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production of Mary Stuart. Celise may be contacted at ckalke@uchicago.edu.
Synopsis
Mary Stuart - Timeline
Mary Stuart - Reign, Captivity & Trail
Glossary
Historical/Background Notes about Elizabeth I's
Court
About Mary Stuart and in her own words
About Elizabeth I and in her own words
Mary Stuart's Last Letter to Elizabeth I
Mary Stuart's Last Letter to Henri III, King
of France
Life of Friedrich Schiller
About Schiller
Other Resources
Synopsis
By Christopher Swanson, edited by Celise Kalke
Background
Mary, Queen of Scots, fled Scotland for England in 1568. A combination
of political factors provoked her departure, including accusations of
complicity in her husband's murder. Although Mary originally asked Elizabeth
I for aid in gaining her Scottish throne back, she was quickly imprisoned
under house-arrest. Once in England, Mary presented a threat to Elizabeth
I since as Elizabeth's cousin Mary was the Catholic heir to the English
throne as well as the Scottish Queen. Mary was the subject of numerous
conspiracies, and was implicated in an attempt by a young English noble,
Babington and his co-conspirators to murder Queen Elizabeth and place
Mary on the English throne. Schiller's play begins in 1587, in Fotheringhay
Castle (near London), where Mary is held prisoner.
Act
One
Scene One
Mary's nurse Jane Kennedy is arguing fiercely with Sir Amyas Paulet,
Mary's jailer. Rummaging through Mary's belongings he finds incriminating
items, such as letters written in French. (Mary, a Catholic, was politically
aligned with France and had spent her childhood there.) He bemoans that
he is her keeper. (This quarrel is only the first of many. The scene takes
care of a lot of exposition.)
Scene Two
Cool and composed, Mary joins them and explains that amongst the
documents Paulet has seized is a letter to Elizabeth, which she asks him
to deliver. She inquires into the proceedings against her; Paulet's answer
suggests that she is likely condemned to die. (Mary makes a great entrance:
she is calm and regal, and carries the symbolically significant crucifix.
Because of her composure, this scene is strikingly unlike the first. Kennedy
had insisted that Paulet was depriving Mary of the last trappings of a
queen; here, Mary counters that "Such trumpery is not what makes a queen.")
Scene Three
Mary notes to Paulet her distaste for his apparently aloof nephew Mortimer,
who has come to fetch Paulet away. (This is a transitional scene. Functionally,
it gets Paulet off the stage. It also introduces Mortimer, though in a
way that proves to be deceptive.)
Scene Four
Mary grows introspective about the murder of her second husband Darnley
while she was Queen of Scotland, and her marriage with the murderer, Bothwell.
(In effect, Mary is awaiting her fate after her trial for treason, and
is assessing her life. This scene provides fuller characterization of
Mary.)
Scenes Five and Six
Mary discovers that Mortimer secretly converted to Catholicism while touring
Europe, and has had contact with her French relatives (Mary's mother was
a French noble, and Mary herself was married to a French King as a teenager
until the King's untimely death). Mortimer confirms that Mary has been
found guilty. He is now intent on freeing her, though she tries to dissuade
him. She does, however, offer that Elizabeth's favorite, the Earl of Leicester
would help her. (As portrayed by Schiller, Leicester was Mary's secret
lover, as well as Elizabeth's admirer and friend.) (Though Mortimer is
an invented character, he is in many ways historical. There were indeed
conspiracies on Mary's behalf; William Parry, who schemed to murder Elizabeth,
had converted to Catholicism while on the continent. Dramaturgically,
the scene sets the plot in motion. Mortimer's account of his grand tour
introduces the broader political and religious alignments.)
Scene Seven
Lord Burleigh comes with official notice of the death sentence, but he
and Mary are quickly quarreling about the authority of the court to judge
her. She voices many objections to the proceedings. (The issues in the
debate are legal, moral, and political.)
Scene Eight
Paulet and Burleigh consider the political quandary Mary poses for Elizabeth.
Burleigh hints that it would be appreciated if Paulet could quietly arrange
Mary's death, which Paulet, conscientious about his office, flatly refuses.
(The act ends not with a big dramatic gesture but with further complication
of the plot. Scene eight shows conflicts within Elizabeth's camp, and
dashes the possibility of skirting the political consequences of execution
with a subtler, quiet murder.)
Act Two
The setting is now Westminster.
Scene One
Davison and Kent discuss the likelihood of Elizabeth accepting the marriage
proposal of a French suitor.
Scene Two
French emissaries Aubespine and Bellivre press Elizabeth
to accept a marriage proposal; she keeps her distance from the idea of
marriage.
Scene Three
Burleigh, Shrewsbury, and Leicester offer Elizabeth their several opinions
on executing Mary. Burleigh considers it expedient; Shrewsbury finds that
the law has not been fairly applied; Leicester feels the sentence should
stand, but that there is no need for her to die immediately. (Burleigh's
argument is based on political expediency; Shrewsbury's is based on morality;
Leicester, the courtier, makes a tactical argument, seemingly in the interest
of the state, but actually just to buy time.)
Scene Four
Paulet presents his nephew Mortimer to Queen Elizabeth. Mortimer dissembles,
telling the Queen that he spied on England's behalf while abroad. Paulet
delivers Mary's letter to Elizabeth, in which Mary requests an audience.
Scene Five
Elizabeth speaks privately with Mortimer and asks him to murder Mary.
Scene Six and Seven
Mortimer indicates that he will deceive Elizabeth. He speaks with Paulet,
who has figured out that Elizabeth wants to use his nephew to kill Mary
privately. They are interrupted by Leicester, who brings news that Elizabeth
is granting the custody of Mary Stuart to Mortimer.
Scene Eight
Mortimer delivers Mary's letter to Leicester, which he receives joyously.
The two men overcome their suspicions of each other. Mortimer reveals
his conspiracy to forcibly free Mary, about which Leicester has deep reservations.
He hopes instead to convince Elizabeth to meet Mary. Although Mary has
been in England for eighteen years, the two queen have never met. (Leicester
is revealed to be a talented courtier, but a weak man.)
Scene Nine
Leicester urges Elizabeth to meet with Mary, which she consents to do.
(The scene paves the way for the climactic confrontation in Act Three.
One must look twice to see how Leicester manages to convince Elizabeth.
He deftly covers for his surprise at her appearance, and turns it into
a pretense for flattery. She too plays a courtly game, accepting his suggestion,
but distancing herself from it.)
Act Three
Scene One
Mary and Kennedy are in a park at Fotheringhay. Mary rejoices at being
outside and having been granted this extra freedom. Sounds of a hunt can
be heard in the distance. (Mary's language is particularly poetic in this
scene. The open landscape reflects her lyrical fantasies of freedomor
vice versa.)
Scene Two
Paulet tells Mary that he delivered her letter, and that Elizabeth will
shortly arrive. When she hears this news, Mary loses her composure.
Scene Three
Shrewsbury calms and reassures Mary, and urges her to show deference and
humility to Elizabeth.
Scene Four
Elizabeth "accidentally" arrives at the park, and the two Queens are face
to face for the first time. At first Mary is restrained, but as the encounter
progresses she grows fierce and calls Elizabeth a bastard who has defiled
the throne. Elizabeth and her lords retreat without reply. (This scene
is the structural turning-point and dramatic climax of the play. The natural
setting is important: Schiller has avoided having the queens encounter
one another in an enclosed space. A room would project societal roles
and power relationships onto Mary and Elizabeth. The setting is neither
dungeon or palace, but a place where the women can be themselves. They
meet as women, not as queens.)
Scene Five
Kennedy scolds Mary, but Mary is exhilarated by her own performance.
Scene Six
Mortimer reports to Mary that Leicester is too cowardly to come to her
aid. Mortimer spells out his plan to set her free that night. He then
tries to embrace her. She finds his romantic ardor for her, however, alarming.
(In scene four, Mary was the domineering victor; now she is already powerless
against this zealot.)
Scenes Seven and Eight
There's news that Queen Elizabeth has been assassinated en route to London,
but then new arrived that she survived the attempt.
Act Four
Scenes One and Two
The setting is now an antechamber. Burleigh orders the French Ambassador
out of the country for having granted a passport to the assassin who made
the attempt on Elizabeth's life reported in scenes seven and eight.
Scene Three
Burleigh accuses Leicester of having gone around his back to arrange the
encounter between Mary and Elizabeth, and of aligning himself with Mary
Stuart. (In this scene, we see Leicester get boxed in, then talk his way
out of an incriminating situation. This will be the pattern of his behavior,
showing once again that he is both a great courtier and a weak man.)
