the role of gender

Societies expectation

Although Elizabethan society was fundamentally patriarchal, Elizabeth was one of englands most powerful, long-reigning monarchs and maintained supreme authority throughout her reign. Initially upon her succession in 1558, there was hostility due to the idea of a female ruler, it was believed she would ncapable of leading an army, managing factions, and dealing with economic and foreign policies. Many thought England would appear weak due to the female ruler thus making them vulnerable to war and exploitation, however there was a number of successful female rulers in Europe at the time , which would suggest otherwise.

Evidence Elizabeth used gender to her advantage

Throughout her reign she upheld supreme authority as ‘supreme governor’ and gender arguably didn’t discredit this as it was believed she was divinely ordained to rule (would suggest gender wasn’t an issue during her rule rather religous as they wouldn’t see her as legitamite or of authority). with her gender she was able to bind men to her and ensure loyalty within government e.g.hatton remained single to please her, and aswell by exploiting marriage negotiations she could forge foreign alliances e.g. Phillip and Anjou and prevent invasion, and appeased privy councillors and gained their support since there was the potential of a marriage negotiation e.g used pet names, such as alencon being ‘little frog’. Additionally, she could get political information, for examples gossip from her ladies of the privy chamber and these ladies were very loyal to her and didn’t disclose ever information, this was successful as it was crucial in intelligence gathering e.g. norfolks plan to marry MQS and it manipulated peoples expectations as people at the time could witness women being politically influential and working efficiently

Evidence Elizabeth didn’t use gender to her advantage

She was often critisised for being jealous, bad tempered, and indecisive- male courtiers often attributed these traits to her gender. Evidence of her jealousy can be seen when she didn’t congratulate Mary Shelton (lady of the privy chamber) for her marriage, and when she threatened to send Dudley to the tower for remarrying. An example of her indecisiveness can be seen in the execution of MQS as despite the substantial evidence from the babington plot and pressure from parliament she remained hesitant and delayed the execution till the following year

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