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- Biographies - |
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The Life of Elizabeth I |
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 The Life of Elizabeth I byAlison Weir Ballantine 532 pages, 1999 ISBN 0345425502 Reviewed by John A. Broussard, PhD "Our blessed Queen was more than a man and, in truth, something less than a woman." These words by the Queen’s Secretary of State describe the enigma that Alison Weir explores and attempts to resolve in this magnificent biography. In the case of such a complex personality as Elizabeth’s, no one can expect to find the final answers, but Weir presents the alternative explanations clearly and forcefully. Scholarly without being pompous, readable without writing down to the reader, informative without losing the human element in a welter of detail, The Life of Elizabeth I is a one-of-a-kind biography. The book leaves unexplained why Elizabeth never married, why she surrounded herself with young, handsome male admirers yet very likely never consummated a relationship with any of them, and why this ruler of a small country - with fewer residents than present day Toronto or Miami - became adored by her subjects, admired by a host of foreign rulers, and amazingly successful in both reigning and ruling for forty-five long years. The unexplained is no fault of Weir’s. She shows her competence and talent in this sympathetic description of an amazingly convoluted personality. Elizabeth was a woman of strong personal courage, superior intelligence, and superb diplomatic skills, along with being a consummate actress. Extraordinarily independent of mind, she nevertheless surrounded herself with, and gave ear to, wise counselors. Even her flaws she used to advantage. Terribly fearful of marriage, for whatever reason, she yet dangled the possibility of matrimony before reigning monarchs and her many slavish courtiers alike - always to England’s benefit. Surprisingly tolerant and humane by the standards of her age, Elizabeth could wreak terrible vengeance on those who threatened her throne. She was truly a passionate woman but, as Weir states, "When it came to a decision, she compelled her head to rule her heart." Elizabeth’s long and stormy relationship with Robert Dudley dominates the first part of the book. Her years of rivalry with Mary Queen of Scots fills much of the middle portion. And, finally, the book ends with the meteoric rise and equally rapid downfall of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. While the historic events of Elizabeth’s long rule - world exploration, the Armada, the literary triumphs of Marlowe, Shakespeare and others - are recognized, the emphasis throughout The Life of Elizabeth I is the Queen herself and those with whom she dealt on a day-to-day basis. Granted that good fortune smiled upon this Queen, that a "Protestant" wind scattered Catholic Spain’s Armada, that the powerful nations of Europe were too busy squabbling among themselves to give much attention to half of a small island off the coast of France, and that the worst of the religious turbulence of Henry VIII’s rule had finally subsided - Good Queen Bess was still in large measure responsible for the stable, orderly government that characterized her forty-five year reign and that made possible the glory that was England. We owe much to Alison Weir for having so well described this woman who was "more than a man." |
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