The man inside the woman

Elizabeth is preparing to talk to the troops at Tilbury.

She flattens her skirts several times as her hair is being done by one of her ladies in waiting.

"What am I doing here?" she mumbles to herself. "I am completely unprepared, I haven't been able to think of one thing to say to these troops." She begins to wring her hands and looks at herself in the mirror. She observes herself carefully, starting at her red hair and working her way slowly down to her feet. She sees what she knows all the troops will see- the body of a woman.
"What am I going to do?" She sighs and buries her head in her hands. The lady in waiting doing her hair pauses momentarily.
"Your majesty, if it isn't too bold to say, you may have the body of a woman, but you have a heart and mind that matches the best of men."
"It's so uncanny that my maids seem to be able to read my thoughts." Elizabeth thought to herself. She looked back in the mirror. "What would my father have done?" This was a question that helped Elizabeth when she was strongly feeling the restrictions her femininity created for her. She wondered what her father would have done in different situations
, and then puts her own spin on it.
"Just be honest your majesty. People value honesty." Elizabeth had to laugh at that. Her maid had obviously never been with her to face the Lords. They spit out more lies than one could ever have thought possible to conceive. Despite this, Elizabeth knew her maid was right. Honesty was her friend. It had gotten her this far, admitting that she realized how being a woman was such a hindrance for her.
***
As she sat there on her horse before the troops, she could feel herself shaking. She tried to sit up as straight and as tall as she could, and she prayed to any god that would listen that she did not look weak.
"Honesty." She whispered to herself reassuringly. She took a deep breath and began, "My loving people, I have been persuaded by some that are careful of my safety, to take heed how I committed myself to armed multitudes..."

In Her Own Words...

      I found several fascinating trends/patterns in Elizabeth's speeches: 1.) She always brings up princes, particularly when referring to herself, 2.) has a teasing tone (seemingly reminiscent of Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth in the film Elizabeth), and 3.) she constantly refers to giving her all to her throne and England, thanking her people for their understanding and effort when she sees fit. These two quotes stuck out to me as great summaries both for her attitude in these speeches and her persona as represented by the other texts we've read/watched:

      "How have I governed since my reign? I will be tried by envy itself. I need not to use many words, for my deeds do try me" (Greenblatt, 692).

      "I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too" (Greenblatt, 700).

https://witneyman.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/golden19.jpg

A More Realistic Take On...

Galloping in an Open Field with Two Athletic Horses Not Specifically Trained to Tolerate Anything Like Film Horses Are: A Fanfiction

(Word-for-word dialogue beginning at around minute 25) (WHICH ACTUALLY ENDED UP BEING FROM THE SECOND FILM, SO FORGET ABOUT THAT)

Holding on for dear life, Walter and Elizabeth, intending to have a nice ride out in the open countryside on their peculiarly identical Friesian horses, began to question their decision to do so.

            “AH!” cried Walter.

            “You have a stronger horse!” called Elizabeth from a few lengths behind him as his mount ripped the reins from his hands and ducked into a flat-out gallop.

            “Yours carries a lighter load,” he shouted back, though in turning to do so lost his balance and tumbled backwards over the horse’s haunches.

            In panic Elizabeth hauled on her horse to slow it and halt. Little to her knowledge her leg was bruised significantly, as she discovered later, for she had bashed her thigh on the stiff leather that held her right leg up in the sidesaddle, as she managed, with a great amount of pulling, to stop. Walter’s horse proceeded to gallop off back towards the stables, oblivious to the expensive Italian leather bridle that was torn from his face.

            Approaching her friend on her horse who relentlessly tossed his head in the air and jigged excessively in anticipation of galloping again, she hissed, “The Queen does not give way to others.”

            “Forgive me Majesty. My horse does not seem to know his place.”

Queen Elizabeth's Glo Up

When Elizabeth is first named Queen, she seemed strong. On the other hand, when it came to decision making, certain camera takes emphasize her second guessing herself. Following her defeat against Guise and her army, Elizabeth uses that victory as a stepping stone in her confidence as the Queen.

God Forbid Women are Single *eye roll*

Although the full  reasoning behind Elizabeth not wanting to marry is never know in full detail, we know it worked for her.  Why though, would she not marry, never have children,  never have a "love"?  She probably never knew a "family life" (although being queen she most likely wouldn't have had much time).  Did she do this only for the good of her kingdom, so she could be the best leader they needed? Or did she have other private intentions that haven't been reveled?  Was she afraid of her husband overtaking her power? There's many reasons, some we know for sure, but maybe there are others that have never been revealed. 

What Tonypandy

The only thing I can say about this movie.
https://image.slidesharecdn.com/20151014fluentddocker-151016222958-lva1-app6892/95/fluentd-and-docker-running-fluentd-within-a-docker-container-8-638.jpg?cb=1445034721

      Where do I even begin with this movie? This isn't just Tonypandy, it's historical revisionism. The movie portrays Queen Mary as a diseased and possibly a bit deranged woman willing to fabricate evidence in order to place Elizabeth on trial. Many events are placed out of sequence within the film. For example Mary's false pregnancy was not discovered until after Elizabeth was already imprisoned.
   This film was painful. Even looking past all of the blatant changes, it reeks of the greatest flaw in late 1990's and early 2000's cinema; drama swollen with self-importance and "destiny". Certain actions come dangerously close to fourth wall-breaking precience, as if the writer forgot that the characters aren't supposed to know how things will play out. Every scene groans under the weight of how important it is, but the movie feels more like a two hour series of short vignettes than a coherent narrative, with little or no transition between scenes that contrast jarringly with one-another. scenes of loud noise and activity contrasted with almost total silence, cutting so abruptly from one to the next that they feel disjointed.

BOOM ROASTED

In the movie "Elizabeth", Elizabeth takes the crown and does not have any support from the bishops. When she meets with them after a crushing defeat to the queen of Guise, she proceeds to roast them.
This scene reminds me of the scene in the Office when Michael Scott roasts the whole office.


https://twitter.com/Scranton_Quotes/status/786389943782219776

The Virgin Queen

Fan Fiction

       Queen Mary waited in the tower eagerly for her guards to bring forth her step sister. When they arrived, Elizabeth fell to the ground and begged for mercy.

"Why dost thou condemn your own blood?" she begged.

"I would be damning my own blood, if yours weren't tainted by that whore you fell out of." Mary spat back at her.

     Elizabeth knelt there feeling more powerless than she ever had. While she was well versed in language, literature, and the arts, her tutors had never prepared her for a situation like this. What her teachers neglected to teach her about the real world, she was forcing herself to learn on the spot. Despite her good protestant nature, it was becoming ever more clear that deceit was more powerful than loyalty, and she would need a lot of it to keep her life.

"Then what crime have I committed your majesty?" Elizabeth said curtly.

"It is not the crime that you have committed that you are here for, but the one I know you will commit when I leave this earth. I have worked too hard to let this great country fall into the hands of you and your heretic friends." Mary replied.

"Call me not a heretic my good sister, we kneel before the same god."

"Yes, but the importance comes from practice." Mary snapped.

"Then I give you my word as a follower of Christ that I will uphold the morals of the virgin."

     Mary looked at her half sister in near disbelief. Her doubts of her sisters christian faith however, were overpowered by her fear of executing her sister. Mary stared at her sister until she pardoned her for her crimes. Elizabeth thanked her sister and strolled out of the room, knowing she had promised nothing about keeping her country catholic, but merely to follow in the footsteps of the Virgin Mary.