The Face of Queenship investigates the aesthetic, political, and gender-related meanings in representations of Elizabeth I by her contemporaries. By attending to eyewitness reports, poetry, portraiture, and discourses on beauty and cosmetics, this book shows how the portrayals of the queen s face register her contemporaries hopes, fears, hatreds, mockeries, rivalries, and awe. In its application of theories of the meaning of the face and its exploration of the early modern representation and interpretation of faces, this study argues that the face was seen as a rhetorical tool and that Elizabeth was a master of using her face to persuade, threaten, or comfort her subjects.

Autorentext
ANNA RIEHL is an Assistant Professor of English at Auburn University, USA.

Inhalt
Plain Queen, Gorgeous King: Tudor Royal Faces 'Let nature paint your beauty's glory': Beauty and Cosmetics Meeting the Queen: Documentary Accounts 'Mirrors more than one': Elizabeth's Literary Faces Portraiture: The Painted Texts of Elizabeth's Faces PART I: ELIZABETH AND HILLIARD PART II: AUGMENTING THE CANON