Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci Filozofická fakulta Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky Mary, Queen of Scots in Popular Culture Diplomová práce Bc. Gabriela Taláková Vedoucí diplomové práce: Mgr. Ema Jelínková, Ph.D. Olomouc 2016 Prohlašuji, že jsem diplomovou práci vypracovala samostatně a uvedla jsem všechny použité podklady a literaturu. V Olomouci dne 28. 4. 2016 ..................................... Poděkování Na tomto místě bych chtěla poděkovat Mgr. Emě Jelínkové, Ph.D. za odborné vedení práce, poskytování rad a materiálových podkladů k diplomové práci, a také za její vstřícnost a čas. Content Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 1. Two Queens in One Isle ............................................................................................ 4 2. A Child Queen of Scotland ....................................................................................... 8 2.1 Historical Biographies ..................................................................................... 8 2.2 Fiction ............................................................................................................ 12 3. France ....................................................................................................................... 15 3.1 Mary and the Dauphin: A Marriage of Convenience? ................................... 15 3.1.1 Historical Biographies ....................................................................... 15 3.1.2 Fiction ................................................................................................ 17 3.1.3 Film .................................................................................................... 21 3.2 Catherine de Medici: An Adoptive Mother? .................................................. 24 3.2.1 Historical Biographies ....................................................................... 24 3.2.2 Fiction ................................................................................................ 26 3.2.3 Film .................................................................................................... 28 4. Personal rule in Scotland ........................................................................................ 31 4.1 A Catholic Queen in a Protestant Country ..................................................... 31 4.1.1 Historical Biographies ....................................................................... 31 4.1.2 Fiction ................................................................................................ 34 4.1.3 Film .................................................................................................... 38 4.2 Marriage with Darnley ................................................................................... 41 4.2.1 Historical Biographies ....................................................................... 41 4.2.2 Fiction ................................................................................................ 43 4.2.3 Film .................................................................................................... 45 4.3 Rizzio's Murder .............................................................................................. 47 4.3.1 Historical Biographies ....................................................................... 47 4.3.2 Fiction ................................................................................................ 49 4.3.3 Film .................................................................................................... 51 4.4 Kirk O'Field .................................................................................................... 53 4.4.1 Historical Biographies ....................................................................... 53 4.4.2 Fiction ................................................................................................ 56 4.4.3 Film .................................................................................................... 60 4.5 Mary and Bothwell ......................................................................................... 62 4.5.1 Historical Biographies ....................................................................... 62 4.5.2 Fiction ................................................................................................ 65 4.5.3 Film .................................................................................................... 71 5. Captivity in England .............................................................................................. 74 5.1 Mary and Elizabeth: Loving Cousins? ........................................................... 74 5.1.1 Historical Biographies ....................................................................... 74 5.1.2 Fiction ................................................................................................ 78 5.1.3 Film .................................................................................................... 82 5.2 The Casket Letters ......................................................................................... 85 5.2.1 Historical Biographies ....................................................................... 86 5.2.2 Fiction ................................................................................................ 88 5.3 The Babington Plot and Mary's Execution ..................................................... 90 5.3.1 Historical Biographies ....................................................................... 90 5.3.2 Fiction ................................................................................................ 93 5.3.3 Film .................................................................................................... 97 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 100 Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 103 Filmography ............................................................................................................... 105 Résumé ........................................................................................................................ 107 Annotation .................................................................................................................. 108 Introduction This diploma thesis sets as its objective to examine the depiction of Mary, Queen of Scots in popular culture, mainly the 20th and 21st century fictional, film and historical representation of her life. Born into the era when Protestantism spread like wildfire across Europe, Mary ruled in a Protestant country as a Catholic sovereign from 1542 to 1567. Being raised at the French court, she was welcomed back in Scotland, where she returned after the death of her first husband, Francis II of France, with apprehension. Despite her upbringing and Catholic faith, she managed to win over her subjects in Scotland thanks to her beauty, charm and religious tolerance. However, Mary's unfortunate choice of husbands eventually led to several rebellions against her reign and in 1567 she was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son, James. When she attempted to regain her throne, she was defeated and fled to England where she sought help of her cousin Elizabeth I. There she became the centre of the conspiracies of English Catholics who considered Mary to be the legitimate sovereign of England and were enraged at her imprisonment ordered by Elizabeth. Thus, Mary's existence threatened the peace in the realm and the very life of Elizabeth. This dangerous situation finally culminated with Mary's execution on the orders of her royal cousin in 1587. Even after four centuries since her death, Mary does not cease to fascinate historians and fiction writers alike. This fascination is given by many turbulent events in her life which remain shrouded in mystery to the present day. Every author writing about Mary, Queen of Scots has to deal with the following debatable questions. Was Mary privy to the plan of murdering her second husband, Lord Darnley? Was she infatuated with the Earl of Bothwell so she decided to marry him even though he was a chief suspect in the murder of Darnley? Or did he force her into marriage by raping her? Did Mary write the famous Casket Letters which proved her adultery with Bothwell and her foreknowledge of the planned murder? Or were the letters forged by the rebels in order to justify their uprising against their anointed Queen and to blacken Mary's reputation in the eyes of other European monarchs? Did she give direct consent to the plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth in the Babington Plot? The attitude of writers and film makers to these questions determines whether Mary is portrayed as an innocent woman destroyed by the ruthless political scheming of the 16th century, or as a murdering adulteress who would have stopped at nothing to achieve her goals and who 1 brought her fate upon herself. In the thesis, I am going to analyse and compare how the chosen authors and film makers deal not only with the questions mentioned above, but also how they depict Mary's childhood in Scotland and her stay in France. The thesis is divided into five chapters. Four of them are further divided into several subsections dealing with the selected topics from the point of view of historical biographies,