“Traditionally, western society has viewed women as weak and incapable of a public role; to be successful, a woman must move away from the expectations of her gender and ‘act like a man.’  But to do so makes her unwomanly, possibly even monstrous.”

This quote very well illustrates the issues that plagued Elizabeth’s rule in terms of her authoritative role as a monarch.  As is literally exemplified by the title, “The Heart and Stomach of a King,” Elizabeth’s rulership over England was marked by a sort of authoritative androgyny due to her having to cope with the strenuous role of being a woman in the most important seat of patriarchal power at the top of a deeply male-driven society.  Elizabeth’s ability to circumnavigate and balance the intricacies and political minutiae of her rule even given the predisposed challenges she faced can only be described as extraordinary, as she maintained the legitimacy of her rule through an incredibly tumultuous time in English History.