Literary Devices In Queen Elizabeth

In this passage, Queen Margaret addresses Queen Elizabeth and recalls back to when Queen Elizabeth was recently made queen, and Margaret prophesied that she would end up just like Queen Margaret. Throughout the passage we see a few literary devices such as parallel structure and allusion, and both of these writing tools add to the complexity of the relationship between the two former queens. We observe Margaret use diction that reminds us of the stage and plays and we see parallelism used to show the stark contrast between what Elizabeth used to be and what she currently is. In the beginning of the passage Queen Margaret reminds us of the past, and even encourages the audience to refer to it when she uses past tense saying, “I called thee vain
Queen Margaret tells Queen Elizabeth to reflect on all the things she once had, and look at what she is now when she says, “Decline all this, and see what now thou art.” Then Queen Margaret continues to maintain control by not allowing Queen Elizabeth to do this herself, but rather tells her how she’s fallen from grace. She starts by saying “For happy wife, a most distressed widow; for joyful mother, one that wails the name.” She continues in the fashion for seven lines in total making sure not to miss anything. The parallel structure shows how drastic Queen Elizabeth’s fall truly is, how she went from a position of power and honor to a state of grief, mourning, and fear. However, this doesn’t only speak to Queen Elizabeth’s displacement, but also how anyone in power can lose it with ease. In another work of Shakespeare, Richard II, we see a very similar structure with someone in a very similar position as Queen Elizabeth. They were both sovereign but now must face the fact that they’ve lost or will lose their crown to someone else who can also be removed just as easily as they were. Both literary features speak to the frailty of sovereignty, and so far, it’s only a lesson that people who’ve been dethroned have been able to learn. At this point in the chronical of the Wars of the Roses numerous kings and queens have rushed to the throne, and they’ve momentarily been at the height of power, to lose everything just as quickly, or as Queen Margaret puts it, “One heaved a-high to be hurled down