The Reign of Elizabeth 1

by Carole Levin

The reign of Elizabeth I was marked by England finally became a protestant nation, and England's relations with her neighbours were also changing, in part because of religious controversies. Elizabeth's reign was also significant in terms of changing gender expectations, and in terms of attitudes towards those considered different. While a woman ruled, others, often at the bottom of the social scale, were condemned as witches.
Levin evaluates Elizabeth and the significance of her reign both in the context of her age and our own, examining the increasing cultural diversity of Elizabethan England and the impact of the reign of an unmarried queen on gender expectations, as well as exploring the more traditional themes of religion, foreign policy, plots and conspiracies. Levin's fresh perspective will be welcomed by students of this exceptional reign.

Genres: History

146 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2001

About the author

Carole Levin is Willa Cather Professor of History at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She is the author of Dreaming the English Renaissance: Politics and Desire in Court and Culture and The Heart and Stomach of a King: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Sex and Power.

Reviews

[Isabella Leake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, divided into six sections, provides a generally well-ordered and digestible array of information pertaining to the political, religious, cultural, historical, and personal realms important to Elizabeth's reign. It is a good introduction to the subject, supposing no prior knowledge of the period, though the uninitiated reader might feel lost, as I did, in the labyrinthine accounts of plots and conspiracies against the Queen. The fifty-year stories of the ebb and flow of theological politics and England's ever-shifting relationship with France, Spain, and other lesser European countries also posed some difficulties, but I am thankful that Carole Levin strives for uncluttered narration. The prose is straightforward, even if the events and trends presented follow tortuous paths.

The arrangement and style of the volume are usually decent, not brilliant history or analysis. A few of the chapters (the one on religion, chiefly) seem lacking in logic--the author does not follow a clear progression through her arguments, often skipping around, leaving out information, and tying all together at the end of the paragraph, after already confusing the reader. In the first three chapters, she has an annoying habit of referring to other scholarship, very predictably, at the end of every paragraph. Her scheme appears to be: Fact, fact, fact; interpretation; cite an authority or two. It grows wearisome after a few paragraphs.

The book contains numerous typographical errors, but its occasional (and regular) lapse into familiar style seems its gravest failing. Levin uses demonstrative pronouns in a peculiar way: "Suddenly, there was this large, strategically placed army." Other sentences feature awkwardly placed subordinate clauses: "Some members were particularly concerned over the problem of, if the Queen were actually killed and authority lapsed, how effective action could be taken." Strangely, these are only occasional blemishes, and the rest of the narrative reads elegantly. The author's ear seems to fail her at regular intervals, enabling the composition of graceful prose on all other occasions.

[Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The boys own bumper book of Bess. Very readable prose, a few inelegancies of style apart. Clearly summarizes much of the latest scholarship on the salient points of Elizabeth Tudor's life and reign. A very quick read, with useful notes and an extremely useful bibliographical essay pointing readers to the usual suspects (Neale, Guy, MacCaffrey and Doran among several others).