Elizabeth, believing she is being pursued by an assassin, runs to the Diary House at Kew to seek safety with Dudley. Is Cecil underestimating Elizabeth? Discuss the way the men of the court and the Privy Council view women in general and Elizabeth, as the monarch, in particular.Ħ. It is Cecil's 'deep-rooted belief that the intelligence of a woman, even one as formidably educated as, could not carry the burden of too much information, and the temperament of a woman, especially this one, was not strong enough to take decisions' (93). Cite some examples that illustrate this, including the people who are closest to Elizabeth.ĥ. In many ways the politics of the court is like a dangerous game, fueled by rampant corruption and scheming families angling for wealth and favors from the queen. How does each man go about trying to accomplish this? Would you say they are rivals?Ĥ. Why doesn't she appoint him to a position of political power, such as a member of the Privy Council? Dudley and William Cecil each want to be the more favored advisor to the queen. Elizabeth appoints Dudley Master of the Horse and later awards him the Order of the Garter. Has Amy completely misjudged her husband, particularly how ambitious a man he is?ģ. What is your opinion of Amy? She says about Dudley, 'In his heart I know that he is still the young man that I fell in love with who wanted nothing more than some good pasture land to breed beautiful horses' (105).

How does Dudley use this shared history to influence Elizabeth? Is he successful?Ģ.

Queen Elizabeth and Robert Dudley were childhood playmates and also have in common the experience of being accused of treason and locked in the tower. As the young couple falls back in love, a question hangs in the air: can he really set aside his wife and marry the queen? When Amy is found dead, Elizabeth and Dudley are suddenly plunged into a struggle for survival. Her faithful advisors warns her that she will survive only if she marries a strong prince to govern the rebellious country, but the one man Elizabeth desires is her childhood friend, the ambitious Robert Dudley. She has inherited a bankrupt country where treason is rampant and foreign war a certainty. She is Amy Dudley, wife of Sir Robert, and she knows that Elizabeth’s ambitious leap to the throne will draw her husband back to the center of the glamorous Tudor court, where he was born to be.Įlizabeth’s excited triumph is short-lived. In the autumn of 1558, church bells across England ring out the joyous news that Elizabeth I is the new queen, yet one woman hears the tidings with utter dread. From #1 New York Times bestselling author and “queen of royal fiction” ( USA TODAY) comes a riveting and scandalous love triangle between a young woman on the brink of greatness, a young man whose ambition far exceeds his means, and the wife who cannot forgive them.

The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory