The Female Monarchy: A Rhetorical Strategy of Early Modern Rule

Abstract

Queen Mary I was crowned in 1553, becoming the first reigning queen of England. In order to provide a powerful image of female rule to her people, Queen Mary invented a rhetorical strategy that reflected her society's oppressive gender expectations of chaste silence so that she could become a powerfully voiced ruler. Her sister and successor, Queen Elizabeth I, later mirrored Mary's strategy. England's first female monarchs created an image of female rule by employing the figures of the spouse, the mother, and the maiden, embodying conventional roles for women in Tudor society, and reclaiming them as images of power.

Notes

¹ I thank RR reviewers John Schaeffer and Edward Schiappa for improving this article with the generous gift of their time, consideration, and helpful suggestions.

² Although apophatic is simply the adjectival form of apophasis, it has been strongly associated with religious texts and has come to signify religion in particular (describing God by describing what God is not). In this project it is only meant to signify apophasis as a rhetorical strategy independent of religious associations.