Queen Elizabeth I was one of the first female rulers in Europe and at the beginning of her reign, conflict and turmoil assailed her kingdom due to the fact that she was, first, a woman, and second, a Protestant among the mostly Catholic rulers of Europe. Even within her realm she suffered a lot of resistance from her subjects also because she was a woman, and mostly, because of her history and the way she ascended the throne. At the very beginning of her reign, Queen Elizabeth addressed Parliament on February 10th, 1559 and focused her efforts on persuading her audience about her strength as a woman and the reasons why she would not choose to marry, which was the issue being pushed forward by her subjects, as it was believed that an unmarried woman could not lead. Queen Elizabeth then uses two arguments to convince her people; the first, that she has been gifted by God and seeks to fulfill His plans and the second, that she is already wedded to England. On her second address, many years later, to her troops at Tilsbury, on August 9, 1558, just before the conflict that was about to arise by the attempted invasion of English soil by the Spanish, Queen Elizabeth once again seeks to persuade her people that marriage is unecessary for her. Once again, she makes mention of her calling by God, therefore not needing to be married, and second, her alliance with England. So the primary purpose for both speeches is the same: Queen Elizabeth seeks to persuade and convince her audience that marriage is not required for her to be a successful ruler.
