Queen Elizabeth Speech

Mendez 1 Jose Mendez Professor Connie Moore English 101 27 September 2014 Tilbury Speech Analysis In 1588, England was going to be attacked by the Spanish Armada. A war was about to ensue, which could mean the destruction of the nation. The ships of the enemies were closing in and the nation’s guards were getting ready to go to battle when their nation’s leader, Queen Elizabeth arrived. The troops and their leader gathered up and Elizabeth gave a speech in which she used several rhetorical devices such as pathos, ethos and logos as well as repetition, persuasion, antanagoge, simile, juxtaposition, and amplification to persuade and inspire her army. Firstly, Queen Elizabeth used pathos to create a sense of nationalism. In her speech, she referred to the troops as “[her] faithful and loving people” (40). She gives them a sense of security in which she, the queen herself, goes to them and gives them a purpose so that they may defend England. Because she is the queen of England, Ethos is created to inspire the people to defend the nation with all the strength that they can exert. She also tells the people that she “placed [her] chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of [her] subjects”, using repetition to remind the people that they are meaningful, faithful and loving to her. The queen continued on saying “I know I have the body of a week and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too” and in that sentence used both an antanagoge and a simile in which she talks bad about herself, yet says that inside she is like a king. Not only does saying that to her troops compare herself to a king, but also it appeals to

Mendez 2 logos by reasoning and juxtaposes her to a strong, brave spirit, and also further increased the nationalism towards England. Shortly thereafter, the queen also used amplification when she told the troops “ I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge and rewarder of everyone of your virtues in the field.” Her use of “myself” throughout the speech amplifies the importance of the battle against the Spanish Armada to her troops and makes them take the matter seriously. In the end of the speech, Queen Elizabeth closes by saying “we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of God, of my kingdom, and of my people. This also appeals to logos because it lists God, which is a leader to several people, and surely many of the troops value God, otherwise she wouldn’t have mentioned him.