Elizabeth Tudor’s Domestic Theatricality in the Windows of Kenilworth Castle

What is it about?

In the first half of the sixteenth century, England’s window glass industry was on the verge of collapse. The glass that was available was translucent, opaque, or stained—it was not intended to provide a clear view. In 1567, Jean Carré introduced advanced glassmaking technologies to England that produced clearer and more uniform glass, though it remained a luxury item. At Robert Dudley’s Kenilworth Castle in 1575, Queen Elizabeth appeared behind transparent bay windows, establishing a new paradigm of royal performance. She was able to observe the festivities outside while becoming a spectacle herself, seated within the bay window. Following this event, a trend emerged among aristocrats who sought to impress the queen with grand homes featuring expansive glass façades, hoping to host her and display her within their own ‘lantern houses.’ A notable example is Christopher Hatton’s Holdenby House, distinguished by its extensive use of transparent glass. To theorize how transparent glass windows blurred the boundaries between inside and outside, allowing the queen to see and be seen by her subjects, the article uses the term ‘domestic theatricality.’ Such reciprocal visibility shaped monarchical subjectivity by framing the queen as both observer and observed.

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Photo by Jack Plant on Unsplash

Photo by Jack Plant on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This article argues that transparent glass windows transformed domestic architecture by turning homes into theaters where Queen Elizabeth I and her subjects became both performers and spectators.