...1. Introduction "I am called the Virgin Queen. Unmarried, I have no master. Childless, I am mother to my people. I am the queen, I am myself." This quote from the movie “Elizabeth: The Golden Age“ describes the fascination about Elizabeth I of England in few sentences. A woman, who could prevail in a male-dominated society. A woman, who waived her own fortune for the sake of her subjects. A woman, who influences the national pride of the English even today. So it is not surprising that there is plenty of literature, opera and movies about Elizabeth I. The following term paper examines three movies, where Elizabeth I is the protagonist. “Elizabeth“, with Cate Blanchett in the leading role, is about the days of her youth. The 1998 movie shows the development of a young princess, who was crowned after the death of her half sister Maria. The first years of her reign are very turbulent, because the creation of a Protestant Church by her father Henry VIII and the return to Catholicism under Maria split the nation. The inexperienced Elizabeth has to determine which religion should be the official one in order to prevent a civil war. Meanwhile her consultants give her advice to keep the line of succession by marriage. But to whom shall she entrust her heart and kingdom? At the end of the movie all problems are solved and Elizabeth creates the icon of the “virgin queen“. Nine years later, the sequel of the movie from 1998, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age“ was released. She is in her 26th...
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...his actions, this is revealed through Shelley's use of figurative language, most notably, the use of light and dark imagery. “They were my brethren, my fellow beings, and I felt attracted even to the most repulsive among them, as to creatures of an angelic nature and celestial mechanism.” Frankenstein’s desperation to be close to humanity is evidenced when he craves to be near ever the “most repulsive” men because men are “creatures of an angelic nature and celestial mechanism”; light and dark imagery make this comparison possible. “But I felt that I had no right to share their intercourse. I had unchained an enemy among them whose joy it was to shed their blood and to revel in their groans.” Light and dark imagery present in the line “joy it was to shed their blood and to revel in their groans.”, as joy and putrid bloodshed greatly contrast. This light and dark imagery is used to explain that the reason Frankenstein feels he is separated from his fellow man is due to the man-hunting monster he has created. “How they would, each and all, abhor me and hunt me from the world did they know my unhallowed acts and the crimes which had their source in me!” Frankenstein further laments his actions through the use of dark...
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...painting pictures, and telling stories about love. With this theme a lot of poets around the world wrote a huge amount of poems and stories. I chose to analyze a couple of Robert Browning’s poems and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s, his wife. Robert Browning was born on May 7, 1812 in Camberwell, England. He was the eldest child of Sarah Wiedemann and Robert Browning, a wealthy clerk who was also a collector of books; his gigantic library was a great source of study for young Robert. Both his parents encouraged him to study and write, and he did start to write poetry at the age of twelve. In 1846 Robert Browning married fellow English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861). They were devoted to each other, “for after their marriage they were never separated,” writes their son in his introduction to The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Vol. 1 (of 2) 1845-1846. After they settled down in Italy and Elizabeth’s health began to get better she went on to write many highly acclaimed works. The few works Browning produced in the next fifteen years including Christmas Eve and Easter Day (1850), and Men and Women, which he dedicated to his wife Elizabeth (1855). (Merriman) I have selected two poems “Meeting at Night” and “Parting at Morning” by Robert Browning and one poem, “How Do I Love Thee?” written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The main theme in these poems is this amazing feeling which we often like to describe as love. The poem, “Meeting...
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...Romantic Era Novels: How did Women Writers Refashion the Grand Self and Embrace Feminism? The romantic atmosphere is ideal for recognizing women as deserving equals. In this period, the feminist writings was brought and create a debate on the merits of women’ rights. A surge of women began writing and expressing themselves through novels and other literary works, such as Mary Shelley, Jane Austen. The feminist novels have tested the central “I” of women and also have shaken up gender roles of men. The female writers focused on the moral and ideological issues arising out of daily life and basic human relationships, and they advocate for female equality during romantic period fought to obtain better rights for women. The images of women across genres can be varied as the authors themselves. Mary Wollstonecraft is the radical feminist who contributed to those debates and typically revolted against the social condition of women. In her work of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, she believed in a push for growth in women and was disturbed by the lack of education. For most romantic feminists, their literary works focused on both the source of women’s inequality and its potential solution. The feminist novels in romantic era raised concerns about the ability of women to reject silence and express themselves. A feminist view from William Blake pointed out that female liberation some kind can make men free from the relationships based on power. Mary Shelley in her novel Frankenstein...