Scene Four
Leicester, alone, realizes that his allegiance to Mary has been discovered.
Mortimer joins him, and reports that Burleigh had found incriminating
evidence against Leicester: a draft of a letter by Mary to Leicester,
asking aid and promising love. To reestablish his own reputation, Leicester
has Mortimer seized as a traitor. To avoid incriminating Mary, Mortimer
kills himself in the arms of the guards.
Scene Five
The setting switches to Elizabeth's apartments. Burleigh has shown her
the letter incriminating Leicester and she is furious and hurt. She thinks
herself deceived, but wonders if the letter was one of Mary's tricks.
(The change of setting emphasizes the suicide at the end of scene four.)
Scene Six
Leicester forces his way in. He cleverly puts Burleigh in his place and
reasserts his position: Burleigh, for all his watchfulness, was unaware
that Elizabeth had engaged Mortimer to murder Mary, and was unaware that
he was a traitorous papist. Leicester now professes that Mary should die.
However, at Burleigh's suggestion, Elizabeth instructs Leicester to carry
out the executionto clear away any lingering doubts concerning his allegiance.
Scenes Seven and Eight
A mob is in the street clamoring for the execution of Mary Stuart. Burleigh
and Davison bring Elizabeth the death warrant to sign, about which she
is apprehensive.
Scene Nine
Burleigh and Shrewsbury argue for and against Mary's execution.
Scene Ten
Elizabeth, alone, considers the pressures on her from her people to execute
Mary, from France and Spain to spare Mary's life, and from the Pope as
the head of Catholic Europe. She decides she can only be free when Mary
is dead, and signs the warrant. (Schiller places unusual value on monologues
in which a decision is reached. They allow all of the issues to be weighed,
all of the plot strands to come togetherfor one tense moment. The scene
is a kind of eye within the storm.)
Scene Eleven
Elizabeth returns the death warrant to Davison, but is ambiguous about
whether he is to hold the document or whether the execution is to be carried
out.
Scene Twelve
Davison asks Burleigh what to do, and Burleigh takes the warrant to have
it carried out.
Act Five
Scenes One through Five
The setting is the same as in Act One. Preparations are being made for
Mary's execution; Mary's belongings are being returned. Kennedy as well
as Mary's ladies-in- waiting are distraught. (The beginning of the act
is an inversion of the beginning of Act One. Then, Paulet was confiscating
items; now, items are being returned to Mary. Then she was deprived of
queenly trappings; now they fill the surroundings. Visually and theatrically,
she will die as a queen.)
Scene Six
Mary appears, dressed in white, composed and regal. She says goodbye to
her faithful followers.
Scene Seven
Mary meets with Melville, her former chief steward, and laments that she
is without a priest. We discover that Melville has become a priest. He
urges her to confess her sinsshe denies any part in the Babington conspiracy.
She receives communion, with a host blessed by the Pope himself.
Scene Eight
Mary makes her final requests.
Scenes Nine and Ten
Mary scornfully takes leave of Leicester, and is led away to her execution.
He is horrified and paralyzed as he listens to the execution, and finally,
overcome by emotion, he faints.
Scenes Eleven and Twelve
The setting switches to Elizabeth's chambers. As she waits for the news,
she exalts to think that Mary is dead.
Scene Thirteen
Shrewsbury reports that a witness against Mary in her treason trial has
recanted his testimony. Shrewsbury urges Elizabeth to reopen the investigation.
Scene Fourteen
Elizabeth cagily asks Davison for the warrant she had given him, so that
a fresh investigation can occur. (Burleigh, of course, took the warrant).
Elizabeth places responsibility for any consequences on Davison.
Final Scene
Burleigh arrives. Elizabeth questions him about the warrant, and banishes
him from her presence for not conferring with her about it; she has Davison
sent to the Tower. Shrewsbury resigns his office. Elizabeth learns that
Mary is dead, and that Leicester has left for France. In short, Elizabeth
is victorious and secure, but now utterly alone.
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MARY STUART - Timeline
1527 Henry VIII seeks annulment of his marriage to Catherine
of Aragon.
1533, January 25 Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn
1533, May 23 Henry's marriage to Catherine is judge to be invalid
according to the Church of England.
1533, June 1 Anne Boleyn crowned Queen of England
1533 September 7 Elizabeth Born
1533, June 24 Robert Dudley born
1538 Mary of Guise marries James V of Scotland
1542, December Mary Queen of Scots born
1542, December 14, Mary Stuart's father James V dies
1544 Elizabeth and Mary Tudor restored to the English succession
by Henry VIII
1547 Henry VIII dies
1548 Mary Stuart (for her own safety) is moved by her mother to
the French Court
1550 Robert Dudley marries Amy Robsart
1553, 6 July Edward VI dies
1553 Lady Jane Grey (a Tudor cousin of Mary and Elizabeth) becomes
Queen for 9 days
1553 Mary I becomes Queen, marries Philip II of Spain
1554 Lady Jane Grey, Guildford Dudley, and John Dudley all executed
1554, birth of Francois, Duke of Aleon
1555 Robert Dudley's mother dies. Robert Dudley released from tower.
1558 Mary I dies
1558 Mary Stuart married Francis, Dauphin of France
1558 Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England
1559? Elizabeth falls in love with Robert Dudley
1559, September 8 Amy Dudley falls down stairs and breaks her neck
1560, Mary of Guise (who was the Scottish regent for Mary Stuart)
dies
1560, Francis II dies, Mary Stuart is widowed for the first time,
Charles IX becomes King of France
1561, Mary Stuart returns to rule Scotland
1562 Elizabeth catches smallpox. In the event of her death, Dudley
nominated as protector. After her recovery, Dudley becomes a Council member.
1563-1565 Elizabeth tries to marry Robert Dudley off to Mary Stuart
1564 Robert Dudley becomes Earl of Leicester
1565, 29 July Lord Darnley marries Mary Stuart
1566, 19 June James Stuart is born, Elizabeth is his Godmother
1567, February 10 Lord Darnley killed
1567, May 15 Mary Stuart marries Bothwell
1568 Mary Stuart flees to England and becomes a prisoner
1568 Elizabeth's Tudor cousin, Katherine Grey, dies
1570 the pope excommunicates Elizabeth
1570 Mary Stuart's supporters murder the Earl of Murray, regent and
her half-brother
1570 Duke of Norfolk leads an uprising in favour of Mary Stuart
1571 William Cecil becomes Lord Burleigh
1571 Leicester clears himself of the charges of High Treason from
1553-4
1572 Duke of Norfolk executed for High Treason, and his desire
to marry Mary Stuart is part of the evidence at his trial
1572 William Cecil becomes Lord Treasurer
1572 St. Bartholemew's Day Massacre of the noble French Protestants
in Paris
1573 Robert Dudley marries Lady Sheffield
1573 Francis Walsingham becomes Secretary of State
1574 Charles IX dies, Henry III becomes King of France
1577 Leicester meets Mary Stewart under the supervision of Talbot,
Lord Shrewsbury
1578 Robert Dudley married the Countess of Essex after they had been
having an adulterous affair since 1573
1578, James Bothwell's death makes Mary Stuart a widow for a third
time
1578, Mary Keys (formerly Grey) dies, leaving Mary Stuart as Elizabeth's
heir
1579 Leicester's 2nd wife, Lady Douglas, agrees to deny secret marriage
1584 Francois Duke d'Aleon dies
1584 Robert Dudley's son dies
c. 1584 Leicester advances his stepson, Robert Devereux, Earl of
Essex in Elizabeth's favour
1587, February 8 Mary Stuart is executed
1588, August defeat of the Spanish Armada by Elizabeth's navy and
bad weather
1588, Early September Leicester dies
1589 Henry of Navarre becomes king of France, ending Protestant/Catholic
strife in that country.
1590 Sir Francis Walsingham dies
1598 Burghley dies
1601 the Earl of Essex (Leicester's step son) is executed
1603 Elizabeth I dies, James I (Mary Stuart's son) becomes King of
both England and Scotland.
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Mary Stuart - Reign, Captivity and
Trail
1542, Mary Stuart is born. She is crowned Queen of Scots as an infant,
since her father dies when she is seven days old. Her Catholic mother,
Mary of Guise, rules as regent until 1560. Mary Stuart escape to France
from invading English armies that wanted to kidnap her to wed the young
(and Protestant) King Edward VI. Instead she becomes betrothed to the
French heir to the throne. Through Mary Stuart's grandmother, Margaret
Tudor, Mary is also the Catholic heir to the throne of England.
