rhetorical analysis
The purpose of Queen Elizabeth’s speech at the Tilbury was to persuade her troops to believe in her and to be loyal to her. At the beginning of the speech, she addresses her troops as “my loving people”, already showing her credibility as a loving ruler. She then goes on stating that she would never dishonor her troops and that she has always done the best she could for them. In the middle of her speech she states she would “live or die, lay down for my God and for my kingdom and my people”. By using parallelism and the appeal of pathos to make her troops feel love, she shows how loyal she is and she would do absolutely anything and everything for them. Queen Elizabeth also states how mentally strong and capable she is of ruling her kingdom and people by comparing her weakness as a woman to her “heart of a king”. Towards the end of her speech, she talks about how her kingdom is so brave and vigorous, that she dares anyone to invade her “realm”, and for anyone who is idiotic enough to try she herself “will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder”. She again uses the appeal of pathos by calling her troops “noble” and “worthy”, buy saying this she makes them feel important valued. She then assures her troops that they will soon have a victory over their enemies if they obey the general, concord in the camp, and have courage in the field. She ends her speech by saying “we shall have victory if we honor my God, of my kingdom, and of my people”