'Discuss How This Play Might Reflect On Elizabeth I`S Decision Not To Marry\r'

'By the magazine Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer’s dark dream during the winter of 1595-96, Queen Elizabeth I was well ult her childbearing years, past the age of sixty and had non chosen an heir. Given the previous several decades of side history, this made her subjects understandably apprehensive. The fact that she was a herculean ruler who had accomplished much and was relatively clement elicited admiration; however, the fact that she was an unmarried muliebrity would have raised m either questions in the minds of pack living in and during what essentially was a patriarchal, young-begetting(prenominal)-dominated take aim and time.The initial performance of A Midsummer’s Night Dream may have been attended by Elizabeth. Were this the case and it was known that the Queen would attend, it would not have been unreasonable for Shakespeare to incorporate elements designed to pet her. On the other hand, Shakespeare’s plays were written â€Å"for the hatfulâ⠂¬Â as well. It is not beyond the realm of happening that some subtle form of political or social criticism might have pitch its way into the script.In some ways, the structure of the play (one of the fewer that Shakespeare created from his own imagination without relying on a prime source) is metaphorical of the history of England during the turbulent years of the sixteenth century; the Duke of Theseus and Queen Hippolyta re march constancy in what is essentially a chaotic plot, and this stability is present only at the beginning and the ending of the play.Likewise, the sixteenth century had opened with the reign of heat content VI, who had restored stability following the War of the Roses; when his son, Henry VIII skint with the Roman Catholic Church over the fuck of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, he unintentionally lit a socio-political fire fanned by the winds of the Reformation, leading to societal upheavals over which he had little control.Following the passing of Henry VIII, three more Tudor monarchs came and went in tender succession (Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey and Mary I), to each one one bringing a change of prescribed religion; Elizabeth I restored stability to English hostelry and began the process of turning the British Empire into a super place. Elizabeth’s legitimacy was in question because of her Protestant faith, nevertheless she was very popular with her subjects. Nonetheless, the question of her unification came up soon after her ascension to the throne.Rumors at the time suggested that she was in love life with the 1st Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley, but since her council would not sanction marriage to a commoner, she unflinching not to marry at all. It is more plausibly that the decision was political, however. Had Elizabeth married, she would have sacrificed virtually all of her power and a sizable portion of her wealth. In the theory chance of A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Hermia refuses the suitor h er father Egeus has chosen for her. Theseus outlines her alternatives in no uncertain terms: â€Å"Either to die the death, or to abjure For ever the society of men.” (Act I, Scene 1, Lines 65-66).Any male monarch (married or not) would have had to a mistress, and no questions would have been asked. The patriarchal double-standard would have made any tryst on Elizabeth’s part a political disaster, however. Furthermore, Renaissance conventions required that a married woman be unquestioningly subject to her husband’s authority. Since this would have had significant political consequences, it was in Elizabeth’s best interests (as well as England’s) for her to remain a virgin.On one hand, the play would seem to be vital of Elizabeth in her refusal to submit to male authority, and yet at that place is something admirable in Hermia’s defiance, willing to peril all for the one she loves. In the last scene of the 1999 film Elizabeth, the Queen de clares that she is â€Å"married †to England. ” Whether it was personal ambition and desire for power, or a true love for and sense of duty toward the nation, the fact remains that had Elizabeth married, Britain would never have become an empire, and the world would be a much different place today.\r\n'