Queen Elizabeth I is a woman in a male-dominated world who ...

APLaC 1Queen Elizabeth I is a woman in a male-dominated world who speaks to her troops prior tothe impending Spanish invasion of England. Queen Elizabeth’s purpose is to encourage the mento fight to protect English interests. Her impassioned tone is meant to motivate the men withpromises of rewards.The queen addresses her “loving people” to immediately connect with them and express herfaith and trust in them despite the advice of some “to take heed how we commit ourselves toarmed multitudes.” She represents herself as a soldier in spirit if not in body when she says thatshe will “live and die amongst you all,” thus establishing her credibility with her audience. Shefinishes by promising the soldiers that they will receive rewards and by directing them to followher “lieutenant general,” who will lead them “in [her] stead.”Queen Elizabeth’s carefully crafted diction generates pride in thesoldiers with selections such as “chiefest strength,” “safeguard,”“loyal hearts,” and “good-will.” The queen shows that her ability to rule effectively isreliant on them believing in her as a leader, thus she is placing “her chiefest strength” with thepeople. She is entrusting them to have her best interests, and therefore the interests of thecountry, at heart. She compounds this idea of her trust in the “safeguard” of the soldiers; sheknows that they will keep her and the country safe. She appeals to their sense of patriotism andmorality when she gives her safety to their “loyal hearts,” relying on their “good-will” to do whatis right. These words are carefully chosen to create a sense of honor, thus encouraging them totake up arms.Moving forward in her speech, Queen Elizabeth uses carefully crafted maternalimagery in order to create confidence that though she is but a “weak and feeble

APLaC 2woman,” she has the “heart and stomach of a king of England.” She anticipates thesoldiers’ concerns about her ability to lead due to her gender, and she forthrightly attacks thatnotion in order to dispel it. She offers a contradictory definition of herself with visceral bodilyreferences with which the soldiers can identify; they understand that “hearts and stomachs” arenecessary for survival. They understand that her commitment to England, her “heart andstomach”—her will—supersede the limits of her frail body. Her anger piqued, the queen isincensed that the kings of Parma or Spain would dare attack her realm; she paints an image oftheir wrongful thinking by addressing their “treachery.” By appealing to the soldiers’ sense ofnationalism and patriotism, she enjoins them to believe that their cause is just and good. Theyfeel obliged to protect their country because they have right on their side.Having established her strength as a leader, the peroration directs the soldiers forward intobattle. Her complex syntax, including anaphora and repetition, shifts the focus from her role as leader to theirrole as soldiers. The queen states: “…I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general,judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field” focuses the audience on her role astheir commander through repetition, which emphasizes her commitment. The soldiers believethat they will be paid in money and in honor. Her role as commander cemented, the queen passes theresponsibility for winning the battle onto the men’s shoulders as evidenced by her parallel structure. Sheassures them that they will win “but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in thecamp, and your valour in the field…” and further drives her point home by restating the fact thatright is on their side “over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people.” Thereis no way they can lose.

APLaC 3Queen Elizabeth is highly effective in encouraging the men to fight for England. Presentingherself as an eminent leader, she gives them their marching orders. Her sentiments appeal to thesoldiers’ sense of honor, and thus they will follow her commands because they are emotionallymoved to do so.Strategy: dictionQueen Elizabeth’s inspirational diction rallies her troops to fight with choices such as “virtues,” “valour,”and “victory.”Revised sentence:Queen Elizabeth’s carefully crafted diction generates pride in thesoldiers with selections such as “chiefest strength,” “safeguard,”“loyal hearts,” and “good-will.”Strategy: imageryQueen Elizabeth uses carefully crafted maternal imagery in her speech to the troops at Tilbury in order tocreate confidence that though she is but a “weak and feeble woman,” she has the “heart and stomach of aking of England”; she demonstrates her devotion to the troops by forcing them to picture her “tak[ing] uparms” as she herself becomes their “general, judge, and rewarder of every one of [their] virtues in thefield.”Revised sentence:Moving forward in her speech, Queen Elizabeth uses carefully crafted maternalimagery in order to create confidence that though she is but a “weak and feeblewoman,” she has the “heart and stomach of a king of England.”Strategy: syntaxQueen Elizabeth’s complex syntax, including antithesis and anaphora, reflects the charged circumstancesshe faces in addressing military men as a female leader with sentences like: “…I know that I have thebody but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king ofEngland…,” followed by “…I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, andrewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.”Revised sentence:Her complex syntax, including anaphora and repetition, shifts the focus from her role as leader to their role assoldiers. … Her role as commander cemented, the queen passes the responsibility for winning the battle ontothe men’s shoulders as evidenced by her parallel structure.