No Crooked Leg, No Bleared EyeQueen Elizabeth I1533–1603

Background Information 1 Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was queen

regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called “The Virgin Queen,” “Gloriana,” or “Good Queen Bess,” Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty.

The daughter of Henry VIII, she was born into the royal succession, but her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed two and a half years after her birth, with Anne’s marriage to Henry VIII being annulled, and Elizabeth hence declared illegitimate. Her half-brother, Edward VI, ruled as king until his death in 1553, whereupon he bequeathed the crown to Lady Jane Grey, cutting his two half-sisters, Elizabeth and the Roman Catholic Mary, out of the succession. His will was set aside, Mary became Queen, and Lady Jane Grey was executed.

Elizabeth’s last stepmother was Katherine Parr, the sixth queen to Henry VIII. Katherine had hoped to marry Thomas Seymour (brother to the late Queen Jane), but she caught Henry’s eye. While in her care, Elizabeth was provided with the most distinguished tutors of the time, ensuring that she was educated as well as any legitimate prince. Elizabeth left her household after an incident with the Lord Admiral, Thomas Seymour, who was now Katherine’s husband. Rumors at the time suggested that Katherine had caught them kissing or perhaps even in bed together. During the reign of Edward VI, Thomas Seymour asked for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage, which she refused. From this incident, both Thomas and Elizabeth were suspected of plotting against the king. Elizabeth was questioned, but was never charged. Seymour, however, after an attempt to kidnap the boy king, was arrested and eventually executed for treason. Elizabeth was reported to have said, upon hearing of the Lord Admiral’s death: “Today died a man of much wit, and very little judgment.”

Background Information 2 In 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister, during whose reign

she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

News of Mary’s death on November 17, 1558 reached Elizabeth at Hatfield, where she was said to be out in the park, sitting under an oak tree. Upon hearing that she was Queen, legend has it that Elizabeth quoted the 118th Psalm’s twenty-third line, in Latin: “A Dominum factum est illud, et est mirabile in oculis nostris”—“It is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”

On January 15, 1559, Elizabeth I was crowned Queen at Westminster Abbey. The total cost of the celebrations was £16,741, which according to one calculation would equal about £3.5 million today. Like her predecessors, Elizabeth knew the importance of a good show, especially for a new monarch who needed to re-affirm her right to her crown.

When Elizabeth took the throne, she was immediately descended upon by suitors. However, she never married. Some theorize that because of the way her father treated his wives Elizabeth was disgusted by the idea of marriage. The more romantic feel it was because she couldn’t marry the man whom she really loved, Robert Dudley. When Elizabeth became Queen, Dudley was married, and then his wife Amy died under mysterious circumstances a few years later. Elizabeth kept the last letter he sent her in her desk, with “His Last Letter” written on it.

As she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity, and a cult grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day.

The Lady Elizabeth in about 1546, by an unknown artist

Background Information 3 Elizabeth set out to rule by good counsel, and she depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers

led by William Cecil, Baron Burghley. One of her first moves as Queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church. This later evolved into today’s Church of England.

In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottos was “video et taceo” (“I see, and say nothing”). In religion, she was relatively tolerant, avoiding systematic persecution.

Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, moving between the major powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, and Ireland. In the mid-1580s, war with Spain could no longer be avoided, and when Spain finally decided to attempt to conquer England in 1588, the failure of the Spanish Armada associated her with one of the greatest military victories in English history.

Elizabeth had to deal with the growing threat of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had a strong and legitimate (especially in the eyes of Catholics) claim to the throne of England. When Mary fled her country in the 1560s, she was taken into house arrest in England, where she had expected protection. Elizabeth, however, knew Mary was a threat. Eventually, a plot arose in Mary’s name, and Elizabeth signed her death warrant. Mary was executed in 1587, on 8 February.

Elizabeth died on March 24, 1603, at Richmond Palace, and was succeeded by James I (James VI of Scotland), the son of Mary, Queen of Scots. The Tudor dynasty ended and passed to the Stuarts.

After the short reigns of Elizabeth’s half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity.

Elizabeth’s reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Francis Drake. Some historians are more reserved in their assessment. They depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, who enjoyed more than her share of luck.