1561, After the death of her husband, Mary Stuart returns to rule Scotland
from France. Mary's rule in Scotland is tenuous, since she is Catholic
and the country is Protestant.
1561 December 12, Mary receives a letter from Elizabeth I asking for a
meeting but negotiations falls apart after France is engulfed in a Protestant/Catholic
civil war.
1565, July 29, Mary Stuart marries Lord Darnley. It is a love match that
quickly sours.
1566, March 9, A group of Scottish Protestant nobles assisted by Lord
Darnley break into Holyrood castle and murder the Queen's Catholic secretary,
Rizzio. browbeats Lord Darnley into betraying his fellow conspirators
and helping her escape. Darnley says that Mary's unwillingness to obey
him completely led to the murder. Mary begins to wish openly for her husband's
death.
1566, June 19, James Stuart, the son of Mary Stuart and Lord Darnley,
is born.
1567, February 10, Lord Darnley's house is blown up and he is strangled
by a group of nobles led by Mary's leading supporter, the Earl of Bothwell.
Although Darnley was hugely unpopular, this murder is used as an excuse
by the Protestant Scottish nobility to maneuver Mary out of power.
1567, April 24, Bothwell rapes (or seduces, depending on the source) Mary,
and continues to "ravish her" until she agrees to marry him
in May of that year. After Darnley's murder, this further scandal enrages
the Protestant Scottish nobility, and civil war breaks out.
1567, June 15, Mary surrenders to the Scottish nobles in order to prevent
a bloody battle and is imprisoned under harsh conditions. Bothwell is
allowed to escape.
1567, July 29, Mary Stuart, deprived of proper medical care after a miscarriage
and fearing for her life, abdicates the throne in favor of her infant
son, James.
1568, May 16, Mary Stuart flees to England in a fishing boat (that probably
wouldn't have withstood the journey to France) in order to ask Elizabeth
for an army to take back power in Scotland and once again control her
infant son. Instead, she is held captive at Carlisle castle. Although
in theory Elizabeth supports Mary as the Queen of Scotland, in practice‹as
a Protestant‹Elizabeth hesitates to send an army against the Scottish
Protestant nobles. Elizabeth also fears that if Mary Stuart returns to
France, she will provoke a Catholic army to invade England and put Mary
Stuart on the English throne as the Catholic Tudor heir. Finally, Elizabeth
(appalled by the Bothwell episode) sees Mary as a weak and untrustworthy
political ally‹not worth either effort or risk.
1568, Fall and winter, Elizabeth convenes a commission to determine the
extent of Mary's involvement in Darnley's death, and uses the "not
proven" verdict of the commission as a legal excuse to keep Mary
imprisoned (although Elizabeth's real motives are political).
1569, George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, becomes Mary's jailor.
1570, Mary Stuart's supporters murder the Earl of Murray, the Scottish
regent. This event reinforces Elizabeth's fears that even in prison, Mary
is a dangerous instigator of assassinations and conspiracies.
1570, The Duke of Norfolk, a prominent English noble, promises to wed
Mary Stuart and leads an uprising to depose Elizabeth.
1572, The Duke of Norfolk is executed for High Treason, and his promise
to wed Mary Stuart is part of the prosecution's evidence. Mary, however,
is not directly implicated in his plot and does not stand trial.
1578, The death of the last Tudor Protestant heir makes Mary Stuart next
in line for the throne of England.
1584, Although Mary Stuart has been indirectly involved in various plots,
no direct evidence has been found to convict her of treason. Parliament
(at the instigation of William Cecil, Lord Burleigh) passes The Act of
Association, an Act designed to charge Mary Stuart with treason if any
treasonous plots against Elizabeth in Mary's name are discovered.
1585, April, Sir Amyas Paulet becomes Mary's gaoler.
1586, Spring, A young English Catholic noble named Babington plots to
assassinate Elizabeth and put Mary Stuart on the throne. His plot is encouraged
and controlled by the English secret police, who see Babington as a tool
to execute Mary Stuart.
1586, August 16, Babington and his fellow plotters, under torture, implicate
Mary Stuart in their plot. Mary's secretaries Curle and Nau are arrested
and made to confess that Mary took part in the Babington conspiracy.
1586, September 25, Mary is moved to Fotheringhay castle for trial.
1586, October 15, Mary Stuart appears at trial in front of the English
commissioners, since she knows that her execution is predetermined and
she wishes for a public platform to announce her martyrdom for the Catholic
faith.
1586, October 25, The commission finds Mary Stuart guilty of treason.
Elizabeth struggles with the decision to sign the death warrant because
of her personal feelings about anointed monarchs and because she isn't
sure she has the right to execute the monarch of another sovereign nation.
Elizabeth also doesn't want to alienate Mary's son James, King of Scotland,
or Catholic France and Spain.
1587, February, The Setting of Schiller's play, Mary Stuart.
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Glossary
This Glossary was edited by Celise Kalke based on translations from the
German notes to the play done by Associate Dramaturg Chris Swanson.
Act One
Fotheringhay Castle: An old castle (dating to the Norman
period) about 100 km north of London, used by the Tudor rulers as a state
prison. Mary was held there from 1586 to her death.
Rough drafts of letters to the Queen of England: Mary and Elizabeth
were regular correspondents, even after Mary's imprisonment (which reflect
their relationship as "royal sister" or peers). They wrote to each other
in French.
Mary's husband: the husband referred to was Lord Darnley, Mary's
2nd husband and the father of James I (of England, VI of Scotland). Although
an English noble, Darnley was not declared King of Scotland, something that
became one of their main marital issues.
a queen when she was in the cradle: Mary was born on December 8,
1542; her father died on the 12th. So she was five days old when she became
queen.
in the court of Catherine de Medici: Catherine de Medici (1518-89),
Catherine de Medici (Mary's former mother-in-law) was widow to Henri II.
She was the dominant figure in French politics from 1559-89 because her
sons Franois II (Mary's husband), Charles IX, and Henri III were weak kings.
The French court was considered the most magnificent and cultivated but
also most decadent of Renaissance residences. Catherine was also a fanatical
Catholic. Mary lived in France 1548-61.
there is no judge in England...: The short exchange goes to the
heart of the legal conflict: Mary, as sovereign ruler of Scotland, advocated
the standpoint that 1) England has no legal authority over her; she therefore
cannot face justice 2) the Scottish nobility can't judge her either--because
as sovereign she sanctioned all legal institutions and could therefore dissolve
them as well. The English government created a legal instrument ("Act for
the Queen's Savety [sic]") to pass judgement on Mary, maintaining that by
fleeing Scotland she had willingly subjected herself to English sovereignty.
Not so tight but that she couldn't manage to stretch her arm into the
world: Until 1586 Mary maintained correspondence--even with those abroad.
Her letters were however intercepted by the English secret service under
Walsingham, deciphered, and used against her in trial.
Babington: Anthony Babington was the leader of a group of young
Catholics who, influenced by Mary's ambassador in France agreed to depose
Elizabeth and place Mary on the English throne. The English secret service
was aware of the plot, and obtained the secret letters between Mary and
Babington, in which both parties discussed the attempt on Elizabeth. Babington
and his friends were arrested in August 1586 and executed by hanging, drawing
and quartering. Mary denied her participation in attempts on Elizabeth.
set foot on the soil: In 1568, Mary Stuart fled the Scottish noblemen who
were trying to force her to abdicate the thrown (in favor of her infant
son James). In a daring series of escapes involving disguises and fishing
boats, Mary ended up in the North of England (which she chose as sanctuary
over France, where she had closer relatives, money and land) and asked Elizabeth
for an army to get back the Scottish throne. Elizabeth instead confined
her to house arrest for eighteen years.
Bloody Mary: Elizabeth's older half-sister and predecessor on the
throne (1553-58). She was married with Philip II of Spain, had reintroduced
Catholicism into England, and persecuted prominent Protestants (for which
she was nicknamed "Bloody Mary").
the privilege of an audience with her: The comment prepares for
the queens' encounter in III.iv. It has, however, a historic background:
There had plans for the queens to meet going back to 1562 (when Mary became
queen of Scotland). These plans were always hindered by political circumstances
or personal annoyance. Until shortly before her death, Mary continued to
write letters to Elizabeth seeking an audience.
dean: Local church official appointed by a bishop. Catholic and
Protestant religions differ thinking about communion: in the Catholic church
one in literally consuming the body and blood of Christ created through
a transformation ritual by a priest. So Mary would not, as a good Catholic,
ever receive the sacrament of Communion (or any other sacrament) from a
member of the Church of England clergy.
