... the age of three. Catholics believed her illegitimate and Mary Queen of Scots the rightful heir, whilst her gender presented a great problem in Tudor patriarchal society. As a woman she was now associated with the largely disastrous reign of her sister Mary I, which didn't add to people's acceptance of female rulers. Although devout catholics would always see her as an illegitimate usurper, she could still persuade the majority of the English people who were more nationalistic than catholic, aswell as those who were protestant. She did this through her resemblance to Henry VIII. On the day of her coronation she wore her bright red hair down to play on the nostalgic feeling people had for her father and to emphasise her purity (hair in the style of a maiden). Derrick Murphy says that "Elizabeth herself was keen to reinforce the message that she was her father's daughter", and ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now