Classical Images as Instruction

While in class we all decided that the pageants for Elizabeth in Norwich were boring to read (and probably boring for her to sit through), the use of Classical gods struck me as interesting. The people in Norwich seem to use the Olympian gods as a tool for chastising Elizabeth. She, of course, was undergoing her marriage negotiations with the Catholic Duke of Anjou at the time, of which the highly Protestant Norwich people did not approve. They make this clear many times, especially when the actors portraying all of the major gods presented gifts to her. The final two to speak were Diana and Cupid. Diana praises the queen for her virginity: "Whoever found a body and a mind / So free from stain, so perfect to be seen." She also refers to her as a friend, a fellow virgin abstaining from male contact. This seems to be a chastisement from the Norwich people. They praise her for being perfect as she is, without a male to compliment her. She is on the level of Diana and other virgins (although they praise her as being as beautiful as Venus), and she will lose this by marrying Anjou. However, one cannot truly chastise a queen - without an echoing of supporting whatever her actions may be, since she knows best. This happens when Cupid follows, saying that she would be able to win any man she desired. To be smart, they have to end with at least a little support, after all.