The Cult of Elizabeth in Art and Literature

From the very first day on the throne of England, Elizabeth I was represented in a variety of media – from royal portraits, through literary and musical works, to jewels and travel reports. The main aim of these multifarious representations was to establish the Queen of England as a sacred figure governing over the British people as well as a blessing for her subjects. In the context of the Reformation, however, the representations of the sacred English Queen had as their premise the substitution of the cult of the Virgin Mary with the one of the Virgin Queen of England. The seminar concentrates on the establishment of the cult of Elizabeth in art and literature. We will look into the various means and instruments used for the representation of the Queen, will analyze literary works, portraits and documents of the age in order to establish the systematic character of her worship through texts and artifacts. The seminar will entail a detailed discussion of works like Walter Ralegh’s poetry, Spenser’s Faerie Queen and Amoretti, Shakespeare’s Phoenix and the Turtle and Henry VIII. Another accent in the course is the analyzes of Elizabeth’s royal portraits – the Ermine portrait or the Armada portrait, the Phoenix and the Pelican portraits continue to amaze scholars even today and are established models of royal portraiture intended to celebrate the greatness of England’s Virgin Queen. Students are encouraged to read Roy Strong’s seminal study The Cult of Elizabeth as it provides a valuable insight into the instruments, tactics and aims of the veneration of the most celebrated English monarch. Students are encouraged to read Roy Strong’s Cult of Elizabeth before the beginning of the semester. All students have to purchase Shakespeare’s Henry VIII preferably in the Oxford edition. Anglistik - Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft General Requirements - Regular participation; active contribution to the discussion; a short term paper and/or oral presentation on a selected topic 2 Kreditpunkte - Short oral presentation and/or short written assignment (1000-1500 words) 5 Kreditpunkte - Short oral presentation and a short written assignment (2500 - 3000 words) Universität Siegen WiSe 2010/11 M.A. Drenkov Boris M.A