The Heart and Stomach of a King

Carole Levin’s magisterial work has now appeared in its second edition, a testament to its importance. Carole explores the myriad ways the unmarried, childless Elizabeth represented herself and the ways members of her court, foreign ambassadors, and subjects represented and responded to her as a public figure. Like her recently deceased successor, Elizabeth II, Elizabeth Tudor understood that she had to be seen to be believed. She fashioned herself into both the Virgin Queen and the mother of her people. Carole interrogates the gender constructions, role expectations, and beliefs about sexuality that influenced her public persona and the way she… show more.

On the eve of the attack by the Spanish Armada, Elizabeth I, dressed in armor, is said to have addressed her troops at Tilbury: “I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.” This fascinating cultural biography by Carole Levin, one of the Virgin Queen’s most prominent scholars, focuses on Elizabeth’s self-representation as well as how she was perceived by her subjects; Levin bases her investigation on a wide variety of sources, including recorded dreams about Elizabeth and trial records concerning those who slandered the queen.

Though largely… show more.