I finished Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser Friday night. I enjoyed it. As I wrote before, I didn't like the use of French quotations without translations, but there weren't many of these after Mary left France.
I didn't know much about Queen Mary before I saw Mary, Queen of Scots. Apparently, it wasn't historically accurate.It's also been a long time since I've seen the movie. I remember the film's Mary as self-centered, shallow and naive. She didn't seem worthy to rule.
In hindsight, I wonder if I fell for the idea that Mary was more feminine and therefore a weaker ruler than the pragmatic Elizabeth. Was that the filmmakers' intent? Maybe it's unfair to speculate when I haven't seen he film in something like 30 years, but I've seen my share of movies. That intent wouldn't surprise me. Specifically I'm thinking of the portrayal of Mary's and Bothwell's relationship as "true love." In reality, Bothwell may have been abducted and raped Mary. Not everyone agrees.
Reading Fraser's book has me questioning my first impressions of Mary Queen of Scots, just as I questioned first impressions of another Mary.
No comments:
Post a Comment