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.” 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 colonization; the queen’s usurpation is legitimized by her connection to England and the effective management of its land. In presenting Isabel in this manner, Cary draws on the early modern rhetoric of colonization, which placed great importance on knowledge and proper use of the physical characteristics of the territory to be conquered. Those who possessed the ability to map the topography of the landscape and then to understand and properly use the land and its inhabitants were those who had a right to rule. This colonialist rhetoric was regularly used to describe the English colonial enterprise that centered on the conquest of Ireland. Surrounded from an early age by people seeking to colonize Ireland, Cary appears to have found the discourse surrounding the “Irish question” useful in relating the character and agency of her queen. Cary’s Isabel positions herself as a representative of the English people, specifically those of the lower classes, who have a concrete, direct connection to the land. More significantly, Cary’s text positions Isabel as having more right to rule than her irresponsible husband because she cares more appropriately for the land.

In order to establish Isabel’s right to power, Cary appropriates the gendered discourse of exploration and settlement appearing in the profusion of early modern English travel narratives that describe newly discovered territory as a female virgin body. Sir Walter Ralegh famously advanced this image in his 1596 representation of Guiana as a virgin awaiting masculine occupation and use (published to a wider audience in 1600 by Richard Hakluyt); the trope also appeared in the discourse surrounding Ireland’s colonization.