I have been separated from my waiting-woman and from my faithful servants:
Jane Kennedy is Mary's nurse. Mary had a group of noble waiting women
(all named Mary) who served her throughout her life. But at this point they
were all married, retired, or had been dismissed.
the bloody ghost of Darnley: Mary's second husband, Henry Stuart,
Lord Darnley, was murdered in 1567. She herself and her third husband, the
Earl of Bothwell were suspected of having taken part in the murder.
the anniversary of that wretched deed has come around once more
The murder of Darnley took place in the night of February 9-10, 1567. So
Schiller begins the drama on February 9 and lets Mary die two days later.
In reality, she was executed on February 8, 1587; the slight shift of dates
is for dramatic effect.
lured him to his death: Before his assassination, Darnley was invited
back to Edinburgh by Mary in order to, if not reconcile, work on improving
the conditions of their estrangement. At the time, Darnley was in the throes
of a disfiguring venereal disease.
Rizzio, the singer: That is, the beautiful (or handsome) singer
Rizzio. David Riccio, Mary's secretary, of Italian bourgeois descent, small,
deformed, and anything but beautiful. He was killed in Mary's chambers,
stabbed fifty times. The cause of his death was probably her decision to
rely on bourgeois advisers, which caused jealousy and class hatred in Mary's
Scottish nobles.
Bothwell: James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell (1536?-78), leader of
the anti-English faction of the Scottish nobility. Mary's third husband;
Mary married Bothwell after he had raped her, and left her pregnant with
twins which she later miscarried while in captivity. In spite of this rocky
start, she was a devoted and self-sacrificing wife. Mary gave herself up
to the Scottish nobles so that Bothwell could escape. He ended up in Denmark,
where he was imprisoned for ten years and died insane.
Cardinal of Lorraine: Cardinal of Lorraine and Archbishop of Reims
(1524-74), brother of Mary's mother Marie de Guise (1525-60). He financed
the Catholic resistance in England and had a strong formative influence
on his niece for as long as she lived in France. This uncle was Mary's political
adviser, especially during her youth and short regency in France. She kept
in contact with him by letter later on (although he died twelve years before
Mary historically, Schiller has kept him alive for dramatic effect) Other
members of the large Guise family were Charles's brother Franois de Guise
and the "Lotharingian brothers" (Franois's sons Henry, Louis, and Charles
de Guise) referred to later in the play. The Guise family had great political
influence in France, was regarded as unscrupulous, greedy, and power-hungry.
They led the Catholic League (the French Catholic nobility) against the
Huguenots (the French protestants). Their bid for the French crown by way
of the young niece Mary failed because Franois II died so soon and the
childhood marriage remained without issue.
It was the year of the great Jubilee: It is recorded that in 1575,
in the time of Pope Gregory XIII, as many as 300,000 people came to Rome
from all over Europe. This seems to be what Mortimer is referring too, although
I think Schiller has moved up the date in order to work a Jubilee year into
Mortimer's story. According to the Pentateuchal legislation contained in
Leviticus, a Jubilee year is the year that follows immediately seven successive
Sabbatic years (the Sabbatic year being the seventh year of a seven-year
cycle). Accordingly, the Jubilee year takes place at the end of seven times
seven years, i.e. at the end of every forty-nine years, or the fiftieth.
The historical design of the Jubilee year is that those people who, through
poverty or other adverse circumstances, had forfeited their personal liberty
or property to their fellow brethren, should have their debts forgiven by
their co-religionists every half century, The 16th century Catholic Church
used these Holy Years as opportunities for pilgrims to see the artistic
splendor of the great cathedrals of Rome, and often commissioned art works
for the occasion.
how reason finally leads men astray: One of the basic differences
between Catholicism and the Protestant reforms is the empowering of an individual
believer to establish his/her own relationship with God through faith (an
idea originated by Luther, and spurned by more Calvinist or Puritanical
faiths). The Catholic church relies on Priests and the Pope for all theological
matters.
descent from the great house of Tudor: Mary Stuart's Grandmother,
Margaret Tudor, was a sister of Henry VIII.
repudiated as a bastard: After Henry VIII declared Elizabeth as
illegitimate and his divorce from Catherine of Arragon invalid after the
death of Anne Boleyn. When Henry VIII married Jane Seymour, Catherine was
already dead as was Anne, so there was no "stain" on either Henry's third
marriage or the birth of Edward VI.
The Lords... Elizabeth was in fact forced by the Parliament and
by Londoners to execute Mary; several of Schiller's sources report on it.
Parliament pressured the hesitant Elizabeth for about three months to enforce
the verdict.
Duke of Anjou: The Duke of Anjou (formerly Duke of Alencon) is
Franois, the 4th son of Francis I and brother to Mary Stuart's first husband
Francis II. He was about 21 years younger than Elizabeth. Here and in II.i
and II.ii, Schiller sets events in 1587 that had taken place earlier: Duke
Franois of Anjou died in 1584. For about twelve years he courted Elizabeth,
who cleverly kept him at a distance, but used the marriage maneuvers to
her political advantage. These came to a high-point in 1582: the Duke sent
a French delegation in April 1582 to prepare for the marriage; the tournament
described in II.i took place in that context.
Elizabeth's own mother: Anne Boleyn was executed May 19, 1536 on
charges (almost certainly false) of infidelity which was treasonous in a
Queen.
Catherine Howard: Henry VIII's fifth wife was executed on charges
(almost certainly true to some degree) of infidelity.
Lady Jane Grey: married to Leicester's youngest brother, Lady Jane
was another Protestant Tudor cousin who was crowned Queen after the death
of Edward VI (in violation of Henry VIII's will). Mary Tudor took over the
country and had Jane executed in 1554.
disinheriting England's princesses: Allusion to the fact that Henry
VII in 1636 had Parliament declare his daughters Mary and Elizabeth illegitimate,
but in his testament reestablished the line of succession.
Tweed: A river in Southern Scotland that form seventeen miles of
the Scottish border with England. Tension over the border had been present
since the Roman invasion of Britain, when the Highland inhabitants remained
unconquered and contained behind Hadrian's Wall. After centuries of peace,
from 1286-1560 there was a push for unity begun by the English King Edward
I that resulted in many border wards and skirmishes. In 1560 Scotland became
Protestant and neutral towards Elizabethan England. Mary Stuart's son James
I's ascension to the English throne unified the two countries.
Your secretaries have both maintained, on oath... Mary's secretaries
during her imprisonment were Claude Nau, a Frenchman, and Gilbert Curle,
a Scotsman. They were both intimate members of Mary's household. Both were
arrested on August 11, 1586 in connection with the Babington-conspiracy
and confessed under torture to have written secret letters on Mary's behalf
in which she agreed to the murder attempt on Elizabeth. It is historically
inaccurate that Curle later withdrew his testimony
The messages to Babington passed through their hands and were principally
encoded by Nau. Both repeatedly confirmed the authenticity of the letters
and their decoding, though they were only shown copies.
Mendoza: Bernadino de Mendoza, Spanish ambassador in England 1577-84.
In London, and after his expulsion in France, actively sought Mary's release.
The Queen believes...: Elizabeth's discrete request to Paulet secretly
to get Mary out of the way is historical and mentioned in various sources
used by Schiller.
Shrewsbury: From 1569-1584, Mary was entrusted to his care at Tutbury
Castle and had relative freedom there. Shrewsbury's wife accused Mary of
pursuing her husband. This she repudiated with indignance, and noted (in
writing) the malicious gossip Lady Shrewsbury spread concerning Elizabeth.
The content of these notes provided material for scene III.iv.
Act Two
As Estate Secretary William Davison basically assistant to Walsingham, who
at that time was very sick. He was a recent member of Privy Council in 1587.
William Cecil said "Only a Secretary hath no warrant or commission in matters
of his own greatest peril but the virtue and word of his sovereign."
Then you have missed...: The tournament for "the chaste fortress
of Beauty" is a historical event that took place in London on May 15, 1581.
It was a part of the festivities in honor of the French courtship legation
for Franois d'Anjou. So Schiller has moved the tournament forward in time.
The event contrasts the abandoned Mary of Act I with the courted Elizabeth
of Act II.
The Earl Marshal, the Lord Chief Justice, and the Lord High Steward:
The trinity of Elizabeth's royal household: the military leader, the
juridical leader, and the head of internal matters.
She takes the blue riband of the Garter from him: The queen awards
the Order of the Garter. The order is a dark blue velvet garter attached
beneath the left knee, with the motto Honny soit qui mal y pense (woe to
him who thinks badly of it).
priceless gift of liberty, and the hard-won light of truth: I.e.
the protestant faith.
the popish faith: Literally, Roman idolatry. i.e. Catholicism.
