Elizabeth the Heart and Stomach of a King Elizabeth was a marvelous ruler for England in times of need. She obtained more success ruling a country than any other female rulers of her time, was able to control a religious chaos, kept England in an eternal and external state of peace for a long time and was a symbol of national unity (Levin 8). The fact she was a female sovereign had a great influence on the portrayal of her image of courage, religion and sexuality and how it was displayed to society (Levin 66). The limitations faced by her imposed by her sex were present until the end of her reign (Levin 145). Since her birth, the fact she was a female was seen as a disappointment (Levin 5), it was thought only a boy would be able to secure succession and avoid civil war (Levin 5). The fact she was not a boy ended up the execution of her mother, Anne …show more content…
The only form of marriage acceptable for her was one where she could fully control her husband (Levin 133), besides, by staying unmarried she didn’t have to worry about fertility problems and childbirth complications (Levin 65). Once she made her mind about staying single, she started to show herself as ‘the Virgin Queen’, which also had a political cause, once she was able to replace the cult before dedicated to the Virgin Mary and use it on her favor and ease the damages caused by the rupture with the Catholic Church (Levin 26) It was also important because in the sixteenth century the honor of a woman was connected with her virginity (Levin 76) and by preserving one, the Queen was preserving the other. However, even not wishing to marry, Elizabeth loved to be courted (Levin 39) and she seemed, at certain times, to take the idea of marriage seriously (Levin 41), which we may never be sure of, once she was a very mysterious figure (Levin