Queen Elizabeth I

The birth of Queen Elizabeth I was not exactly great news because she was not the long awaited for son. Although at first she was treated as a princess, her status soon fell after the execution of her mother on charges of adultery and treason. This shows that there might have been some truth and significance behind the topic of adultery in Marie De France's lais. Without a knowledge of history some may think adultery was not very common back then, yet it can be seen even among royalty. When Elizabeth was young she received the best of an education which was considered very rare and maybe even lucky for this time period. Through this education, Elizabeth was able to write poems and letters that contained complex and multilayered language. Elizabeth's sophisticated political rhetoric helped her maintain not only power and popularity, but respect.

"On Monsieur's Departure" stuck out to me the most. The title suggests that Elizabeth might have written it after the departure of the French Duke of Anjou with whom she was discussing a possible marriage. Elizabeth essentially writes about the failure of her marriage negotiations. The second stanza portrays her unhappiness, and how she has always carried it around with her. She compares it to being like a shadow, always following right behind no matter what she does. She has never been able to get rid of this unhappiness and feels that only death could end her suffering. The failed marriage negotiations only added to her unhappiness, and she even wished Anjou were less nice so she could get over her feelings easier. In the final two lines in the third stanza, Elizabeth asks that she either gains happy feelings or dies to forget the love she felt, and so it can no longer trouble her.