Elizabeth initially struggled to prove her legitimacy as Queen due to her sex, religion and parents, however through a series of calculated speeches, Elizabeth populized the medieval theory of the king's two bodies, constructing an image of herself, exploiting femininity, and simultaneously exerting power reserved for a male monarch. Elizabeth's use of language to describe herself resonates with the way gender, power and sexuality were used in the literature of the time. Marie Axton equates this resurgence of the theory of the king's two bodies as "an attempt to deal with parad...

• Word Count: 1452
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Graduate