Queenship and Power: Early Modern Representations of Elizabeth I

Riehl, A.

The Face of Queenship investigates the aesthetic, political, and gender-related meanings in representations of Elizabeth I by her contemporaries. By attending to eyewitness reports, poetry, portraiture, and discourses on beauty and cosmetics, this book shows how the portrayals of the queen s face register her contemporaries hopes, fears, hatreds, mockeries, rivalries, and awe. In its application of theories of the meaning of the face and its exploration of the early modern representation and interpretation of faces, this study argues that the face was seen as a rhetorical tool and that Elizabeth was a master of using her face to persuade, threaten, or comfort her subjects.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2010-06-21

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9780230614956

DOI: 10.1057/9780230106741

Dimensions: 216cm x140cm

Pages: 248