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...X1V established and absolutists state where as in England, Elizabeth 1 established a parliamentary form of government. Louis X1V ruled by the divine right of Kings and had absolute control over his kingdom during his reign. Louis believed that he was not subject to earthly authority and that he derived his right to rule directly from God. Similarly, Elizabeth 1 believed that God had entrusted her with a kingdom to defend, a church that she had to lead in a true way and a people that she had to protect from both foreign enemies and themselves. Elizabeth 1 parliamentary government allowed her to rule the people of England at the same time satisfy...
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...It had been a long time since I thought of anything as beautiful. All the years had blended together into muted colors and lonely thoughts. But one day I saw her, the first bright thing I had seen in a long time. She colored her hair into a bright purple and always seemed to be wearing a hoodie or sweater of some sort. I suppose that when I was part of the world I would have gone by her without a thought. But for some reason now her blue eyes, that looked through me, drew me to her. It was a week before I knew her name, Elizabeth. A regal name for a short plain girl with purple hair. I had started to follow her, not that anyone would actually know that I did it. In the first week of following Elizabeth I learned that she worked in a bookstore and a small cafe. She talked to her parents once a week and she hung out with her friends almost every day. She was single but not unhappy, more like she was fine just waiting for someone or no one. She loved cats and had one that she named Panther Lily after a show she liked to watch. In her free time Elizabeth liked to write and do crafts when she wasn’t with friends....
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...Fear can lead good people to do horrific acts, especially when religion is involved. For example, in the play The Crucible the girls who was following Abigail knew dancing was considered in Salem as an act of the devil. When they got caught dancing in the forest, they began to think about their punishments in this case, were whippens, jail, or even worse death. They decided to keep following Abigail's lead and began to claim that the devil and these images of the people from Salem tried to make them do horrible things. Soon Abigail started to take advantage of this power and used it for evil. Millers play The Crucible shows us how vengeance and land can determine weather some one lives or dies. It also shows how many accusations can lead...
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...so hard to define. Love is an emotion that consists of three components; intimacy, passion and commitment, it is an emotional and physical feeling which takes over your whole state of mind and how you feel. There are many definitions and views of love, and the Merriam-Webster dictionary has ten definitions for love in it but it seems as though it doesn’t have any good definitions of love. However I carefully searched for an adequate definition and it was found in the most surprising place, a place that should have been the most obvious but not wanting to start controversy, I refused to see what was sitting right in front of me, a poem. One might say that a poem couldn’t possibly demonstrate the meaning of love. Conversely, many disagree; a poem could in fact demonstrate the meaning and feeling of love. A poem are the words that come from a person’s heart, mind, or soul, meaning it is personal and no one can know the true definition and meaning of something unless one has experienced it. With that being said, a poem, specifically, a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “How Do I Love Thee?” demonstrated the preeminent meaning of love, compared to all other meanings, this definition has to be the best. This particular poem is important to study because it is popular to American poets, literature authors, and journalists. It is a famous love poem reviewed, critiqued, and interpreted by many, and majority of the people who come across it find it interesting. Personally it is...
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...place Elizabeth and Celia. The story is written from Elizabeth’s point of view, the protagonist in the short story. Elizabeth is one among the group of girls that are bullying Celia, because she is different from the rest. Celia suffers from diabetes and are chubby which makes her an easy victim for the rest of the group. Even though she is being mocked and humiliated she keeps following the group, and especially Elizabeth. Elizabeth is kind of chunky and wears glasses, and she has been sucking thumb openly in kindergarten. Elizabeth is a very uncertain girl with a low self-esteem, and the fear of being the next in line has driven her to bully Celia. When Elizabeth was in kindergarten she got the nickname “Sucky” and the name had stuck with her until third grade. She knows how it feels to be the victim and being teased day in and day out, therefore she is trying to live up to the groups wishes. The problem that Elizabeth stumbles upon along the story is that her mother tells her to stop bullying Celia. The consequence if she chooses to ignore her will be spanking in public. The instructions from her family has now placed her in a bad position with the group, because now she has to protect Celia, in order to avoid public humiliation. Elizabeth is disgusted every time she lays eyes on Celia, and her hatred to her is building up for each day. What may be the cause for this hatred towards her, because none of the other girls seems to have this much against her? Why is Elizabeth more...
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...1957, Elizabeth Eckford, a black teenager, tried to integrate Central High School in Little Rock. While she tried to enter the building, she was surrounded by a huge crowd of white people screaming at her. However, there was one person that stood out - Hazel Bryan, she had been snarling at Elizabeth. That image had gone down in history, being one of the most memorable photographs of the Civil Rights Era. Forty years after, they decided to meet, attempt to reconcile, and they started with a new photo. The contemporary photograph of Elizabeth and Hazel should be given prominence at the visitor center because it shows that people can change, people can overcome their differences, and...