Misfortune was a rigid school for you...: It was not Elizabeth's
father, but rather her half-sister Mary ("Bloody Mary") who banished her
to the Tower and to Woodstock. Mary, a Catholic, probably feared Elizabeth
as a rival. Woodstock: Royal country seat in the Earldom of Oxford, where
Elizabeth was isolated for a time during the reign of Mary I. Tower: state
prison in London. Mary I had Elizabeth imprisoned here prior to having her
brought to Woodstock.
Uprooted, sent at a tender age to France: After English marriage
plans (to the future Edward VI) came to nothing, Mary Stuart was engaged
in early childhood with the French dauphin and brought to France, barely
six years old. She returned to Scotland before her eighteenth birthday as
widow.
Henry the Eighth's last will and testament: Having once had Parliament
declare Elizabeth illegitimate, Henry reestablished her place in the line
of succession in his will. He did the same thing with Elizabeth's sister
Mary Tudor.
And turn from you... to the embraces of a murderess?: That is ("Darnley's
murderess") The reproach that she knew about Darnley's murder had already
caused Mary to lose sympathy with the Scottish public.
launched a bull: First of all, a bull is "a solemn papal letter sealed
with a bulla or with a red-ink imprint of the device on the bulla" (dictionary).
Pope Sixtus V (1585-90) had renewed Elizabeth's excommunication. It was
originally pronounced by Pius V (1566-72) in the bull "Regnans in excelsis."
the royal presence means reprieve: It was considered a "Prerogative
of the royal countenance that it must pardon those guilty whom it looks
upon" (Herrmann is citing the Nationalausgabe, volume 9, page 368). Cf.
1901
favourite of Elizabeth: Earl Leicester was for decades Elizabeth's
favorite. This was a loose designation, meaning a sort of honorary consort,
confidante and friend. It was not an official Court title.
some time ago, I was to have married her: In 1564, Elizabeth proposed
Leicester as a potential husband for Mary (after she returned to Scotland
a widow). Mary refused to make do with Elizabeth's former favorite, and
she married Lord Darnley instead. Leicester's statement that he had refused
the marriage on his own is therefore ahistorical. Leicester was a member
of the court considering Mary's case, but he did not take part of the proceedings
in Fotheringhay, and was not present at her execution. His love affair and
involvement in Mary's death is Schiller's invention. (Reclam and Herrmann)
by arming the nobility: Mortimer here implies the Catholic nobility,
especially: Howard: old English family, related by marriage with the house
of York, and Elizabeth herself. The head of the family, until his death,
was the Duke of Norfolk. cf. 73-75 Percy: old English noble family from
the north. Its head, the Earl of Northumberland, was executed in 1572 in
connection with the insurrection by the northern nobility.
Anjou has never seen you: Historically false. Franois d'Anjou visited
Elizabeth twice in England (in 1579 and 1582/83).
She's younger: The historical Elizabeth was nine years older than
Mary; at the time of the execution, Elizabeth was 54 years old, Mary 45.
Schiller changes their ages by about ten if not more years: "I set great
store by the fact that in this play Elizabeth is another young woman who
can make demands, so she must be portrayed by an actress who can still play
the lover." (Schiller to Iffland, June 22, 1800)
Act Three
Look where the fisherman...: Mary fled from Scotland to England in
a fishing boat.
nursing such a viper in my bosom: The image of nursing a viper suggests
helping a friend who then turns on you. The image comes from Aesop's fable
"The Farmer and the Snake."
The Massacre of Saint Bartholomew shall be my model: In 1572 there
was a massacre in Paris on the feast of Saint Bartholomew (August 24) on
the occasion of the marriage of Henri of Navarre to Margaret of Valois.
The massacre was instigated by the Guise family, among others. Nearly all
of the Protestants in the French nobility (about 3,000 people) were killed.
The event aggravated the political climate between Europe's Catholic and
Protestant powers. The role of the Cardinal of Lorraine in the massacre
is debated: he was not in France at the decisive moment.
No one is eager to become your fourth husband, since you seem to
kill your suitors much as you do your husbands: The line calls to mind both
the murder of Mary's second husband, and the execution of the English lords
who sought to free her.
basilisk: A legendary medieval reptile that can kill with its glance.
Anathema: a ban or curse solemnly pronounced by ecclesiastical authority
and accompanied by excommunication (dictionary).
Act Four
to give the Count safe-conduct to the sea: Actually, the French
envoy was placed under house arrest in January 1687.
palace: In the sense of the French htel: the city palace of an aristocratic
family; thus in this instance, the ambassador's residence in London.
a secret meeting: i.e. of the Babington conspirators.
traitor: legal description for anyone who attempted to free Mary;
according to the "Act for the Security of the Queen's Royal Person" they
could be executed immediately.
Mary, Queen of Heaven: meaning the Virgin Mary. Part of Mary's martyr
image was placed on being the namesake of the Virgin, who was dismissed
as a deity in Protestant theology.
Let the people choose. I will give up my sovereignty: More literally,
"My people can choose, I return to it its sovereignty."
In prehistory, people live in a condition without laws, everyone fighting
against everyone else. Only the introduction of a state can bring about
laws, and offer protection to the individual. So the people chooses a ruler
and relinquishes its "sovereignty." It forever relinquishes its self-determination
to the ruler without qualification. In order to set down the law, the ruler
must stand above the people and be absolute. Elizabeth is flirting with
dissolving the compact between the people and the king, and reestablishing
the original state of lawlessness.
the papal legate come from Rome: The legates were plenipotentiaries
sent to the particular lands to carry out the pope's authority.
Davison and the warrant: Although dramatized, this is an example
of Schiller staying very close to history. This scene is taken from Davison's
own account of what occurred between himself and Elizabeth concerning the
death warrant for Mary Stuart.
Act Five
with her own hand she drew up her testament: Mary wrote her will
and goodbye letters until two in the morning on the last night of her life;
she ordered requiems for herself, made precise financial instructions to
the favor of her servants and representatives, and bequeathed a sum for
charitable purposes. Her last letter was to King Henri of France, her brother-in-law.
The hall was full of people: The execution took place in Fotheringhay;
about three hundred people were present.
The barren staff flowers in the hand of faith. He who struck water from
the living rock: Numbers 17:16-28 and Numbers 20:2-13.
I am a priest: This is a dramatic invention of Schiller's in order
to have Mary take communion on stage. The historical Andrew Melville was
Protestant.
from the Holy Father: Various sources report that the Pope sent
Mary a consecrated host.
As an immortal, coming down...: cf. Acts 5:17-19.
caused the King, my husband, to be killed: An admission of Mary's
guilt can only be found in the so-called "Casket Letters" which are today
considered forgeries. But they were certainly estranged and whether Mary
caused him to be killed, she probably wished his death.
You have said nothing of the part you played in aiding Babington's conspiracy:
The historical Mary likewise denied to the end having taken part of
an attempt on Elizabeth; proof of the contrary has never been found.
to exercise the privilege of kings, and priests: It was the privilege
of kings (but not queens), as of priests, to take both the host and wine
in communion, whereas the other faithful in the Catholic church--up to today--get
only the wafer.
Lord Burleigh and the Earl of Leicester: Historically the sentence
was delivered by Shrewsbury and Kent; both took part in the execution the
next morning.
take my heart... to... France: Mary had more than once requested
in letters for permission for her corpse to be brought to France. The request
was denied. Her coffin remained in Fotheringhay for the summer, was then
buried at the nearby Cathedral of Peterborough. Later her son, when he had
become king, had her buried in Westminster Abbey, not far from Elizabeth's
grave. The Stuart monarchs buried their stillborn or children who died young
with Mary, so her tomb was filled with tiny coffins.
Will you not reconsider your refusal to see the dean of our church?:
Mary declined the evangelical clergy, but requested that her confessor,
the chaplain of Prau, who was at Fotheringhay, be admitted. In history,
the request was not carried out.
Sheriff, with a white staff: Sheriff = shire reeve: the king's local
administrative agent. He was in charge of legal proceedings, collected taxes,
arrested and punished, and was responsible for carrying out executions.
Breaking the staff over the convict signified carrying out the sentence.
this my loyal waiting-woman...: i.e. specifically Jane (Kennedy).
Mary's servants were kept back at the door to the place of execution. Only
after lengthy negotiations were six, including Jane Kennedy and Lady Curle,
allowed to be present. In addition to the reasons mentioned in the text,
Mary wanted witnesses of her choosing present so that they could report
and attest that she died an unbroken Catholic.
