England's Elizabeth: An Afterlife in Fame and Fantasy

by Michael Dobson, Nicola J. Watson

No monarch is more glamorous or more controversial than Elizabeth I. The stories by which successive generations have sought to extol, explain, or excoriate Elizabeth supply a rich index to the cultural history of English nationalism--whether they represent her as Anne Boleyn's suffering
orphan or as the implacable nemesis of Mary, Queen of Scots, as learned stateswoman or as frustrated lover, persecuted princess or triumphant warrior queen. This book examines the many afterlives the Virgin Queen has lived in drama, poetry, fiction, painting, propaganda, and the cinema over the four
centuries since her death, from the aspiringly epic to the frankly kitsch. Exploring the Elizabeths of Shakespeare and Spenser, of Sophia Lee and Sir Walter Scott, of Bette Davis and of Glenda Jackson, of Shakespeare in Love and Blackadder II , this is a lively, lavishly-illustrated investigation of
England's perennial fascination with a queen who is still engaged in a posthumous progress through the collective psyche of her country.

348 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2002

About the author

See also:

Michael S. Dobson for the author of non-fiction works on business, alternate history fiction, and RPG books.
Michael B. Dobson for medical works.
Mike J. Dobson for historical works on the Romans and food.