When I Was Fair and Young (Renaissance)

Indifference and Pride in Queen Elizabeth’s When I Was Fair and Young

Queen Elizabeth mocks men through sarcastic and ironic phrases. She points out her position of power in her society by saying that she has always taken advantage of men. She enjoys the pleasures of life without ever thinking about feelings. She feels proud of her behaviors at all time. The speaker uses certain ironic expressions such as “How many weeping eyes I made to pine with woe, / How many sighing hearts, I have no skill to show” to give the sense that she regrets what she did. However, she does not actually repent about her actions. In fact, she is proud of all those situations. She mocks men by narrating these stories as if those were a reason to be proud. She takes advantage of not only her social position but also of her beauty. She describes herself as an extremely beautiful woman when she says: “When I was fair and young, and favor graced me.” She writes this poem to say that she has always done what she wants and that she has known how to place herself in the best position of all. Moreover, Anger grows on her when love tries to get into her life. She does not love someone because she prefers to be free to do what she wants without restrictions or moral impositions. She explains that “When he [Cupid] had spake these words, such/ change grew in my breast,/ That neither night nor day since that, I/ could take any rest.” She feels anger and disgust towards Cupid trying to change her life and make her think about other people’s feelings. She prefers to remain indifferent to what other people think or feel. The speaker has always been a proud woman and she does not want to change; she does not want to love someone or get attached to a person. She does not want any boundary or limit in her life. It will always be her will and her desires in spite of other people’s opinions.

By Noelia Zamora