In the Queen's name: the writings of Elizabeth I between public and private communication

Published in a volume on public and private communication in the history of the English language, the chapter investigates whether it is really possible to separate the individual, private Elizabeth Tudor from her role as a Queen, and distinguish between her private and public forms of verbal communication. The authors argue that in the case of Queen Elizabeth most communication lies in the grey area between private and public, with a large degree of overlap, with at least some interplay between single and multiple authorship, and with genre hybridization and cross-fertilizations as far as linguistic resourses and stylistic devices are concerned. In concluding their analysis of Elizabeth''s poems and speeches, the authors argue that, rather than relying on methodologically unsound extant editions of the Queen''s writings, scholars need go back to the manuscripts of Queen Elizabeth''s works and bring out philologically up-to-date editions of her poems, speeches and correspondence.