Elizabeth, the Golden Age is a movie that portrays the political, religious and social environment around 1585: England against Spain and Catholics against Protestants.
Queen Elizabeth sees herself in the middle of what she thinks that will be a great love and, at the same time, a huge war. She is a Protestant but many other people are Catholics, in England, so they don’t agree that she should be Queen. They want Mary Stuart of Scotland, the Queen’s cousin and a Catholic to take her place. So, together, they arrange a plan to kill Elizabeth and take over England’s throne.
In the meantime, Elizabeth receives a visitor, a pirate from the New World, Sir Walter Raleigh that brings her some presents. She is charmed by his presence and she becomes really interested in him when he tells her that in his trip to the New World he found a land to which he gave the name of Virginia, in her honor. As Sir Walter shows the presents he brought for the Queen, the Spanish Ambassador asks her to arrest that man on charges of piracy; he claims that those gifts were stolen from Spanish ships. The Queen does not attend to his request so the Ambassador threatens Elizabeth and her country with war.
Meanwhile, the Queen’s loyal and notable chief adviser and spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, discovers Mary Stuart’s and the Catholics’ plan, because of some letters he had been intercepting, ordering the death of Elizabeth. Then, of course, Mary Stuart is arrested and decapitated as punishment for her treason and some other members that were part of her plan were also arrested. But then Sir Francis realizes that the letters from Mary Stuart and the failed attempt on the Queen were part of a Spanish plan to have just cause to attack England.
Tired of all these problems, the Queen sees herself required to discuss a way to defeat the Invincible Armada, the Spanish fleet that was coming to attack her country under the orders of Philip II, king of Spain. By the time they had a plan the Invincible Armada was arriving to England’s coast and the fighting had begun. At the beginning of that decisive naval battle the Spanish fleet proved to be stronger, but Elizabeth and Sir Walter never gave up; with her rising her people’s belief in their capabilities and will to win, Sir Walter commanding the ships and taking them to war, England defeated the Invincible Armada. A great victory for England and for its Queen.
This movie is based on a true episode of English history. Most of the facts reported in the movie are correct, like the fights between Catholics and Protestants as well as the competition between England and Spain for the supremacy in trade and sea power. On the other hand there are some fictional scenes like Sir Walter Raleigh being in command of the English ships though it was Lord Howard who took that position and the English attack on the Invincible Armada that set on fire the Spanish fleet didn’t happen like that.
The truth is that the English plan was to set on fire the English ships, during the night, so they could collide with the Spanish ships and set them on fire as well. But this didn’t happen because the Spanish were aware that an Italian engineer had built those especial ships for the English so they went prepared for that kind of attack. So, when the attack was launched all Spanish ships cut the anchor chains so they could have a quick escape, which turned out to be a bad solution, because as they started to get away the ships collided with each other.
The title given to the movie Elizabeth, the Golden Age is, in my opinion, the title that describes best what happened and its importance. The Golden Age is traditionally recognized as period of peace, harmony, stability and prosperity and that was the type of period given to England by Elizabeth’s reign.
Queen Elizabeth sees herself in the middle of what she thinks that will be a great love and, at the same time, a huge war. She is a Protestant but many other people are Catholics, in England, so they don’t agree that she should be Queen. They want Mary Stuart of Scotland, the Queen’s cousin and a Catholic to take her place. So, together, they arrange a plan to kill Elizabeth and take over England’s throne.
In the meantime, Elizabeth receives a visitor, a pirate from the New World, Sir Walter Raleigh that brings her some presents. She is charmed by his presence and she becomes really interested in him when he tells her that in his trip to the New World he found a land to which he gave the name of Virginia, in her honor. As Sir Walter shows the presents he brought for the Queen, the Spanish Ambassador asks her to arrest that man on charges of piracy; he claims that those gifts were stolen from Spanish ships. The Queen does not attend to his request so the Ambassador threatens Elizabeth and her country with war.
Meanwhile, the Queen’s loyal and notable chief adviser and spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, discovers Mary Stuart’s and the Catholics’ plan, because of some letters he had been intercepting, ordering the death of Elizabeth. Then, of course, Mary Stuart is arrested and decapitated as punishment for her treason and some other members that were part of her plan were also arrested. But then Sir Francis realizes that the letters from Mary Stuart and the failed attempt on the Queen were part of a Spanish plan to have just cause to attack England.
Tired of all these problems, the Queen sees herself required to discuss a way to defeat the Invincible Armada, the Spanish fleet that was coming to attack her country under the orders of Philip II, king of Spain. By the time they had a plan the Invincible Armada was arriving to England’s coast and the fighting had begun. At the beginning of that decisive naval battle the Spanish fleet proved to be stronger, but Elizabeth and Sir Walter never gave up; with her rising her people’s belief in their capabilities and will to win, Sir Walter commanding the ships and taking them to war, England defeated the Invincible Armada. A great victory for England and for its Queen.
This movie is based on a true episode of English history. Most of the facts reported in the movie are correct, like the fights between Catholics and Protestants as well as the competition between England and Spain for the supremacy in trade and sea power. On the other hand there are some fictional scenes like Sir Walter Raleigh being in command of the English ships though it was Lord Howard who took that position and the English attack on the Invincible Armada that set on fire the Spanish fleet didn’t happen like that.
The truth is that the English plan was to set on fire the English ships, during the night, so they could collide with the Spanish ships and set them on fire as well. But this didn’t happen because the Spanish were aware that an Italian engineer had built those especial ships for the English so they went prepared for that kind of attack. So, when the attack was launched all Spanish ships cut the anchor chains so they could have a quick escape, which turned out to be a bad solution, because as they started to get away the ships collided with each other.
The title given to the movie Elizabeth, the Golden Age is, in my opinion, the title that describes best what happened and its importance. The Golden Age is traditionally recognized as period of peace, harmony, stability and prosperity and that was the type of period given to England by Elizabeth’s reign.
Margarida Calqueiro
(CCH - Ciências e Tecnologias, 12º B)
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário