Dissing Elizabeth
Subtitle: negative representations of Gloriana
By: edited by Julia M. Walker.
Contributors: Walker, Julia M., 1951-
Publisher: Duke University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Durham
Language: eng
Number of pages: 300
Subjects: Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533-1603 -- Public opinion; Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533-1603 -- In literature; English literature -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- History and criticism; English language -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- Rhetoric; Public opinion -- Great Britain -- History -- 16th century; Monarchy -- Great Britain -- Public opinion; Queens -- Great Britain -- Public opinion; Great Britain -- History -- Elizabeth, 1558-1603 -- Historiography
Description: Dissing Elizabeth focuses on the criticism that cast a shadow on the otherwise celebrated reign of Elizabeth I. The essays in this politically and historically revealing book demonstrate the sheer pervasiveness and rage of rhetoric against the queen, illuminating the provocative discourse of disrespect and dissent that existed over an eighty-year period, from her troubled days as a princess to the decades after her death in 1603.

As editor Julia M. Walker suggests, the breadth of dissent considered in this collection points to a dark side of the Cult of Elizabeth.

Reevaluating neglected texts that had not previously been perceived as critical of the queen or worthy of critical appraisal, contributors consider dissent in a variety of forms, including artwork representing (and mocking) the queen, erotic and pornographic metaphors for Elizabeth in the popular press, sermons subtly critiquing her actions, and even the hostility encoded in her epitaph and in the placement of her tomb.

Other chapters discuss gossip about Elizabeth, effigies of the queen, polemics against her marriage to the Duke of Alencon, common verbal slander, violence against emblems of her authority, and the criticism embedded in the riddles, satires, and literature of the period.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [277]-292) and index.