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

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.

• | Author: H. Hackett
• | Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
• | Publication Date: Oct 26, 1994
• | Number of Pages: 303 pages
• | Binding: Hardback or Cased Book
• | ISBN-10: 0333566645
• | ISBN-13: 9780333566640