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Analysis Of John Guy's Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years

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During Henry VIII’s reign as King of England, one of the main things that influenced many of his decisions was what every king and queen desired, to produce an heir to inherit their throne. When future Queen Elizabeth was delivered, she was instantly a disappointment to the King and the people of England. Henry was devastated after dealing with the break from Rome and still not being able to produce a healthy male heir with his second wife, Anne Boleyn. John Guy’s historical biography Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years focuses on Queen Elizabeth’s reign and exposes different challenges her gender presented her as a monarch. Some of the challenges she unfortunately faced included political decisions made during her rule, being easily overcome by emotions which lead making rash decisions, and the fact of being born a female apart of a royal dynasty. What some may not have anticipated is Elizabeth progressing into a much stronger queen with age and becoming wiser during her reign even if it took her many years to realize that she had the supreme rule and ultimate call of a monarch.1 Elizabeth’s gender presented her with several types of challenges as the monarch such as the limited access important government officials and ambassadors had to the Queen. As a female, it was unthinkable for any man to walk into the Queen’s chambers at any time they …show more content…

The idea of a woman possibly being the ruler over England was preposterous, and Elizabeth was no exception. The book brings up several instances in which Elizabeth gender presents her challenges whether it was on the influence she had and her role as the monarch. Early during Elizabeth’s reign was when she was most presented with problems as a female queen, especially with her chief advisor, Burghley. Henry VIII never had an issue when it came to being briefed by his councillors as they would never withhold information from him. With Elizabeth, Guy

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