Virgin Mother, Maiden Queen: Elizabeth I and the Cult of the Virgin Mary

By Helen Hackett

Book Overview

Was Elizabeth I worshipped by her subjects? Many twentieth-century scholars have suggested that the Virgin Queen was a cult-figure who replaced the Virgin Mary. But how could this be in a Protestant state officially opposed to idolatry? Helen Hackett examines these issues through readings of a wide variety of Elizabethan texts. She traces some of the cross-currents in Elizabethan culture, and considers both Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary in terms of the history of representations of gender, sexuality and power.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0333566645
• ISBN13: 9780333566640
• Release Date: October 1994
• Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
• Length: 303 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.5"