Virginity, Divinity and Power: The Portraits of Elizabeth I

Abstract

Towards the end of Shekhar Kapur’s film, Elizabeth , the attractive young queen kneels before a statue of the Madonna and, taking inspiration from it, transforms herself into ‘the legendary Virgin Queen, formidable, untouchable and unbeatable’. 1 In the next scene, Kat Ashley hacks off the queen’s flowing tresses, fits a jewel-encrusted wig on her shorn head, and paints her face unnaturally white. Elizabeth then dons a stiff white farthingale and makes her first public appearance at court as an icon of divinity. In these final shots of this deeply ahistorial drama, Kapur conveys brilliantly the most familiar myth surrounding Elizabeth I, namely that she fashioned her own image and created the cult of the Virgin Queen as a political device to inspire awe in her subjects, consolidate her political power, and signal her intention never to marry. 2 These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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