The Heart And Stomach Of A King By Carole Levin

According to Carole Levin in The Heart and Stomach of a King, when England faced the possibility of a Spanish invasion in 1588, Elizabeth declared that “I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king,”(1). A paradox seems contradictory, but it is not in fact a contradiction. Elizabeth did not view “woman” and “king” as mutually exclusive (meaning not contradictory), and therefore believed that a “king” in the spiritual sense does not have to be a man. This paper argues that Levin’s book tells us that queenship in England during Elizabeth’s reign was paradoxical, not contradictory. This paper will examine the paradoxes regarding Elizabeth and marriage, her religious image, and finally the way she ruled

Levin asserts that “the expectations that the queen would marry were strong,” and that Elizabeth’s Privy Council and Parliaments “found the idea of an unmarried woman ruling unnatural.” (43-44). Regarding marriage, the belief about queenship in England was that the Queen should marry and let the King handle most of the responsibilities of the sovereign. Elizabeth did not initially want to marry, and yet, when Elizabeth thought about marriage later on, this paradox emerged. When Elizabeth considered marriage to the Duke of Alencon, Elizabeth’s Privy Council voted and “everyone but Burghley and Sussex opposed Elizabeth’s proposed marriage to Alencon or to anyone else from the royal French house.”(63). Initially, people wanted Elizabeth to marry, but eventually, the people wanted her not to marry. This is paradoxical but not actually contradictory because they wanted Elizabeth to marry, but not to just anyone. The Duke of Alencon was a Catholic, which Protestant England opposed. Expectations regarding queenship were not constant during Elizabeth’s reign, and she navigated her way through it without enraging the English

This support led to public celebrations on Elizabeth’s birthday, September 7th. But according to Levin, this date also happens to be “the eve of the feast of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, which angered English Catholics, since they argued that this holy day was ignored in favour of the Protestant Elizabeth (30). Elizabeth’s religious image as the Virgin Queen seems to impress Protestants, while offending Catholics, appearing to simultaneously strengthen and weaken religious support for Elizabeth. This is paradoxical and not actually contradictory because Elizabeth’s birthday actually boosts, rather than discredits the nativity of the Virgin Mary. Levin claims that many subjects saw both events sharing September 7th as a “divine omen.”(30). In other words, the fact that they shared the same date was a blessing from above. Although it may seem like Elizabeth’s religious image may paradoxically split religious support, it can actually strengthen support if the perspective is