Description: This groundbreaking book combines literary interpretation, gender analysis, and cultural, political, and diplomatic history to examine how Elizabeth I used the discourse of love to establish her political power, assert her right to marry or not, and rule the country herself either way.
Review Quotes:
'This is a well-researched study. Bell lucidly highlights how Elizabeth deployed her formidable rhetorical skills to negate the threat posed by her unmarried feminine state, while simultaneously asserting her sovereign authority.' Journal of British Studies
"Bell is the only scholar out there who is able to tackle the complexities of Elizabeth's written and reported spoken discourse with the full literary attention that it deserves. Once published, this pathbreaking book will show an entire generation of scholars how to integrate Elizabeth Tudor the writer into our understanding of rhetoric, poetics, and language in the Elizabethan age. The fruits of this heightened attention to the rhetoricity and literariness of Elizabeth's self-presentation are clear. Bell has the potential to change the way we think about Elizabeth's place in the histories of gender, politics, religions, diplomacy - ultimately in history itself." - John Watkins, Professor of English, University of Minnesota