'"A Queen, a Woman, and a Victor": The Rhetoric of Colonization in Defense of Queen Isabel in Cary’s History of ... Edward II'

In The History of the Life, Reign, and Death of Edward II, author Elizabeth Cary follows the example of Christopher Marlowe in creating a sympathetic portrayal of the woman who was referred to as the “she-wolf of France.”¹ Like Marlowe, Cary would be drawn to the story of Edward II only to have her version also eventually devote as much if not more attention to the actions and character of his wife. Cary’s dramatic account of Isabel’s invasion of England creates justification and sympathy for Isabel by constructing the French queen’s identity around the ideologies of geography, the body, and...