Queen Elizabeth's Political Power Dbq Analysis

People may have criticized Elizabeth’s political position because of women’s religious and social roles; however, it did not affect her due to her having total control over them. In a religious context, women were inferior to men in many ways. During Elizabeth’s reign, a large religious movement called the Protestant Reformation was sweeping Europe. To most Europeans, religion was a very important aspect of their life and many were very religious. According to John Knox, the Holy Ghost says that women should never have authority over a man and women having superiority is “against all nature” (Doc 1) Knox is attempting to justify his sexism with religious reasons because he knows that religion is very important to most people. Also, Knox …show more content…
One would assume these roles would affect Elizabeth’s political power, however, it did not weaken her control over England. For example, a common view among society was that men had to be the leader of the relationship while the wife must be submissive and obey them. In fact, this was supported by the bishops of the Church of England and Elizabeth herself (Doc 3) They released this to show how relationships were supposed to function and show that women were not supposed to be superior. Also, it was written to show the contrast in women’s role in politics and women’s role in society. Elizabeth would not want to give up any political power, so by her supporting this view it’s obvious it just applies to in normal relationships. If women could never be dominant, a Queen could never be the sole monarch of England. Clearly, women’s role in relationships doesn 't determine their role in politics. Furthermore, near the end of her reign, Elizabeth fell ill and her personal surgeon, William Clowes, asked for everyone to wish upon her a long life with much happiness and for her to forever cure and heal people (Doc 6) It’s clear that Clowes respects Elizabeth and how she helps people, however, it’s clear that there is a double standard. If a King has fallen ill when they were old, many would perceive him as weak because he was giving up. Also, if one were to ask God for their king to have a long life, it most likely wouldn’t be so he could heal more people. A king is more likely to be associated with defending their country and going to war, all the strong and “manly” aspects of ruling a nation. Despite this double standard, Elizabeth was still trusted with ruling the country and the other “manly” parts of being a