Can we considerate Elizabeth I, as a "Feminist"?

Judging from the results of a survey in 2002, Elizabeth I is the best known and most admired English monarch. Her life was so full of incidents and drama. I think that Elizabeth’s ability as a woman to exercise power successfully in a man’s world that earned her the votes and the respect of today’s people. Actually her highest score, it was on her bravery and leadership qualities.

I'd like to raise a matter of debate: Was or Is Queen Elizabeth I a feminist icon?

Elizabeth I, was the most powerful woman of her era, at a time when the women were nothing more than "possessions". Strong, intelligent, dogged in her refusal to be constrained by a political marriage, Elizabeth I is viewed by many as a modern feminist icon. Not that she would’ve seen herself that way. She was the monarch and felt she’d been appointed by God despite being a woman and that set her apart from the rest of humanity. In a way she was a complete contradiction. Some people said that she didn’t think women should be in a powerful position politically. She was quite keen to rid certain places in society of women. Everything she achieved was unarguably brilliant. She was unarguably brilliant but in a modern context was extremely sexist: anti-woman in many ways.

 “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England, too”- Elizabeth I

She was bound to serve her people, and, though she knew not much of the affairs of politics and war, she was determined to convince her subjects that she did indeed know of such things that lie within the man's world.  In her Speech to the troops before the attack on the Spanish Armada, Elizabeth declares that she, too, will die on the battlefield beside her subjects, and will die for her country.

Finally in my opinion, Elizabeth’s image was not so very different from that of her male predecessors; like them, she emphasizes her regality, religion and role as career of her people.

The part that Elizabeth’s reliance on tradition played in making female rule acceptable to male subjects.  In that sense Elizabeth was no a feminist icon. Her reign however showed that a woman could be an exceptionally successful ruler even in dangerous times. In this sense, she was!

 So, what do you think?...








Sources:
http://womenarepersons.blogspot.com/2012/03/was-queen-elizabeth-i-feminist-icon.html
http://www.historytoday.com/susan-doran/elizabeth-i-gender-power-and-politics