Topic II: Elizabeth I and the Politics of the Elizabethan Era

i. Elizabeth I: who was she?

Elizabeth I was born in Greenwich Palace on 7 September 1533 (Sunday) to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, who was executed in 19 May 1536. She became queen on 17 November 1558 (Thursday) when she was 25, and was officially crowned in Westminster Abbey on 15 January 1559 (Sunday). She reigned for 44 years and 4 months, and died in Richmond Palace on Lady Day, 24 March 1603 (Thursday), when she was 69 years old. She never married and never had any children, and thus is remembered as The Virgin Queen.

ii. What were England’s international relations like during Elizabeth’s reign?

England had good diplomatic ties with Netherlands. On August 14 1585, Queen Elizabeth I issued a declaration that she would take Netherlands under her protection. Then, on December 8 1585, Robert Dudley, who is the 1st Earl of Leicester, led the English army to fight the Spanish army who was occupying Netherlands. In return, Netherlands helped fight the Spanish Armada when the Spanish attacked the English fleet.

However, England had conflicts with many other countries. One of the major enemies of England was Spain. There were religious conflicts between these two countries since England was Protestant and Spain was Catholic. Moreover, King Philip II of Spain at that time was declined by Queen Elizabeth I when he asked for her hand in marriage. Furthermore, there was competition in trade during the Anglo-Spanish War which lasted from 1585 to 1604. Queen Elizabeth I supported English pirates to steal goods from Spanish treasure ships and this made the two countries’ relationship even worse. On August 8 1588, the Spanish Armada of 132 ships was defeated by the English fleet of 34 ships and 163 armed merchant vessels together with the help of the Dutch army.

England too had sour relationships with Scotland, and for religious reasons as well. Protestant England and Catholic Scotland just could not get along well. Many English wanted to replace Queen Elizabeth with Queen Mary whom they think should be the rightful heir to the throne of English. Therefore, Anthony Babington wanted to assassinate Queen Elizabeth and replace her with Queen Mary, who was Queen of Scotland then. Sir Francis Walsingham found out and this made Queen Mary get executed on 8 February 1587.

England too had issues with Ireland during Elizabeth’s reign. Hugh O’Neill wanted to have control over Ireland, and thus started a rebellion. However, the nine-year war was unsuccessful for Hugh O’Neill and the Irish were defeated on March 1603. Although they lost, O’Neill was with good terms with the new King James I, and thus they were given full control of their estates. This was, however, with a condition that they remained loyal to England.

iii. What was Shakespeare’s relationship with Elizabeth I?

Elizabeth I was an active and generous patron of the theatre, and thus stood against the puritans who wished to close down the theatres. Without her support, the Elizabethan theatres would not have survived. Queen Elizabeth I popularized court performances by acting companies and Shakespeare's company was selected more than any other in the 1590s. In fact, the Lord Chamberlain's Men performed at court thirty-two times, compared to thirty-seven performances by all other companies combined. Shakespeare does not refer to Elizabeth very often. He makes only one direct reference to her as "a fair vestal throned by the west" in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is commonly believed that she liked the character of Falstaff so much, in Henry IV, Part One, that she asked Shakespeare to write a play that showed the character in love, which supposedly inspired The Merry Wives of Windsor. When Elizabeth died, Shakespeare wrote no elegy for her, unlike most of the poets of the day. Therefore, it appears that he worked for her as she demanded but there is no indication that their relationship was closer than that.

iv. Compare Elizabeth I to Portia. How is Portia’s character a tribute to Elizabeth I?

Some critics claim that Portia from The Merchant of Venice is William Shakespeare's tribute to Queen Elizabeth I. Therefore, Portia is depicted to be a near perfect heroine. She's witty, powerful, wealthy and logical, just like Elizabeth I.

Portia’s wittiness can be seen by how she used she found a fault in the contract given by Shylock and forces Shylocks to drop charges against Antonio. Queen Elizabeth’s intelligence can be seen by how she defeated the Spanish Armada, together with the help of the Dutch. They are similar in a sense that they are both heiresses. Queen Elizabeth I is the heiress of the England Empire while Portia is the heiress of Bermont.

However, one difference between the two is that Portia is married, while Queen Elizabeth I remains single.

References:
http://www.elizabethi.org/uk/profile/
http://www.mccarter.org/Education/tempestguide/tempestguide.html/
http://www.enotes.com/merchant-of-venice/discuss/what-way-portia-from-merchant-venice-perfect-94989/
http://www.slideshare.net/patricklyh/elizabeth-1-the-politics-of-the-elizabethan-era/

More questions to consider:
a. What sort of relations did England have with other countries? How did this affect England’s perception of people of other nationalities? How does this shape the characterization in TMOV?

As mentioned above, England had strong diplomatic ties with the Netherlands during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign. However, England had conflicts with countries like Spain, Scotland and Ireland. As seen, England is a rather independent country and does not like to rely on other countries, preferring to see it as collaboration, like how England and Netherlands worked together to fight Spain. This shows that the English people saw themselves as superior towards people of other nationalities.

This greatly affected the characterization in The Merchant of Venice. The Christian characters’ attitudes towards Jews, who were of a different nationality, were extremely terrible. Antonio also was very proud of his argosies and his wealth, showing his sense of superiority. Portia also looked down on many suitors, like the Prince of Morocco and many others, showing her sense of supremacy.