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MARGINALISED MONARCH

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Later in the same scene, Elizabeth tells Leicester that James VI of Scot-
land has accepted a pension from England, i.e. has been paid off for
not stirring up any trouble even though his mother is Elizabeth’s pris-
oner.14 Leicester laughs and says: “Bess, you’re formidable,” and Eliza-
beth replies “the Scottish Queen is little pleased by it,” at which
Leicester laughs gleefully. The ironic and cruel situation of imprisoned
mother and pensioned son is therefore a source of amusement for
Leicester and, it is implied, Elizabeth herself, whose face we do not
see. When Elizabeth then goes to meet Mary at Fotheringay she places
herself on the moral high ground, saying she intends to use “sweet
reason” to reason Mary “from her unreason,” that is, through her own
logical and righteous arguments dissuade the irrational Mary from tak-
ing part in plots against Elizabeth. Furthermore, Elizabeth believes that
her cousin’s imprisonment is entirely her own fault, asking “Was it I
who brought you to this Mary?” to which Mary replies, “Who else?”
Finally, Elizabeth cruelly taunts Mary about her son James VI’s be-
trayal, asking Mary “Who would have you? Scotland? Or your, oh, so
grateful son?” In all these exchanges, the traditional view of Mary as a
failure, as irrational and scheming, and in all respects Elizabeth’s in-
ferior, is upheld. Given the realistic details of the pitiful, bloated figure
of Mary and her brutal end,15 this lack of critical engagement with
other stereotypical notions about her is therefore a little surprising.
Related to this obvious lack of critical engagement with the
Marian stereotype in Elizabeth I, it is notable how steadfastly unchang-
ing and stereotypical the representations of Mary and Elizabeth are
from the 1970s onwards. This is the case despite the various cultural

14 The pension is a fact true to history.
15 Both Guy and Fraser discuss Mary’s physical state during her imprisonment. She
quickly began to put on weight due to very limited exercise and “heavy eating
caused problems,” while also beginning to stoop slightly (Guy 2004: 445). Over
time, her health problems increased, and she suffered from digestive disorders,
severe headaches, chronic rheumatism, a gastric ulcer and bad swelling of her
leg; her poor health was chiefly caused by inactivity, stress and depression (Guy
445-447). In short, her incarceration worked to ruin her health (Guy 2004: 456),
and towards the end of her imprisonment, when being moved to Fotheringhay,
she was “prematurely aged” and “a physically broken woman” (Guy 2004: 487).
At the time of her trial in October 1586 she had become lame with rheumatism
and could hardly walk or even limp along due to lack of exercise (Fraser 2002
[1969]: 633).