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...realizes he doesn’t have to be a saint to be good. To understand how John Proctor reclaimed his goodness, the story needs to be set to when the reader is first aware of Proctor’s lost sense of goodness. The play introduced Proctor as a man repleted with guilt. Known for being highly respected in the town of Salem, he is struggling with his self image and sense of goodness, rightfully so. Following the event of Proctor...
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...Elizabeth, is a 1998 film about the early life of me, Queen Elizabeth I, of England who is arguably one of the greatest monarchs to ever sit on this throne. Cate Blanchett is the title role and I believe she did alright although I think I am much better looking. I think that this movie broke the usual "period piece" mold of English biographical movies because it was directed by an Indian, Shekhar Kapur. This movie seemed to took a much more dramatic style of storytelling, which I thought was good because there was quite the drama in my Kingdom at that time. The movie also did not shy away from some historical truths of the era, such as dirt, poverty, and torture. In the movie however, there are some mistakes and factual errors that I noticed that were not accurate to what I really went through, or what happened with certain characters in real life. The movie had many errors and said things that I did not do. In the beginning , Firstly, my appearance was not accurate. I did not start wearing wigs and heavy makeup until later in my reign, and it had nothing to do with the Virgin Mary. I very much wanted to keep the image of an eternally youthful Queen, for my own sake because I did not want to feel I was sadly aging, or possibly growing ill. I started wearing red wigs when my hair started greying at a young age. (The Life of Elizabeth) Queen Mother Mary of Guise did send troops to Scotland, but Elizabeth sent a fleet, not an army of troops. And this fleet was not an invasion...
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...protectiveness of one’s reputation and self-image through his character John Proctor. In the play, John Proctors battle to be morally right and his affair with Abigail Williams essentially caused him a great deal of confusion. Proctor ultimately confessed, but was too enveloped in his pride so he refused to have his confession hung up on the church doors. His own refusal to let the reputation he built go to waste is what caused his death and destroyed his reputation. Early in the play, Elizabeth knew about Proctor’s affair with Abigail. Elizabeth’s cold and distant attitude towards Proctor after his affair caused him an even greater struggle. As Proctor pleads for forgiveness in Act 4, Elizabeth says, “John, it come to naught that I should forgive you, if you'll not forgive yourself.” Proctor was so wrapped up in his wife’s view of him that he was not focusing on how he viewed himself. He could not fathom the looks his wife and he would receive if he confessed of his affair. How was he to expect others to forgive him for his wrong doings if he could not forgive himself?...
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...he realizes that his hands are out of control. Two characters whose past play a key role in their unhappy present lives are Wash Williams and Elizabeth Willard. To understand the grotesque nature of their present lives, the reader is exposed to their past experiences. For both Elizabeth Willard and Wash Williams the past has had a powerful effect on their present, and their future seems based on the message they feel compelled to deliver to George Willard. Elizabeth Willard, mother of Winesburg, Ohio's central character George Willard, had watched helplessly as all of her girlhood dreams of adventure and freedom had died away, leaving only her hope and determination that George succeed where she had failed and escape Winesburg. In her youth Elizabeth had been a free spirit dreaming of traveling the world as a stage actress, and in the process gaining a reputation in Winesburg for spending her evenings with the men of the theatrical companies who stayed at her father's hotel. However as time passed, so did the notion of acting and Elizabeth began her search for love and marriage which lead her to Tom Willard, a clerk at her father's hotel. Against her father's wishes she marries Tom only to realize later that she did not really love him, but was simply in love with the idea of marriage. It is after her marriage that Elizabeth seems to give up on both her life and her dreams and in her depressed, defeated state is described as a "tall ghostly figure moving slowly through...
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...Composers of texts often seek to present their opinions in such a way that influences the responder to agree or empathise with the composer. In both Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth, the composers’ perspectives on these historical figures and events are portrayed in unique ways which contradict and are contradicted by perspectives from other sources. Reasons for these differences can include the form of text and context of the composer, both of which affect not only the composer’s perspective, but the way in which they present it. Both Julius Caesar and Elizabeth are forms of text which serve primarily to entertain the audience. Even supposedly ‘historical’ plays and films do not have to adhere strictly to the ‘facts’ of history, but often stray from such accuracy in order to enhance entertainment value. For this reason, the viewpoint they may present on historical events or personalities can often conflict with accounts from other, more strictly historical, sources. For example, Julius Caesar was largely based off and echoes Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, and yet the two differ notably in many respects, such as the depiction of the funeral oratories given by Brutus and Antony. In Plutarch’s history, events are recounted very drily and matter-of-fact: “Brutus… came down from the capitol, and spoke to the people.” There is no direct quotation, details of the speech, or emotive language. Shakespeare on the other hand has both men give a detailed and well-crafted...
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