Elizabeth I: The Competition for Representation

Susan Frye's biography of Elizabeth is in our library, and it's not so much an objective biography as a feminist critique of representations of Elizabeth throughout her life.

Essentially, what Frye does is show the various ways Elizabeth is represented and then represents herself. It covers everything from the pageant at her entry to her imprisonment to her self-fashioned image late in life. The part I've focused on so far is that opening pageant, and Frye's analysis of it has helped build onto what we talked about in class.

Frye's focus is very sporadic, talking about certain subjects rather than an overview of Elizabeth's life, but should this self- vs. other- representation thing be what you're looking at, it could be helpful. (Caleb? Jade?) It's also just pretty interesting, honestly.

Frye, Susan. Elizabeth I: The Competition for Representation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Print.