Elizabeth (1998) is a film on an incredibly iconic and powerful leader, Queen Elizabeth I of England. She had ruled her country for 40 years. She had inherited a broken and failing England, and she had taken it to become the richest and most powerful country in Europe. The film encapsulates several aspects of leadership as we had learned in Leadership Developmental Studies: A Humanities Approach. Elizabeth had captured the elements of developing a personal leadership philosophy, articulating a vision, servant leadership, making decisions, and guiding through conflict.
To lead, one must know themselves as a leader. In the beginning of the film, at Queen Mary’s deathbed, Elizabeth plans to act in accordance with her own conscience …show more content…
In our reading of Huckleberry Finn, the titular character thinks about his consequences for freeing an enslaved man named Jim Huck would be shunned upon, be made a shame of, and damned, but he resolves to save Jim by making a significant sacrifice when he declares “all right, then, I’ll go to hell” (345). Similarly, Elizabeth makes a powerful and final statement that would set the course for her rule: “I am married... to England.” Her decision to never marry was bold and unheard of- a Queen needed a king to make decisions for her and to secure her place as monarch. She valued her own autonomy as a Queen and thus decided she did not need to follow the standard convention of marriage similarly to how Huck Finn decided to go against what his racist society has told him. Both characters had gone completely against what is expected of them by their societies and rejected those societal values, yet they do it because they feel they are doing the right thing. Making unconventional decisions in the eyes of followers or the masses can be difficult, but it is on making those decisions where a leader’s true values shine through. Like in Elizabeth’s struggles to make decisions, “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell and Thirteen Days was able to highlight the problems with outside influence. However, these works ultimately teaches us to go with your best judgment. What Elizabeth ultimately decided on was …show more content…
The Queen had to mend the chasm between Catholics and Protestants. Like in “Federalist Number 10”, she had to manage conflict between factions. To relieve the conflict, Madison had said: “the interference to which we are brought is, that the causes of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling the effects” (425). Elizabeth was able to manage the conflict, and her methods of choice were de-escalation, relatability, and compromise. Although not directly related to the chapter, in Remember the Titans, one way to get others on your side, and by extension, resolve conflict, was to be relatable. When the Queen was trying to pass her Act of Uniformity, she was able to sway the priests and other church members in her favor by utilizing relatability. In a similar scene, the conflict amongst the football team in Remember the Titans was ultimately solved by a sense of comradery amongst each other. In Elizabeth, she appeals to the ministers by being relatable. She states “We all believe in God, my Lords” to gain footing with them. She manages the conflict even further by deescalating the tensions by utilizing humor. In a conversation about marriage, she responds: “Aye, but marry who, your grace? Would you give me some suggestion? For some say France and others Spain, and some cannot abide foreigners at all. So I am not sure
To lead, one must know themselves as a leader. In the beginning of the film, at Queen Mary’s deathbed, Elizabeth plans to act in accordance with her own conscience …show more content…
In our reading of Huckleberry Finn, the titular character thinks about his consequences for freeing an enslaved man named Jim Huck would be shunned upon, be made a shame of, and damned, but he resolves to save Jim by making a significant sacrifice when he declares “all right, then, I’ll go to hell” (345). Similarly, Elizabeth makes a powerful and final statement that would set the course for her rule: “I am married... to England.” Her decision to never marry was bold and unheard of- a Queen needed a king to make decisions for her and to secure her place as monarch. She valued her own autonomy as a Queen and thus decided she did not need to follow the standard convention of marriage similarly to how Huck Finn decided to go against what his racist society has told him. Both characters had gone completely against what is expected of them by their societies and rejected those societal values, yet they do it because they feel they are doing the right thing. Making unconventional decisions in the eyes of followers or the masses can be difficult, but it is on making those decisions where a leader’s true values shine through. Like in Elizabeth’s struggles to make decisions, “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell and Thirteen Days was able to highlight the problems with outside influence. However, these works ultimately teaches us to go with your best judgment. What Elizabeth ultimately decided on was …show more content…
The Queen had to mend the chasm between Catholics and Protestants. Like in “Federalist Number 10”, she had to manage conflict between factions. To relieve the conflict, Madison had said: “the interference to which we are brought is, that the causes of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling the effects” (425). Elizabeth was able to manage the conflict, and her methods of choice were de-escalation, relatability, and compromise. Although not directly related to the chapter, in Remember the Titans, one way to get others on your side, and by extension, resolve conflict, was to be relatable. When the Queen was trying to pass her Act of Uniformity, she was able to sway the priests and other church members in her favor by utilizing relatability. In a similar scene, the conflict amongst the football team in Remember the Titans was ultimately solved by a sense of comradery amongst each other. In Elizabeth, she appeals to the ministers by being relatable. She states “We all believe in God, my Lords” to gain footing with them. She manages the conflict even further by deescalating the tensions by utilizing humor. In a conversation about marriage, she responds: “Aye, but marry who, your grace? Would you give me some suggestion? For some say France and others Spain, and some cannot abide foreigners at all. So I am not sure