Analysis 1

No crookèd leg, no blearèd eye,

No part deformèd out of kind,

Nor yet so ugly half can be

As is the inward suspicious mind.

Blearèd] bleary (= (of eyes or vision) dimmed or blurred, as by tears or tiredness)Out of kind] unnaturallySuspicious] (1) arousing or apt to arouse suspicion; (2) distrustful; (3) expressing suspicion

The poem is an example of an epigram (= a short, pithy

saying, usually in verse, often with a quick, satirical twist at the end; the subject is usually a single thought or

event).

The poem was written around 1554-1555, which corresponds to the period of time Elizabeth spent in the

Tower of London, as a prisoner, at the behest of her half-sister, Mary. Moreover, the poem was found in

Elizabeth’s French Psalter (= a volume containing the Book of Psalms).

The poem may be assumed to have been inspired by the events that transpired between Elizabeth and her half-sister Mary, who had her

imprisoned in the Tower of London on grounds of involvement in the Wyatt Rebellion (= a popular uprising in England in 1554, named after Thomas

Wyatt, one of its leaders; it arose out of concern over Queen Mary I's determination to marry Philip of Spain, which was an unpopular policy with the English; Queen Mary's overthrow was implied in the rebellion, although

not expressly stated as a goal). Anecdotal evidence paints a picture of a young woman, barely above 20 years of age, frightened that she would

perish in the Tower. Elizabeth appealed numerous times to Mary, with little success. Therefore, the poem may be said to allude to Mary. Broadly

speaking, the THEME is related to the idea that the importance of physical ugliness pales in comparison with ugliness of spirit or character.

Analysis 2

No crookèd leg, // no blearèd eye, a

No part deformèd out of kind, b

Nor yet so ugly half can be a

As is the inward suspicious mind. b

The poem is composed in iambic tetrameter, with the last line featuring an instance of hypercatalexis. This may be due to differences in pronunciation, or to an intentional attempt at emphasis: the last line introduces the so-called

“twist” usually apparent in epigrams, shifting the focus of the poem from physical to mental aspects and thus subtly criticizing Mary, which is, in fact, the whole purpose of the poem. The poem is end-rhymed abab, an overly simple rhyme scheme that belies the deeper, more solemn significance of the poem. Alternatively, its repetitive pattern may imply that individuals who are prone to being suspicious have very rigid values and beliefs that may even

become predictable after one is sufficiently exposed to them. Furthermore, the caesura in line one and the fact that the first two lines are end-stopped make the first half of the poem reminiscent of a list: whatever physical

imperfections one may come up with—or, indeed, the cumulative effect of all those mentioned in the poem—cannot be as repulsive as a “suspicious mind” (line 4), an execrable character. This effect is strengthened by the frequent use of negations. As for the enjambment apparent in lines 3-4, it makes readers rush through said lines, lending an

accusatory tone to the second half of the poem.

The third line expresses the belief that any physical

imperfection whatsoever, or more of them coupled together, are not half as “ugly” (line 3) as a deficient character. Moreover,

the use of the word “ugly,” a simple word laden with

meaning, presents Elizabeth’s message as something

commonplace that everybody is aware of. Additionally, its

negative connotations imply that a “suspicious mind” (line 4) makes its possessor generally loathed and shunned, much as

a person with some sort of physical deformity was in

Elizabethan England. In fact, deformity was oftentimes

considered to be the mark of the Devil.

The last line shifts the perspective of the poem from physical deformities to a deficient character, implied by the use of “suspicious mind” (line 4). That is to say, a suspicious nature unequivocally influences one’s behavior, making one aloof, rude, or even cruel in social interactions. Additionally, the word

“inward” (line 4) clearly establishes the difference between reality and outward appearances, implying that such a character is oftentimes

concealed and therefore goes undetected. It likewise offers the juxtaposition of external and internal characteristics, which constitutes the theme of the

poem. Lastly, the word “suspicious” (line 4) may be given two interpretations: firstly, it may be taken literally, as in a tendency to distrust people; secondly, it may imply that individuals with such a disposition come

across as suspicious themselves, making other people mistrust them.