English 117: Crouse-pack Reading

I really enjoyed the “Young Elizabeth in Peril” piece we had to read over the weekend. At first it reminded me of the paper we had to work on. I love how it starts out by talking about the different depictions of Elizabeth that have occurred over time. It is rather interesting to look back and see how everyone does portray Elizabeth in a different light compared to another author/ director. I also like how the article goes from describing the different portrayals of Elizabeth to actually going into detail (what can be proven at least) how what Elizabeth’s life was really like. After all, Elizabeth was a human just like rest of us- surely made mistakes. I see the points they make, but at the end when it is said, “[m]odern film representation… do not offer us a princess credited with wisdom and judgment, nor do we have depiction of a successful queen who could entertain both a rich private life as well as a publicly successful one,” (Levin and Carney, 234). I do not feel this is true. Yeah modern representations are going to focus on points that will draw an audience in, but I still feel that the message of Elizabeth being a powerful and smart queen who led her people into success is brought across in the end. I know that a lot of the readings and films we have been watching are focused on her sexuality and relationships with men, however, she still finds herself facing issues and having to make difficult decisions that are in her country’s best interest. It would be great to have a film that focused on Elizabeth as she truly was, a great queen devoted to her country but also human, but until someone steps up to do so, we are left with interpretations. Interpretations from reading pieces of writing from her and to her, the interpretations that directors/ authors view Elizabeth as, and the stories we hear about her.