant rebellion with Thomas Wyatt to seize the throne.

In the film, Elizabeth is imprisoned in the Tower of London; however, the length of her sentence is vague. Also, the film fails to include her one year sentence under house arrest at Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Her release was at the behest of King Phillip of Spain, Mary's husband who aware of his wife's poor health wanted to befriend Elizabeth should she succeed the throne; and thus, preserve peaceful negotiations between England and Spain (Britannia). A major flaw in the film is the depiction of Elizabeth's character and personality.

From her first appearance, she is delicately portrayed as a graceful dancer among her ladies who seem to accentuate her stereotypical femininity. The historical Elizabeth strongly contrasts this interpretation. The queen was an avid, skillful horse rider and a thrill seeker, an aspect of her personality that often terrified her council who feared for her life. Elizabeth was also a notable hunter who frequently ventured along with her courtiers who even invited her to slash the throats of their kill. The movie does accurately portray Elizabeth's passion for music and fine arts, a characteristic leisure of the English aristocracy (Thomas).

Elizabeth's distorted personality is most evident during her succession. The Hollywood Elizabeth exhibited apprehension and incompetence by creating a facade of fabricated and rehearsed boldness. Within a short period of time, she acquired leadership skills for governing the country's foreign relations and developed shrewdness to deal with and eliminate potential enemies of the state. Even before her coronation, the historical Elizabeth was a mastermind politician fearless of her power over the English throne. During her childhood, it had become popular among the nobility to educate daughters; Elizabeth was no exception. She received an impressive education from the finest instructors in England who immediately recognized her keen intelligence and astuteness.

As a gifted intellect, Elizabeth was especially fond of languages and became fluent in French, Italian, Greek, and Latin which was considered as the political international language (Thomas). The succession and coronation of Elizabeth in the film is represented as a significant transformation in her persona. The incompetent, marginalized Elizabeth is replaced with a slightly bolder woman who projects an image of royal superiority through tactical impression management. Her first political reform involved the solidification of Protestantism in England while safeguarding her throne from Catholic opposition. The historical reform process was both expansive and complicated. However, in the film, the success of the reform is based on the alluded Act of Uniformity that was introduced to the council of bishops.

Elizabeth's religious beliefs were non-directive but her political practices implied she was a conservative Protestant. In the months following her succession, she established herself as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Her motives were perhaps based on political strategy to gain firmer control over religious matter and appease the tensions between Catholics and Protestants. Also, she may have wanted to supersede the positions of her father who was the Supreme Head and to defy the traditional patriarch nature of religion and politics (Britannia).

Elizabeth avoided the public exhibition of religious devotion. She engaged in private prayer and liked the traditional nature of Catholic worship which included the use of candles, crucifixes, music, and art in contrast to the sermon based structure of Protestant worship. Elizabeth did not approve of religious extremism and was merciful and tolerant. However, because of political overlap on religion and pressure from her advisory, Elizabeth had to prioritize the affairs of the country against her beliefs as demonstrated in her reluctant approval of Mary's (Queen of Scots) execution for alleged involvement in the Babington plot (Thomas). An important aspect of Elizabeth's political tactics was her strategic commitment to marriage proposals. The film does give a respectable interpretation of Elizabeth's contenders; however, in real life, she did not have a serious relationship with Robert Dudley, a major theme of the film.

Also, the courting from her contenders especially from the French Duke of Anjou was too sexually suggestive for the conservative attitudes of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth's single status allowed her to provoke potential enemies of England or to intimidate them by threats of marrying their enemies. Her personal feelings toward marriage were ambiguous. Persuaded by political ideology, she refused Robert Dudley whom she did have an apparent love interest.

Consummating the marriage would have been catastrophic: Dudley was unpopular and the son of the traitor of Northumberland. Without producing an heir to the throne, the fate of England was unsettled. Elizabeth may have had a number of motives both personal and political for her refusal to marry and have children. First, she was viewed as illegitimate; likewise her child would have been regarded as a bastard and would not have been accepted by the Catholics. Also, pregnancy during this period was risky and dangerous; she may have had a fear of childbirth. Furthermore, a pregnancy would have restricted and limited her involvement in political affairs.

The developing tensions between Spain and England were become hostile; King Phillip, hoping to dethrone Elizabeth, sent his belligerent Spanish fleet to England. One of her greatest achievements was the mastermind military defeat of the powerful Spanish armada. With her clever selection of advisors, England emerged as the most powerful empire in the world. Elizabeth's leadership was undeniable; her popularity reached its zenith point and secured her a notable legacy after her death: the Virgin Queen.

Kapur successfully creates an artistic interpretation of Elizabeth using history only as a base model from which he lavishly adorns with romance, captions of sinister plots, and a beautiful embellishment of costuming. His film is not intended to be a historical documentary but appropriate to his objectives, an entertaining film to generate crude emotions over a larger than life figure. Britannia. Elizabeth I. 20 Oct. 2002... Elizabeth. Dir.

Shekhar Kapur. Perf. Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Fiennes, Richard Attenborough, Fanny Ardent. Gramercy Pictures, 1998. Thomas, Heather PhD.

The Life and Times of Queen Elizabeth I. 25 Oct. 2002...