Elizabeth (1998)

Queen Elizabeth I was queen of England from 1558 until 1603 and was the last monarch from the Tudor line.

 The 1998 film ‘Elizabeth’ by Shekhar Kapur covers the time frame during the first period of her reign and her coming into power. Make-up is a major factor in the film and is used for dramatic effect as we see the character of Elizabeth change throughout the film and see the things that happen to her. During the first scene, she appears very young and fresh faced, with very minimal make-up other than slightly pink cheeks. Her character at this point in the film appears to be very carefree as she is not yet queen and spends a lot of time with her lover Robert Dudley. Her hair appears to be in a very soft, flowing style with a few pearls in, showing off her status as a princess.

Elizabeth’s hair styles change a lot throughout the film and as she is queen for longer, we can see that the hairstyles get bigger. She is often shown with very tight curls at the top of her head and often with lots of pearls, headbands and that that are covered in jewels and gold. The hair styles tend to become more extreme as the film goes on, possibly as a reflection of Elizabeth getting used to her status as queen and building up to the character famously known as the ‘Virgin Queen’.

The film shows how Elizabeth is plotted against by members of her council, due to the issue of religion due to her wanting England to be Protestant when there are many devout Catholics with her lover. Robert Dudley being involved. This being after she has discovered he is secretly married. After those charged with treason are killed she is seen in the church, being told that she has the potential for men to worship her as they do the Virgin Mary as she looks at a statue of her. As the statue is white it’s very possible that this is the reason for Elizabeth’s transition to using white paste on her body to appear incredibly pale in the next scene. 

During the last scene of the film we see her refer to herself as now being a virgin and sitting on her throne very still, appearing very much like the statue. She also states that she is married to England, suggesting that she is using this look as a disguise as she doesn’t want men to consider themselves potential suitors to her and does not want to be seen in any other way other than a Queen who will never marry and is pure.

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