That is the deacon now... : When the protestant Dr. Fletcher of Peterborough
appeared at the scaffold and started to preach, Mary rebuffed him energetically:
she would persist in her Catholic faith. When the dean began to pray with
a dramatically raised voice, Mary also prayed--in Latin. In the still that
followed the queen spoke--this time in English--an intercession for England's
Catholic church. Though Kent interrupted her, she went on. So the dean's
appearance allowed Mary the opportunity to turn her execution into a demonstration
on behalf of the Catholic church before an audience of 300--a martyr's death.
Back to Top
Historical/Background Notes
about Elizabeth I's Court
If the Queen's Majesty [Elizabeth] shall put her [Mary] to liberty, whereby
she must needs come to government, she shall then, by implication, discharge
her of her heinous crime, whereof she was accused before her Majesty and
to the which she never did make any plain answer for her acquittal. For
after she be restored to government, the Queen's Majesty shall never have
opportunity to denounce her former faults and crimes.
......
If it were found necessary to deliver Mary, it may be that the protracting
of some terms in the treaty, which may be allowable in a matter of so great
moment, specially in treating upon the [matter] of assurances, may percase
otherwise do good. For haste herein may hinder other things in hand. And
if the Queen of Scots shall either not be willing, or shall pretend disability
to satisfy the Queen's Majesty in her reasonable demands, her Majesty may
then, both in honour and reason, answer the French King and all others that
the default of delivery of the Queen of Scotts groweth not of lack of good
will in her Majesty but for lack of assurance from the Queen of Scots.
William Cecil, 1571
At the time of Elizabeth's accession, Mary Stuart was the wife of the French
Dauphin and was presently to become Queen of France. This fact strengthened
Mary's position both in France and in Scotland. On the other hand it made
Philip II of Spain (Elizabeth's brother-in-law) reluctant to take sides
against Elizabeth. On the whole he preferred a heretic queen in England
to a Roman Catholic one who might well unite France, Scotland and England
under one banner and cut right across his line of communications with the
Low Countries. Elizabeth's position was considerably strengthened when Mary's
French husband died and she went to her Scottish kingdom. Her mother-in-law,
Catherine de Medicis, who took over French affairs, was on the whole anti-Marian
in her attitude. The consequence was that Mary could no longer count upon
French support, though Mary's uncles, leaders of the House of Guise, remained
important factors in French affairs and brought constant pressure upon the
French Crown to espouse Mary's cause.
Conyers Read, Lord Burghley and Queen Elizabeth
. . in England there was considerable discontent, both on the left which
wanted to go further in the direction of Protestantism and on the right
which wanted to go back, with Cecil leaning towards the left and his mistress
towards the right. There was factional discontentthe old nobility against
the 'new men'following more or less the lines of religious cleavage and
accentuated by the personal rivalry between Cecil the administrator and
Leicester the favorite, with the Queen pulled one way by her emotions and
the other way by her reason, prompted always by her father example, to divide
and rule. The end of the 1570s was marked by an effort on Leicester's part
to get rid of Cecil, which failed, and an effort by the northern Earls to
overthrow what they were pleased to regard as the Cecilian rgime, which
also failed. None of the problems with which Cecil had to wrestle were solved
after ten years. But they were at least defined. The time of probation was
ended. Elizabeth had not only established firmly her right to rule but had
proved her competence to rule. Cecil, beyond peradventure, was recognized
as her first minister. She and he in partnership were the constant factors
in the English government for thirty years to come. Others came and went,
but the Queen remained always the dominant figure, and always at her right
hand her devoted servant.
Conyers Read, Lord Burghley and Queen Elizabeth
The bull of excommunication was in effect a declaration of war against Elizabeth
[by the Catholic world]. It put an end to any hope of reconciling her with
Rome. It put an end also to her ambiguities which had won for her twelve
precious years to solidify her position. Therafter she was committed, willy-nilly,
to the Protestant cause. At the same time it made of every English Catholic
who recognized papal supremacy a potential traitor.
Conyers Read, Lord Burghley and Queen Elizabeth
Contemporaries, especially jealous contemporaries who resented Leicester's
hold on the queen's affections, were wont to judge by appearances and to
dismiss Robert Dudley as an extravagant, licentious and, therefore, shallow
man. He was a royal favorite and such creatures are never popular. Add to
this that both his father and grandfather had been executed for treason
and it begins to become clear why it was difficult for many Tudor Englishmen
to regard Robert Dudley as a positive, let alone a wholesome, influence
in affairs of state.
Derek Wilson, Sweet Robin
Robert Dudley and Elizabeth met as young adults under Catherine Parr's reunification
of Henry's household. Dudley was the fifth son of an Earl, and therefore
not destined to be the head of the family. But his other brothers all died
young. Dudley was present when Elizabeth and Edward learned of Henry's death.
Celise Kalke
The royal schools were open to the children of leading courtiers and Jane
Dudley lost little time in placing the younger members of her family in
the classroom alongside the prince and princess. Robert was now frequently
in the company of Elizabeth (before they were 13). The were of an age and,
though the precociously brilliant girl far outstripped her companion academically,
they had sufficient in common to become friends. They both especially enjoyed
riding, the chase and dancing.
Derek Wilson, Sweet Robin
The relationship of Robert Dudley and his first wife Amy was, "a carnal
marriage, begin in pleasure and ended in lamentation."
William Cecil
William Cecil was Elizabeth's surveyor when Elizabeth had her first household
under Edward when she was 17.
Guildford Dudley (Robert Dudley's youngest brothers) married Lady Jane Grey.
Because of this Robert Dudley imprisoned together with Elizabeth in the
Tower under Mary Tudor. Robert Dudley's eldest brother John Dudley (23)
died after imprisonment in tower.
Celise Kalke
It is true that, at 25, Dudley was a magnificent figure of a man. Tall,
by the standard of the age (a little under six feet), and slender, he wore
fashionable clothes with a casual grace, his cap invariably tilted at a
jaunty angle. When astride a horse his athleticism and pride were seen to
their full advantage, for few Englishmen rode better than he. The stylized
early portraits of him which have survived reveal a thin face accentuated
by a wispy beard. The nose is log; the set of the mouth haughty. The eyes
beneath their arching brows are watchful but there is about them a suggestion
of sardonic humour. It was the eyes that captivated Elizabeth and she soon
gave him the playful nickname 'Two-eyes'. Often he would write to her, signing
himself simply . Others about the court, less enamoured of his dark good
looks, called Dudley 'the Gypsy'. He was full of life and had an outrageous
sense of fun. The many anecdotes and also the vivid language of his letters
testify to this. This was one of the qualities that must have attracted
Elizabeth. Surrounded as she was by solemn councilors pressing her for decision
on matters of state, she needed someone constantly at hand to divert her
and provide light relief. Lord Robert was a master both of organized and
spontaneous entertainment. Over the years he would be responsible of arranging
hundreds of tourneys, banquets, masques and plays. He could also delight
Elizabeth with a piece of unrehearsed coquetry, such as solemnly suggesting
to a Spanish bishop that he marry the Queen and her favorite on the royale
barge in the middle of the Thames.
Derek Wilson, Sweet Robin
The Master of the Horse headed one of the busiest departments in the household.
He was responsible for the transport of the Queen and the court on all occasions,
ceremonial and otherwise; for the supervision of the royal studs, together
with the purchase, training and equipping of horses for all purposes; for
the provision of mounts for household officials and royal messengers; for
the organization of the Queen's annual progresses; and for the planning
of ceremonial journeys. He had to provide war-horses, 'great horses' for
the joust and for pulling the unsprung carriages just coming into fashion,
coursers for the Queen's gentlemen, palfreys and amblers for the maids of
honour, cobs and rouncies for lesser attendants, mules and pack-horses for
baggage, and a supply of hacks and hunters for the Queen's sport. The stable
employed a large staff of grooms, clerks, purveyors and baggage-men. In
1544 the wages of all these employees was 1,132. The sum had almost certainly
increased by 1558. Fodder and other running costs of this large household
department accounted for at least another l,000 per annum. A great deal
of the routine work was done by subordinates but Robert maintained close
personal control and much of his time was spent considering reports on horses
at stud; instructing foreign agents to buy new bloodstock; planning the
stages of the royal progresses; organizing tourneys and accompanying the
Queen in the hunting field. It was work he enjoyed. He had a flair for it
and he continued as Master of the Horse until the last year of his life.
Derek Wilson, Sweet Robin
Elizabeth brought a new splendor and gaiety to court. Most visitors commented
on the new Queen's love of beautiful clothes, trinkets, dancing, hunting,
riding, masques and mimes. When diversion were arranged for her she abandoned
herself to their enjoyment. Her capacity for pleasure was enormous. She
could outdance many of her courtiers, enjoy cards or music till far into
the night, and her love of riding fiery horse alarmed even Robert.
