Depictions of Catholic and Protestant Bodies in Elizabeth (dir. Kapur, 1998)

• Published in: The journal of religion and film 2017-10, Vol.21 (2), p.COVJ
• Main Authors: DeSilva, Jennifer M, Orewiler, Alison R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 16th century; 17th century; Analysis; Audiences; British history; Catholicism; Corruption; Criticism and interpretation; Elizabeth I, Queen of England; Heresy; Human body; Kapur, Shekhar; Motion picture directors & producers; Motion pictures; Movie directors; Narratives; National identity; Politics; Portrayals; Protestant Reformation; Protestantism; Queens; Religion; Sexism; Stereotypes; Works; Writers
• ISSN: 1092-1311; 1092-1311
• DOI: 10.32873/uno.dc.jrf.21.02.15

Modern viewers associate the body-based values of the early modern period with traditionalism, chauvinism, and conservative values, which in turn appear appropriate to a film set in a period characterized by patriarchy. [...]the film's commentary on Elizabethan religious tensions is viewed through bodily acts and changes, suggesting that the human body continues to be a popular and accessible site for both story-telling and conflict. Elizabeth (dir. Kapur, 1998) Maddalena Pennacchia has argued convincingly that Kapur's Elizabeth falls into the category of "bio(e)pic": films that offer an intimate approach to history through the life of some notable and often princely character, while also adopting elements of the epic genre.6 An important characteristic of bio(e)pics is that the protagonist experience a hard-won transformation over the course of the film, which mirrors the journey of the communities that they lead.7 Few monarchs have become more crucial to Britain's Protestant national identity than Queen Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603).8 The film Elizabeth portrays a condensed version of the first fifteen years of Elizabeth's reign - in which the queen sought political stability and a Protestant religious settlement.9 Amid these challenges the film's principal narrative follows Queen Elizabeth's evolution from a naive young ruler to a wise Virgin Queen, whose dramatic transformation comes at the cost of her personal agency to love anything besides her country. [...]that sixteenthcentury portraits of the queen used her depicted body as a familiar emblem for sovereignty, strength, divine protection, and chastity, Kapur invoked them to assert his presentation of a familiar queen.29 Recreating Elizabeth in the guise of portraits that many audience members would recognize heightens the perception that Kapur has presented the authentic early modern queen.30 In a similar fashion, the film frames the narrative struggle of religious factions in ways that are simultaneously familiar to modern viewers while positioning Catholic and Protestant characters to act out early modern understandings of the connections between orthodoxy/heresy and morality/immorality through bodily cues. 31 Although Kapur privileges the audience's understanding of a straightforward bilateral conflict pitting Catholics against Protestants, both male and female characters are defined religiously and held accountable morally for the actions of their bodies according to early modern values that conne