The Reign of Elizabeth I

ISBN-13: 9780333658666 / Angielski / Miękka / 2003 / 146 str.

Carole Levin

Opis

The Reign of Elizabeth I looks at the difficulties Elizabeth and England faced during a time of war and economic distress, and great social and cultural changes. During this time, England became a Protestant nation, and though Elizabeth tried to keep peace, by the end of her reign England was involved in a war with Catholic Spain. The period was also significant culturally and socially, as gender expectations changed and Shakespeare's plays were part of a great cultural development.

Spis treści

Introduction.- Overview of Elizabeth's life and reign.- Religious Divides and the Religious Settlement.- England's relations with others in the first part of the reign.- England's relations with others in the last part of the reign.- Plots, conspiracies and the succession.- Culture and difference at the end of the reign.- Bibliography.

O autorze

CAROLE LEVIN is Professor of History at the University of Nebraska and the author of The Heart and Stomach of a King: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Sex and Power and Propaganda in the English Reformation: Heroic and Villainous Images of King John. She has held fellowships at the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Newberry Library.

Blurb

The reign of Elizabeth I was marked by change: England finally became a protestant nation, and England's relations with her neighbours were also changing, in part because of religious controversies. Elizabeth's reign was also significant in terms of changing gender expectations, and in terms of attitudes towards those considered different. While a woman ruled, others, often at the bottom of the social scale, were condemned as witches.
Levin evaluates Elizabeth and the significance of her reign both in the context of her age and our own, examining the increasing cultural diversity of Elizabethan England and the impact of the reign of an unmarried queen on gender expectations, as well as exploring the more traditional themes of religion, foreign policy, plots and conspiracies. Levin's fresh perspective will be welcomed by students of this exceptional reign.