Derek Wilson, Sweet Robin
In leading [a] group of adventurous spirits, Leicester ,almost inadvertently,
became a prime mover (perhaps the prime mover) of the Elizabethan Renaissance.
He was certainly the leading patron the pre-Shakespearean drama. He had
grown up with court entertainments, masques, mimes, plays and pageants.
He enjoyed participating in them and presenting them. He found theatrical
performances a useful vehicle for expression his own policies to the Queen.
It was only natural that he should encourage playwrights and actors. Leicester
died just as the golden age of Elizabethan drama was dawning. Marlowe, Greene,
Nashe and Peele were already entertaining Londoners in the Curtain and Theatre
out at Finsbury Fields, but Shakespeare's first production was not staged
till 1591. Yet it can reasonably be claimed that without Robert Dudley's
activities in the immediately preceding decades that great explosion of
literary and dramatic talent would have been somewhat dampened.
Derek Wilson, Sweet Robin
How had the relationship between Elizabeth and her developed to the point
where she could seriously contemplate his virtually permanent exile (by
marrying Mary Queen of Scots)? Elizabeth was in love with Robert in 1559
and prepared to dream about marriage with him as long as Amy's existence
made it impossible for her to commit herself. During the tense months following
lady Dudley's sudden death the possibility of matrimony became distinctly
more real. . . . Love pulled [Elizabeth] one way, duty another. She and
Robert explored every stratagem that might enable them to wed with the support
of at least some of her people. At this juncture Robert became importunate.
In the early days of their relationship it was the Queen who made the running.
Now Robert took the initiative. Having had such a glittering prize set before
him he was reluctant to relinquish it without a struggle. Elizabeth, however,
was descending from the summit of passion. Reason was asserting itself.
She began to realize that England's well-being, her own safety, and probably
Robert's, would be more secure if she remained unmarried. There were individuals
and groups who would never accept a Dudley on the throne. Rebellion and
assassination would become real possibilities if she set Robert beside her.
She remained as devoted to him as ever. She gave ample proof of this by
her lavish gifts and by widening the scope of his political activity. But
Robert wanted more. He pressed the Queen for a decision on the marriage
issue. She wanted to oblige him but knew that she could not. The 'solution'
of offering Robert to the Scottish queen must have come as an inspiration.
It would be hard for her to be parted from him but Robert would have a crown;
he would remain faithful to Elizabeth and would use his position for her
advantage.
Derek Wilson, Sweet Robin
This court here [Elizabeth's] is not free from many troubles, amongst others
none worse than emulations, disdains, backbitings and such like, whereof
I see small hope of diminution.
William Cecil
To urge both marriage and establishing of succession is the uttermost than
can be desired. To deny both is the uttermost that can be denied. To require
marriage is the most natural, most easy, most plausible to the Queen's majesty.
To require certainty of succession is the most plausible to the people.
To require succession [i.e. agreement on who should succeed in the event
of the Queen's failure to produce an heir] is the hardest to be obtained
both for the difficulty to discuss the right and for the loathsomeness in
the Queen's majesty to consent thereto. . . Corollary: the mean betwixt
these is to determine effectually to marry, and if it succeed not, then
proceed to discussion of the right of the successor.
William Cecil
For Elizabeth the one advantage of the marriage/succession issue, which
was the bane of her life, was that for every avenue along which her advisers
tried to propel her there were numerous intriguing side roads down which
she could meander in order to waste time. One such cul-de-sac in 1565 was
the possibility of a French alliance. . . The Queen Dowager transmitted
her enthusiasm through her ambassador, Paul de Foix, and de Foix received
warm encouragement from Leicester.
Derek Wilson, Sweet Robin
[Elizabeth's favour] . . .forceth me. . .to be [the] cause almost of the
ruin of my own house. For there is no likelihood that any of our bodies
of men kind [are] like to have heirs. My brother you see long married and
not like[ly] to have children. It resteth so now in myself, and yet, . .
.if I should marry I am sure never to have favour of them that I had rather
yet never have wife than lose. . . yet is there nothing in the world next
that favour that I would not give to be in hope of leaving some children
behind me, being now the last of our house. But yet, the cause being as
it is, I must content myself. . .
Robert Dudley, Letter to a Lady
The councilors themselves deny that Alenon is here and , in order not to
offend the Queen, they shut their eyes and avoid going to court, so as not
to appear to stand in the way of interviews with him, only attending the
Council when they are obliged. It is said that if she marries without consulting
her people she may repent it. Leicester is much put out and all the councilors
are disgusted except Sussex.
August 1579, about the Courtship of Elizabeth and Alenon
In England there were hundreds of seminary priests working by the mid-1570s.
Trained in France and Rome, they were smuggled into England and established
themselves in manor houses up and down the country saying masses, stiffening
the resistance of the Catholic gentry and spreading their faith. In 1580
they were joined by the Jesuit mission, led by Edmund Campion and Robert
Parsons. At the same time small bands of Catholic adventurers were making
their way to Ireland to foment troubles with the blessing of Pope Gregory
XIII. The focus of all Catholic hopes was, of course, still the Queen of
Scots.
Derek Wilson, Sweet Robin
After all, Elizabeth's father [Henry VIII] had never hesitated to set aside
an able servant who had become an embarrassment to him. But in this regard
Elizabeth was not Henry VIII's daughter. Most of her close advisers served
her for years, survived periods of disgrace, experienced forgiveness and
restitution. When, as in the case of the Duke of Norfolk, she had to dispense
with a servant turned traitor, it was only with the utmost reluctance and
usually after a display of intense emotion. She once boasted: '[I] never,
to my knowledge, preferred for favour what I thought not fit for worth,
not bent mine ears to credit a tale that first was told me, nor was so rash
[as] to corrupt my judgement with my censure, ere I heard the cause. . .
this dare I boldly affirm: my verdict went with the truth of my knowledge.'
Derek Wilson, Sweet Robin
Killing Mary was a matter of betrayal of a deep personal policy for Elizabeth
she firmly believed it was wrong to kill an anointed monarch.
Celise Kalke
Back to Top
About Mary Stuart, and In
Her Own Words
For myself, I am resolute to die for my religion. . . With God's help, I
shall die in the Catholic faith and to maintain it constantly...without
doing dishonour to the race of Lorraine, who are accustomed to die the sustenance
of the faith.
Mary Stuart, 1586-87 to her cousin the duke of Guise
It was Mary's triumph that by her deliberate behavior in the last months
of her existence, she managed to convert a life story which had hitherto
shown all the elements of a Greek tragedydisaster leading ineluctably to
disasterinto something which ended instead in the classic Christian manner
of martyrdom and triumph through death. This transfiguration in the last
months of her life, which has the effect of altering the whole balance of
her story, was no fortunate accident. The design was her.
Antonia Frasier
I am myself a Queen, the daughter of a King, a stranger, and the true kinswoman
of the Queen of England. I came to England on my cousin' promise of assistance
against my enemies and rebel subjects and was at once imprisoned. . . .
As an absolute Queen, I cannot submit to orders, nor can I submit to the
laws of the land without injury to myself, the Kind my son and all other
sovereign princes. . . . For myself I do not recognize the laws of England
nor do I know or understand them as I have often asserted. I am alone, without
counsel, or anyone to speak on my behalf. My papers and notes have been
taken form me, so that I am destitute of all aid, taken at a disadvantage.
Mary Stuart in response to the pre-trial disputation
You have planned in divers ways and manners to take my life and to ruin
my kingdom by the shedding of blood. . . .I never proceeded so harshly against
you; on the contrary, I have maintained you and preserved you life with
the same care which I use for myself . . But answer fully and you may receive
greater favor from us.
Elizabeth in a letter to Mary
"Ah, here are many counselors, but not one for me."
Mary at her trial
I do not deny that I have earnestly wished for liberty and done my utmost
to procure it for myself. In this I acted from a very natural wish.
Mary Stuart at her trial
Can I be responsible for the criminal projects of a few desperate men, which
they planned without my knowledge or participation?
Mary Stuart at her trial
My advancing age and bodily weakness both prevent me from wishing to resume
the reins of government. I have perhaps only two or three years to live
in this world, and I do not aspire to any public position, especially when
I consider the pain and desperance which meet those who wish to do right,
and act with justice and dignity in the midst of so perverse a generation,
and when a whole world is full of crimes and troubles.
