Revisioning the Virgin Queen
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Revisioning the Virgin Queen: Changing Images of a Woman in Power, 1955-2006 Elizabeth Louise Jones 17704351 Master of Research 2017 Western Sydney University Cover Picture: Text and Portrait are an Internet meme. Source unknown. This thesis, like all things I do, is for my mother. Acknowledgements First and foremost, I must thank my two supervisors. I am thankful for the help, wisdom, compassion, kindness, and constant reassurance of Judith Snodgrass who I am eternally grateful to have worked with and to know. Thank you to Anne Rutherford, whose insight, advice, and attention to detail were invaluable and whose enthusiasm was both infectious and comforting whenever I felt doubtful or frustrated. Thank you also to David Walton for stepping in for the final month, I am grateful for any and all help with this process. Thank you to the coordinators and teachers in the Master of Research program. Particularly to Jack Tsonis and Alex Norman, who put an inhuman amount of effort into the implementation of this degree yet still manage to make time for us all. Thanks to Greg Barton, Brett Bennett, and Jennifer Mensch, for being amazing teachers and for providing us with incredible support. I have to thank my fellow students who supported me through this entire course. Particular thanks to Toshi without whom we would never know the answers to question we had not even thought to ask. To Alix and Lucie, who supported me and in the process, became two of my best friends. It has been a privilege to work beside them every week and to get to know them. I will forever be grateful for their kindness, love, and laughter without which I would not have survived. Thank you to Chloe for being my ultimate cheerleader throughout this entire process and for always knowing what I need. Also for the Jar of Jamz which got me through many writing sessions. To my family, especially the Ellis family, for loving and supporting me, trying to keep me on top of deadlines, and putting up with my breakdowns. Finally, and most importantly, thank you to my Dad for being my rock, my reluctant editor, and my shoulder to cry on. Thanks to him for his patience, love, and support through this process and for putting up with me in the frazzled state that I’ve been in for the last 18 months. This thesis would not have been impossible without him. Statement of Authentication The work presented in this thesis, to the best of my knowledge and belief, is original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution ………………………………. Elizabeth Louise Jones Table of Contents Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................. 1 Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 3 1. Introduction: Revisioning the Virgin Queen .............................................................................. 4 2. The Virgin Queen (1955): Justifying Childlessness ................................................................. 25 3. Elizabeth R (1971): A Liberated Woman? ............................................................................... 43 4. Elizabeth (1998): Politics as Performance ............................................................................... 64 5. The Virgin Queen (2006): A Postfeminist Queen .................................................................... 86 6. Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 102 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 105 Table of Figures Figure 1: The first appearance of Elizabeth I (Bette Davis) in The Virgin Queen (1955) ........... 29 Figure 2: Elizabeth and Raleigh (Richard Todd) in The Virgin Queen (1955).. .......................... 31 Figure 3: Elizabeth's bedchamber in The Virgin Queen (1955).. ................................................. 31 Figure 4: Confrontation between Elizabeth and Raleigh in The Virgin Queen (1955). ............... 33 Figure 5: Privy Council of The Virgin Queen (1955).. ................................................................ 34 Figure 6: Armada Portrait (c. 1588) ............................................................................................. 34 Figure 7: Davis in The Virgin Queen (1955) ................................................................................ 36 Figure 8: Elizabeth and Beth (Joan Collins) in The Virgin Queen (1955). .................................. 39 Figure 9: The final scene of The Virgin Queen (1955). ............................................................... 40 Figure 10: First Privy Council of Elizabeth R (1971) .................................................................. 47 Figure 11: Glenda Jackson in Elizabeth R (1971) ........................................................................ 48 Figure 12: Mary I (Daphne Slater) and Elizabeth in Elizabeth R (1971). .................................... 50 Figure 13: Elizabeth remembering Seymour in Elizabeth R (1971). ........................................... 54 Figure 14: Thomas Seymour (John Ronane) in Elizabeth R (1971) ............................................ 54 Figure 15: Cecil (Ronald Hines) and Elizabeth in Elizabeth R (1971) ........................................ 62 Figure 16: Protestant burnings in Elizabeth (1998) ..................................................................... 67 Figure 17: Mary I (Kathy Burke) in Elizabeth (1998). ................................................................ 69 Figure 18: Cate Blanchett as a young Elizabeth I in Elizabeth (1998) ........................................ 69 Figure 19: First Privy Council of Elizabeth (1998). ..................................................................... 70 Figure 20: Norfolk (Christopher Eccleston) in Elizabeth (1998) ................................................. 72 Figure 21: Elizabeth prepares to debate the Act of Uniformity in Elizabeth (1998) ................... 73 Figure 22: A divine spotlight in Elizabeth (1998) ........................................................................ 74 Figure 23: Parliament scene of Elizabeth (1998) ......................................................................... 75 Figure 24: Elizabeth takes control back in Elizabeth (1998). ...................................................... 76 Figure 25: The born again virgin of Elizabeth (1998).................................................................. 79 Figure 26: Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary in Elizabeth (1998). ................................................... 80 Figure 27: Anne-Marie Duff as Elizabeth in The Virgin Queen (2006) ...................................... 89 Figure 28: Privy Council of The Virgin Queen (2006). ............................................................... 89 Figure 29: Elizabeth declaring herself a virgin in The Virgin Queen (2006) ............................... 91 Figure 30: Elizabeth and Dudley (Tom Hardy) in The Virgin Queen (2006) .............................. 92 Figure 31: Elizabeth and Essex (Hans Matheson) in The Virgin Queen (2006). ......................... 95 1 Figure 32: Elizabeth waiting out the Essex rebellion in The Virgin Queen (2006) ..................... 96 Figure 33: Mary I (Joanne Whalley) in The Virgin Queen (2006) ............................................... 96 2 Abstract This thesis examines and analyses a number of depictions of Queen Elizabeth I in film and television between 1955 and 2006. As it is becoming increasingly apparent that historical films and television series are among the dominant media through which the general public is gaining a sense of historical knowledge, a means through which to study and assess these forms of history is necessary. This thesis argues that this must involve a serious study of the media itself. In using representations of Elizabeth I as a case study, I apply both historical and film analysis to investigate how they, as films and television series, communicate a specific interpretation of the Virgin Queen through their form as well as their content, and how they function as works of history. I examine four examples, The Virgin Queen (1955), Elizabeth R (1971), Elizabeth (1998), and The Virgin Queen (2006). Particular attention is paid to how these films and series interpret Elizabeth I’s virgin status and how they reflect their contemporary contexts, especially in regard to how their representation of Elizabeth I engages with the gender contexts at the time of production. Each of these examples independently and together, demonstrates how these audio-visual media are used by filmmakers to re-examine both the past and their contemporary situations, how they are able to interpret and communicate history through the particular techniques of their media, and how these relate to academic history. In an increasingly postliterate time, it is crucial that we can understand and learn from the different ways that history is being communicated and interpreted outside of the academic history book. 3 1. Introduction: Revisioning the Virgin Queen In 2005, Tessa Morris-Suzuki noted a ‘crisis’ for traditional, academic history. She described this situation as “a curious dichotomy between,