Post 4

Looking back at Elizabeth's letter to the Duke of Anjou, I find it very difficult to believe that Elizabeth had any deep, personal, or emotional attachments to Anjou whatsoever.  The clip we watched in class on Wednesday romanticizes the pair's relationship to a level that we as an audience would want to believe the Queen loved Anjou. It is after all very nice to imagine that even a woman so distinguished in intelligence, character, and rank in society can find someone to love and cherish. However, the historical evidence, in the form of Elizabeth's letters to Anjou, seems to suggest to me that she speaks in an odd manner that straddles the line of being fake and slightly awkward. The stickiest part of her letter to the duke in late 1579 is her "confession" that she would rather spend her life with him than any other prince in the world. Using such strong language to  encourage the duke's affections invites readers of this letter to  believe that Elizabeth truly loves Anjou. However, it must be noted that Elizabeth never takes the time to write anything intimate or personal about the duke that she loves or admires. In fact, she says "I cannot recite them for their number nor dare to make mention of them for the length of time it would take me." I would think that had she truly felt the level of love she speaks of in this letter, the entire document would be more personal. In addition to this point, in one instance Elizabeth refuses to put in writing the debate over Anjou's public practice of Catholicism that exists between the two of them. She mentions previously the objections raised by the french ambassador about the duke hiding his practice of Catholicism, but is not willing to associate that issue with as something that she personally objects to. Obviously, Elizabeth is Protestant and though is may not be as zealous as her sister was about keeping company with her own faith she will not give her kingdom an opportunity to be over run by the Catholic church. These facts and speculations fuel my suspicion for her "loving and true" intentions towards Anjou. A number of things may be counted in much of her writings pertaining to the Duke of Anjou to further the theory that Elizabeth was a ruler and a monarch who knew how to play her cards without giving up her hand.