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How Did Shakespeare Use Cupid's Reference To Her

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It was a little overwhelming to be in the presence of so many incredible books. I glanced at many of them, but I spent the most time with The Noble Arte of Venerie and its counterpart on falconry, as well as the miniature of Portrait of Elizabeth I after Jan de Critz. I was interested in the miniature because of the reading’s association of the queen to the goddess Diana and Shakespeare’s reference to her in A Midsummer Night’s Dream as the target of Cupid’s bow and arrow. In MND, Cupid aims at “a fair vestal throned by the west” (II, 1, 158) but when he fires his fiery arrow, it is extinguished by the virgin’s watery moonlight, and so she can continue her chaste, loveless thoughts. The mention of water indicates the queen’s influence as a maritime power. The miniature depicts her as youthful, adorned in a red dress with a low, square-cut bodice fashionable among young virgins. Elizabeth is further decorated with gold thread, jewelry, and a great number of pearls, emphasizing her purity. Hanging from her pearl …show more content…

Diana was not only a virgin goddess, but also a goddess of the moon and the hunt, which reflects Elizabeth’s own virginity and archery skills. It is also a fitting comparison because the English greatly admired the Roman empire, comparing it to their own country, even claiming that the Tower was built by Julius Caesar. Queen Elizabeth favored the private pastimes of hunting and horseback riding as much as she favored the public events and entertainment. She greatly enjoyed hunting deer and stags on horseback with her courtiers, so these books may have been of some interest to her. When I first looked at the hunting books, I thought it was interesting that someone had bound a book with deer fur. Since I come from a family of hunters it didn’t bother me, but it’s intriguing to think that

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