Robert Dudley, son of the Lord Dudley the Lord Protector of King Edward, was a man who was accustomed to greatness. He grew up beside the kings and queens of England, at a time when the Dudleys were the second family of the realm and, for a short while, almost became the first. Robert Dudley has seen his father executed as well as most of his brothers, other brothers die in battle and the rest of his family flee England from their persecutors.
As a young man he is imprisoned for his involvement in his father's plot to put one of Henry VIII's wives on the throne (the Lady Jane Grey), and for being a lifelong Protestant during the Catholic Queen Mary's reign. By the time that he comes out of the Tower, Robert Dudley is a changed and humbled man. He has lost everything and his whole family has been disgraced, not believing that the Dudleys will ever rise again. However, still his family and his family name is the most important thing for him. Raised and trained for greatness, it seems that his calm assumption of power and authority is a habit which Robert Dudley can never snap out of. An intensely proud man, Robert Dudley is certainly a man of his times, who is determined and driven to become the premier man in the kingdom either as King, Consort or the most favored at court. We can see that, without his pride and his family name, Robert has nothing to cling to; these are the only things that are keeping Robert afloat in these unsettled times. We can surmise that Robert is actually quite a weak man despite his calm detachment, as shown in his wild and fanciful scheme to become the King of England by marrying Elizabeth.
