With her country on the verge of being attacked, Queen Elizabeth I of England gathered her troops at Tilbury to give her remarks to the soldiers. During her speech, Queen Elizabeth conveyed her strength and credibility as a leader as well as elicited a nationalistic pride out of those fighting to protect England by using imagery, specifically of war, and diction evoking leadership, credibility, and pride in country. One of Queen Elizabeth's main priorities with this speech was to establish her credibility and strength as the leader of England. In the 1500s, when the speech was delivered, women were not seen as being as strong as men both physically and emotionally; because of this men were viewed as the stronger leaders, and women rarely held positions of power. Due to these general societal gender expectations, Queen Elizabeth felt that she had to point out to the people that even though "[she had] the body but of a weak and feeble woman [she had] the heart and stomach of a king". It is worth noting that this is the only time the Queen refers to herself with a royal title, and that title is King. She chose her words carefully, to portray herself as strong. Additionally, Queen Elizabeth gives herself credibility as a leader of people going into battle by giving images of herself in that battle, "[laying] down for [her] God [her] kingdom and [her] people". The fact that she shows her audience that she herself is willing to fight for them is a sign of strength. Queen Elizabeth achieves the credibility she has to seek after because she is a Queen through her war images and language she uses to portray herself as a leader.
Queen Elizabeth's other purpose was to unite the troops in defense of their country, and she puts pride in country in a prominent place in the speech. England is about to be attacked by the Spanish, and it is necessary that the troops are more loyal to and proud of their country than anyone else.
