Queen Elizabeth's Speech To The Troops Essay

Queen’s speech to the Troops at Tilbury Queen Elizabeth delivers this speech to her troops at Tilbury who are gathered to repel an expected invasion of England by Spanish troops. She delivers this speech to her troops and her subjects in the hopes of inciting them to action, boosting courage and promoting unity. Her presence there, despite the threat, confirms her courage and her willingness to support her troops which she makes a point of in the progression of her speech. She starts off her speech by directly addressing her audience by referring to them as “My loving people.” In the first part of her speech she makes a point of her loyalty to her troops by saying that she hasn’t heeded warnings that some have given her about the possibility
of treacherous people amongst her troops. She says, “…but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people,” which establishes her ethos as she portrays herself as someone who has unconditional faith in the integrity of her troops. Her repetition of the word “loving people” is to perhaps reiterate her love for the people present there despite the ominous circumstance. Her tone also changes regarding the immediate topic in the beginning by her use of the word “but.” She says, “We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but..” describing what she has heard prior to this appearance and then going on to say how she actually feels which is nothing but faith in the troops. This is a recurring point in her speech. In the next part of her speech (the second sentence), she talks about her support to the troops and how she is willing to sacrifice herself just like they are for the country and for her.
She once again reiterates her full faith in the loyalty of her troops as she says, “…I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects.” Her use of the word “chiefest strength” perhaps conveys that her power and her standing stems from the loyalty that her people have shown towards her and that her subjects are her best strength. She also says that she isn’t present for her “recreation and disport,” implying that she isn’t there to merely make an appearance but to in fact join them in the midst of battle irrespective of her position as the queen. Then, she piles on ideas using repetition of the word “my” to evoke emotions amongst her audience. She says, “my God, my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood…” signifying that she is amongst them today and that she will do everything in her power to protect her kingdom and her people. Her use of “my” expertly establishes her ethos as someone of a higher power who is willing to stay amongst her subject even on the battlefield. This is a particularly long and descriptive sentence often broken up or thoughts injected by commas or semi-colons. She also uses a euphonious word in the form of “dust” instead of specifying what she actually meant, which was death. “…Even in the dust,” can be seen as
“even in death” or “even in defeat,” which tells us that she is still trying to boost morale without denying the possibility of a defeat. She continues about her willingness to fight with the troops in the following sentence as she uses figurative language to suggest her state of mind.
She says, “I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king…” By using words like “weak and feeble woman,” she generates a feeling of sympathy for her while her use of words like “heart and stomach of a king” signifies that her appearance does not matter in the battlefield, what matters is her courage and her bravery, both of which she possesses. This further establishes that she is in fact ready to lead her men to this fight something she establishes in the next part of the sentence as she says “I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.” Her use of parallelism is used expertly as she describes what she is willing to do for the troops which is to become their general, judge and rewarder of every single virtue they demonstrate on the field. Her use of the word “virtues” also signifies that she isn’t fooling her troops into thinking that this will be a win. Her rewarding of virtues on the field is a subtle way to say that even if they lose, the Queen won’t forget their contributions and will reward them for their loyalty and
bravery. In the last part of her speech she talks about rewarding the troops which is obviously meant to keep the morale up. She also uses the phrase, “in the word of a prince” to signify authority on her promise as the prince commanded the troops. She also uses a periodic sentence in which she ties the sentence all together having given details in the beginning, she says, “…by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory.” This is another morale booster as she talks about victory that can be achieved by showing bravery. She also says, “famous victory” to perhaps signify the fact that this battle will be long remembered if they were victorious as they were thoroughly outnumbered by their opponents. There is also the system of repetition seen earlier in her speech as she says, “of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people,” which is very similar to the second sentence of the speech in the use of “my” to evoke emotions. She also uses parallel structure to outline what is needed for victory, she says, “…obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field,” basically stating that this is what she expects from her troops and that if these virtues are to be delivered on the field, there is no reason to doubt victory.