Milli mála - 2015, Page 176

MARGINALISED MONARCH

Milli mála 7/2015

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on, and presented in sharp contrast to Elizabeth who, despite some
setbacks at the beginning of her reign, ultimately becomes an icon of
female empowerment, albeit empowered through renouncing both
her sexuality and her emotions. She emerges as “a goddess, a queen,
and a living symbol of the limitless potential of Renaissance England,”
as one review of Elizabeth states (Verburg 2001: n.p.). Furthermore,
Elizabeth proves the opposite of Walsingham’s false description: she
becomes a queen not ruled by her heart, but by her head.
Walsingham’s words gain further meaning also when viewed in rela-
tion to the most enduring myth surrounding Mary Queen of Scots: that
she was a queen ruled by her heart only. Indeed, viewers familiar
with the story of Mary Stuart and the two queens’ troubled relation-
ship would certainly not fail to notice the true implication of
Walsingham’s snide remark: the perceived inferiority of Mary when
measured against the success of her cousin Elizabeth.
Shekar Kapur’s second film on the reign of Elizabeth I is Eliza-
beth: The Golden Age (2007), which focuses on the latter part of Eliza-
beth’s reign, in particular the Catholic threat as exemplified in the Ba-
bington plot and the Spanish Armada. Here, Mary Stuart, played by
Samantha Morton, actually gets some screen time and although she is
shown to be secondary or marginal to the main plot she is more fully
developed as a character, shown to be attractive and given more dra-
matic influence overall than in many other film versions that focus on
Elizabeth. However, as in Elizabeth R, this Mary is a schemer and a
plotter who clearly desires Elizabeth’s death, both in order to be freed
and to become the next queen of England. There is no question here
as to Mary’s implication in the plot against Elizabeth’s life, and she is
shown to be utterly disappointed to hear that Elizabeth has survived
Babington’s assassination attempt. She fails to hide her guilt when
Paulet, her jailor, confronts her and reveals that her letters have been
intercepted by Walsingham and tells her she is to be tried for treason,
and then she collapses to the floor screaming hysterically, “Traitors!”
At her trial, Mary places herself above morality and human law, des-
pite her obvious guilt, saying that God is her only judge. This view of
Mary as a plotter and a schemer, a fellow monarch and cousin who is
in reality Elizabeth’s nemesis, is clearly contrasted with Elizabeth’s an-
guish over signing Mary’s death warrant as well as her torment at the