Burns 1 Andrew Burns Mr.

Rob Girard AP English Language and Composition August 31, 2008 On the Tilbury Speech With the Spanish Armada, a seemingly unstoppable force, inching its way toward the shores of England, Queen Elizabeth I delivers a rousing speech to her troops in the town of Tilbury. She molds her argument both to reject any opposition to her position and to dispel any worries about her capabilities. It is through her command of diction, imagery and sentence structure that she succeeds in rallying her troops to confront an imposing enemy. Queen Elizabeth is very careful with her diction, making sure to emphasize the respect she has for the public and especially her troops, praising her faithful and loving people and the loyal hearts and good-will of [her] subjects. The Queen uses this sort of epideictic rhetoric to estab lish a rapport with the troops, for, despite being their leader, the Queen is far removed from the daily trials of military life just as the troops are far removed from the diurnal tribulations of court life. The Queens use of diction; however, is not limited to the mere praise, but is also used as a means of diminishing, through meiosis, the prestige of the enemy and inciting violent emotions. After claiming to have the fortitude of any king of England, she goes on to think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare invade the borders This phrase is notable both as an example of exouthenismos and in its description of the leaders of Europe as mere princes, inferior to the preceding king of England. The word scorn is very harsh sounding, and Elizabeths use of it here, accompanied by foul is an unambiguous expression of contempt; it is both a verbal lashing and an appeal for the troops to think likewise. The description of the Spanish leader as a prince and the mention of Europe are intended to accomplish two things: to belittle the majesty of the King of Spain, making him more human and making it easier for the troops to fight fearlessly against the foreign invaders and to ignite the distrust many English feel toward continental Europe

Burns 2 The Queen uses imagery to dispel arguments, excite emotion, and create confidence. In the first sentence of the speech, rather than creating images, she anticipates and refutes them procatalepsis. She foresees that many would have images running through their heads of crazed citizens in armed multitudes committing acts of treachery against the kingdom, acknowledges the arguments others have made to that end and then dispels them, praising her faithful and loving people as the reason that she can reject such predictions of calamity. She thus accomplishes two goals: to diminish the fear brought forth by competing arguments and to appeal to the troops high opinions of themselves and their countrymen. Elizabeth goes on to use imagery in an emotional appeal as she creates the image of herself riding alongside the troops in the heat of battle willing to live or die amongst [them] all. Presented in a climactic form, she ends with an image of blood dripping from her battle wounds. Such imagery is presented to rouse the spirits of the troops both toward the impending battle and the honor of fighting with their competent leader. And then her final use of imagery is paramologic in nature for, mindful of the troops reluctance to genuinely accept her leadership as a woman, she cloaks herself in the archetype of an English king: I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too She acknowledges her shortcomings but then creates an image that accentuates her strengths, or rather her presented strengths, likening them to that of any other English king. This final use of imagery establishes her position of authority while working toward a climax, beginning with the weak and feeble image and ending with the epitome of strength and bravery, the king of England. While diction and imagery may provide the spirit of the speech, it is the sentence structure that supplies the flesh. Elizabeth uses her schemes and tropes to impress her points, affirm her authority, and predict certain victory. The Queen, intent on establishing common ground with the troops, proclaims: Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects This entire statement is meant to define the relationship between her and the troops as one of mutual faith while continuing to discredit those who would be more cautious and distrustingthe tyrants. It is quite

Burns 3 possible, given the context of the speech, that the title of tyrant was indeed directed at the very person standing beside her, the lieutenant general Robert Dudley, with whom she differed markedly on the handling of the conflict with Spain, though this is merely supposition. Beginning with the phrase Let tyrants fear, the Queen takes a swipe at those who would advocate distrust of the people, appealing to her troops to feel insulted as well. Incidentally, the phrase vaguely resembles the Latin Sic semper tyrannis, the phrase Brutus is purported to have said to Julius Caesar before the assassination. It could be argued that Elizabeth tries to create a parallel between the acts of Caesar who did away with the res publica and the advocates of suspicion; though it is unlikely the troops would have seen this connection. The tyrants clause positioned next to the remaining clauses is an example of antithesis, contrasting the distrusting mind of the tyrant with the trusting nature of the Queen who, after God, puts her faith in her people. Later on in her speech she states: I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. The anaphora of I myself will at the beginning of the two clauses works to illustrate the level of commitment the Queen has toward the troops and evokes an aura of confidence. At the end of the second clause, the enumeration of her positions is auxetic in that it lists increasingly prestigious positions that encompass all of her duties. She will not only guide the troops, but judge their actions and reward them accordingly. While the enumeration emphasizes her position as supreme, it is tempered by the concluding phrase: of every one of your virtues in the field. Of course, not all of the soldiers are going to be courageous or virtuous but by implying that they will be the Queen demonstrates her trust in the troops. The next sentence goes on to reinforce this point as she speaks of rewards and crowns. In the concluding sentence, an example of sorites, she reasons that because the troops will obey their general, will respect each other, and will fight valiantly against the enemy, it is inevitable that a famous victory should result. This line of reasoning is swift, leaves little time for analysis, comes to a favorable conclusion and although it is faulty, achieves its purpose of arriving at victory before the fighting has even commenced.

Burns 4 Queen Elizabeth constructs her speech to match her audience, to move that audience to action, and to make that audience enthusiastic about the action. She establishes a rapport, points out the enemy, proclaims her confidence, and predicts victory. Yet, the speech is not merely intended to be an explanation of the casus belli; the speech is meant to bond the Queen to her troops and engender trust while deflecting criticism.