Elizabeth
and Mary : Cousins, Rivals, Queens by
David Starkey
Book
Description The
first dual biography of two of the world's
most remarkable women-Elizabeth
I of England and Mary Queen of Scots-by one of Britain's "best biographers" ( The
Sunday Times ).
In a rich and riveting narrative, Jane Dunn reveals the extraordinary rivalry
between the regal cousins. It is the story of two queens ruling on one island,
each with a claim to the throne of England, each embodying dramatically opposing
qualities of character, ideals of womanliness (and views of sexuality) and divinely
ordained kingship.
As regnant queens in an overwhelmingly masculine world, they were deplored for
their femaleness, compared unfavorably with each other and courted by the same
men. By placing their dynamic and ever-changing relationship at the center of
the book, Dunn illuminates their differences. Elizabeth, inheriting a weak, divided
country coveted by all the Catholic monarchs of Europe, is revolutionary in her
insistence on ruling alone and inspired in her use of celibacy as a political
tool-yet also possessed of a deeply feeling nature. Mary is not the romantic
victim of history but a courageous adventurer with a reckless heart and a magnetic
influence over men and women alike. Vengeful against her enemies and the more
ruthless of the two queens, she is untroubled by plotting Elizabeth's murder.
Elizabeth, however, is driven to anguish at finally having to sanction Mary's
death for treason. Working almost exclusively from contemporary letters and writings,
Dunn explores their symbiotic, though never face-to-face, relationship and the
power struggle that raged between them.
A story of sex, power and politics, of a rivalry unparalleled in the pages of
English history, of two charismatic women-told in a masterful double biography.
About
the Author
Jane
Dunn is the author of a biography of Mary
Shelley, a study of the relationship between
Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell, and most
recently of a groundbreaking life of Antonia
White. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society
of Literature and lives in Bath, England.
Inside
Cover
The
first dual biography of two of the world's
most remarkable women - Elizabeth I of England
and Mary Queen of Scots - by one of Britain's
best biographers ( The
Sunday Times ).
In a rich and riveting narrative, Jane Dunn reveals the extraordinary rivalry
between the regal cousins. It is the story of two queens ruling on one island,
each with a claim to the throne of England, each embodying dramatically opposing
qualities of character, ideals of womanliness (and views of sexuality) and divinely
ordained kingship.
As regnant queens in an overwhelmingly masculine world, they were deplored
for their femaleness, compared unfavorably with each other and courted by the
same men. By placing their dynamic and ever-changing relationship at the center
of the book, Dunn illuminates their differences. Elizabeth, inheriting a weak,
divided country coveted by all the Catholic monarchs of Europe, is revolutionary
in her insistence on ruling alone and inspired in her use of celibacy as a
political tool - yet also possessed of a deeply feeling nature. Mary is not
the romantic victim of history but a courageous adventurer with a reckless
heart and a magnetic influence over men and women alike. Vengeful against her
enemies and the more ruthless of the two queens, she is untroubled by plotting
Elizabeth's murder. Elizabeth, however, is driven to anguish at finally having
to sanction Mary's death for treason. Working almost exclusively from contemporary
letters and writings, Dunn explores their symbiotic, though never face-to-face,
relationship and the power struggle that raged between them.
A story of sex, power and politics, of a rivalry unparalleled in the pages
of English history, of two charismatic women - ttold in a masterful double
biography. |
Editorial
Reviews
 |
From Publishers Weekly
This is not so much a dual biography of Elizabeth Tudor and Mary Stuart as
a cross-section of the royal cousins' lives as they intersect in fact and in
theme. As a successful, ultimately beloved monarch, Elizabeth has been granted
the upper hand by history, but here the mirror images of the two queens' experiences
suggests how differently their stories could have ended. The opposing trajectories
of their lives - Elizabeth rising from a politically and personally precarious
childhood to become a powerful ruler and Mary descending from undisputed Scottish
heir to prisoner and self-styled martyr for Catholicism - elucidate the problems
of early modern queenship more fully than a single biography would. Opening
accounts of Elizabeth's coronation and Mary's wedding serve as an emblematic
introduction to their experiences of education, religion, family, marriage
and leadership. Unfortunately, these accounts are clearly cut from chapter
four, where their loss creates a jarring leap. The dual narrative also leads
British biographer Dunn (Moon in Eclipse: A Life of Mary Shelley) to overdo
her interpretation and to repeat incidents and reintroduce characters, seemingly
not trusting her readers to keep them straight. However, she does Mary a service
by digging more deeply into her childhood and evaluating her more rigorously
than many authors have. Her emphasis on Elizabeth's insecurities heightens
the comparison between the two queens and renders the decision to execute Mary
the turning point in Elizabeth's reign. While this may slightly exaggerate
the centrality of the rivalry to Elizabeth's thinking, it nicely captures the
intertwined lives of these two women. 24 pages of color illus., not seen by
PW.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
All rights reserved.
From Booklist
The long-running rivalry between Elizabeth I of England and her cousin Mary
Queen of Scots contains the stuff of high drama. Elizabeth, a staunch, iron-willed
ruler, turned England into a mighty power; while Mary, beautiful and passionate,
was victimized by malignant forces she could not control and died a martyr
to her Catholic faith. Dunn is a biographer who wholeheartedly buys into this
attractive picture. In her parallel biographies, she portrays both queens as
strong women who strive to make their way in a dangerous world dominated by
males. Her description of the political and cultural milieus of Britain is
striking and credible. This is not the sunny, shining Britain of Shakespeare;
rather, it is an age of plots, counterplots, and paranoia. Dunn's admiration
for Elizabeth seems well deserved. Unfortunately, she gives Mary far too much
credit, perhaps because it serves dramatic purposes. Mary was an incredibly
incompetent, destructive monarch, and she was equally inept as a conspirator.
This is not a work of high scholarship, but it certainly works as a good story,
and Dunn's vision of a "dangerous age" is compelling. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Amazon.com
Jane Dunn's Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens offers a blend
of history and biography that traces the "dynamic interaction" between two of
the most powerful women in Western history. Dunn remains ever aware of the uniqueness
of her two central figures: both women ruled as divinely ordained monarchs in
a male dominated power structure; and both women were from the same family (Elizabeth
I was the granddaughter of Henry VII, and Mary Queen of Scots the great-granddaughter
of King Henry).
By
focusing not on pure biography but
instead on relationships, Dunn is able
to narrow her book (still mammoth in
scope) to the most salient and interesting
events in the two queens' lives. The
book begins in 1558, the year in which
Mary first wed and Elizabeth assumed
the throne of England. Almost immediately
the cousins were embroiled in a conflict
that would endure for the remainder
of Mary's life. A restless, sexually-active
Catholic, and leader of the Scottish
people in alliance with France, Mary
was ever a conduit for rumors of rebellion.
The "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth used Mary
as a dark reflection to underline her
own celibate constancy as a ruler of
law and order.
The
pair never met face to face, but as
Dunn reveals, their lives were closely
intertwined. After holding Mary in
Fotheringhay prison for nearly two
decades, Elizabeth ordered her cousin
executed in 1587. Mary had chosen martyrdom
in favor of a confession to complicity
in the Babington assassination plot.
In court, she declared: "I would never
make Shipwreck of my Soul by conspiring
the Destruction of my dearest Sister." Though
the ostensible victor, Elizabeth (who
had struggled to find a way to release
her cousin while still upholding her
own power as queen) confessed, "I am
not free, but a captive." In Elizabeth
and Mary , Dunn has built a rich
world that underlines the tragic struggle
between private emotions and the public
faces history puts on them. --Patrick
O'Kelley
|
|