Mary Stuart at her trial
I do not desire vengeance. I leave it to Him who is the just Avenger of
the innocent and of those who suffer for His Name under whose power I will
take shelter. I would rather pray with Esther than take the sword with Judith.
Mary Stuart at her trial
I thank you for such welcome news. You will do me great good in withdrawing
me from this world out of which I am very glad to go.
Mary Start on being show her death warrant
Well Jane Kennedy. . Did I not tell you this would happen?. . . I knew they
would never allow me to live, I was too great an obstacle to their religion.
Mary Stuart
About Elizabeth I, and in her own
words
... for I tell you true, that the Lady Elizabeth is a jolly liberal dame,
and nothing so unthankful as her sister is; and she taketh this liberality
of her mother, who was one of the beautifullest women in her time or since;
and then shall men of good service and gentlemen be esteemed.
Christopher Ashton, conspirator. 1555
There is not a heretic or traitor in all the kingdom, who has not joyfully
raised himself from the grave in order to come to her [Elizabeth's] side
. . . .[but] she is determined to be governed by not one.
Feria, servant of Philip II
She is a knight, because of her gay and indomitable spirit. She hath defended
herself against two of the greatest kings (of France and Spain) in the
world.
King Henri IV, formerly Henri of Navarre
With your head and my purse, I could do anything.
Elizabeth to Burghley
The English leaders had made it plain to her that her too great familiarity
with my Lord Robert Dudley displease them and that they would by no means
allow him to we her. . .The Queen replied. . . that she have never thought
of contracting a marriage with my Lord Robert; but she was more attached
to him than to any of the others because when she was deserted by everybody
in the reign of her sister not only did he never lessen in any degree
his kindness and humble attention to her, but he even sold his possessions
that he might assist her with money, and therefore she thought it just
that she should make some return for his good faith and constancy.
15 June, 1561, Hubert Languet writing to Augustus, Duke of Saxony
In the end, this shall be fore me sufficient, that a marble stone shall
declare that a queen, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin.
Queen Elizabeth, 1599
The Queen of England is about to marry her horsemaster [Dudley].
Mary Stuart in Paris, 1599
I say again, I will marry as soon as I can conveniently, if God take not
him away with who I mind to marry, or myself, or else some other great
let happen. I can say no more, except the party were present. And I hope
to have children, otherwise I would never marry.
A strange order of petitioners, that will make a request and cannot be
otherwise ascertained by their Prince's word, and yet will not believe
it when it is spoken! Buy they, I think, that moveth the same will be
ready to mislike him with whom I shall marry as they are not to move it.
. .
Your petition is to deal in the limitation of the succession. At this
present it is not convenient; nor never shall be without some peril unto
you and certain danger to me. But were it not for your peril, at this
time I would give place, notwithstanding my danger. Your perils are a
sundry way; for some may be touched, who rest no in such terms with us
as is not meet to be disclosed, either in the Commons house or in the
Upper House. But as soon as there may be a convenient time, and that it
may be done with least peril unto youalthough never without great danger
unto meI will deal therein for your safety.
Queen Elizabeth, 5 November 1566
I have known her, from her eighth year, better than any man upon earth.
From that date she has invariably declared that she would remain unmarried.
Robert Dudley
It was Mary the prisoner at Fotheringhay who was calm and tranquil, who
wrote her letters, considered how she could best dispose her affairs for
her servants, contemplated her crucifix, and showed herself more joyous
than she had been for years. It was Elizabeth the jailer, in London, muttering
to herself aut fer aut feri, in feriare, fre suffer or strike, strike
or be struck who suffered the torments of indecision.
Antonia Frasier
Back to Top
Mary Stuart's
Last Letter to Elizabeth I
"Now having been informed, on your part, of the sentence passed in the
last session of your Parliament, and admonished by Lord Beale to prepare
myself for the end of my long and weary pilgrimage, I prayed them to return
my thanks to you for such agreeable intelligence, and to ask you to grant
some things for the relief of my conscience.
I will not accuse any person but sincerely pardon every one, as I desire
others, and above, all God, to pardon me. And since I know that your heart,
more than that of any other, ought to be touched by the honour or dishonour
of your own blood, and of a Queen the daughter of a king, I require you,
Madam, for the same of Jesus, that after my enemies have satisfied their
black thirst for my innocent blood, you will permit my poor disconsolate
servants to remove my corpse, that it may be buried in holy ground, with
my ancestors in France, especially the late Queen my mother, since in
Scotland the remains of the Kings my predecessors have been outraged,
and the churches torn down and profaned.
As I shall suffer in this country, I shall not be allowed a place near
your ancestors, whoa re also mine, and persons of my religion think much
of being interred in consecrated earth. I trust you will not refuse this
last request I have preferred to you, and allow, at least, free sepulture
to this body when the soul shall be separated from it, which never could
obtain, while united, liberty to dwell in peace.
Dreading the secret tyranny of some of those to whom you have abandoned
me, I entreat you to prevent me from being dispatched secretly, without
your knowledge, not from fear of the pain, which I am ready to suffer,
but on account of the reports they would circulate after my death. It
is therefore that I desire my servants to remain witnesses and attestators
of my end my faith in my Saviour, and obedience to His church. This I
require of you in the name of Jesus Christ in respect to our consanguinity,
for the sake of King Henry VII, your great-grandfather and mine, for the
dignity we have both held, and for the sex to which we both belong.
I beseech the God of mercy and justice to enlighten you with his holy
Spirit, and to give me the grace to die in perfect charity, as I endeavour
to do, pardoning my death to all those who have either caused or cooperated
in it; and this will be my prayer to the end.
Accuse me not of presumption if, leaving this world and preparing myself
for a better, I remind you will one day to give account of your charge
in like manner as those who preceded you in it, and that my blood and
the misery of my country will be remembered, wherefore from the earliest
dawn of your comprehension we ought to dispose our minds to make things
temporal yield to those of eternity.
Your sister and cousin wrongfully a prisoner,
Marie R.
Back to Top
Mary Stuart's Last
Letter to King Henri III
Monsieur mon beau - frère, estant par la permission de Dieu (she
wrote in French as that was preferred by her).
Royal brother, having by God's will for my sins I think, thrown myself
into the power of the Queen my cousin, at whose hands I have suffered
much for almost twenty years. I have finally been condemned to death by
her and her Estates. I have asked for my papers, which they have taken
away, in order that I might make my will, but I have been unable to recover
anything of use to me, or even get leave either to make my will freely
or to have my body conveyed after my death, as I would wish, to your kingdom
where I had honour to be queen, your sister and old ally.
Tonight, after dinner, I have been advised of my sentence: I am to be
executed like a criminal at eight in the morning. I have not had time
to give you a full account of everything that has happened, but if you
will listen to my doctor and my other unfortunate servants, you will learn
the truth, and how, thanks be to God, I scorn death and vow that I meet
it innocent of any crime, even if I were their subject. The Catholic faith
and the assertion of my God-given right to the English throne are the
two issues on which I am condemned.
The bearer of this letter and his companions, most of them your subjects,
will testify to my conduct at my last hour. It remains for me to beg your
most Christian Majesty, my brother-in-law and old ally, who have always
protested your love for me, to give proof now of your goodness on all
these points; firstly by charity, in paying my unfortunate servants the
wages due to them - this is a burden on my conscience that only you can
relieve; further, by having prayers offered to God for a queen who has
borne the title Most Christian Queen of France, and who dies a Catholic,
stripped of all her possessions.
I have taken the liberty of sending you two precious stones, talismans
against illness, trusting you will enjoy good health and a long and happy
life. Accept them from your loving sister-in-law, who, as she dies, bears
witness of her warm feelings for you. Give instructions if it please you,
that for my soul's sake part of what you owe me should be paid, and that
for the sake of Jesus Christ, to whom I shall pray for you tomorrow as
I die, I be left enough to found a memorial mass and give the customary
alms.
Wednesday at two in the morning,
Your most moving and most true sister,
Marie R. Queen of Scotland."
Back to Top
Life of Schiller
Compiled and written by Chris Swanson
1759, November 10 Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller is born in Marbach,
Germany. His father is a military officer who at various times fills various
functions, including surgeon and recruiting officer.
1766 The family moves to the garrison at Ludwigsburg. It is just
one of countless displacements in Schiller's life.
1767 Schiller enters grammar school in Ludwigsburg. His pious
parents intend that he eventually enter the clergy.
1772 Schiller is confirmed. He writes his first tragedies, now
lost, one of which is entitled The Christians.
1773 Duke Karl Eugene of Wrttemberg forces Schiller to attend
a military academy (later known as the Karlsschuhle). He is particularly
ill-suited to the strict environment. Eventually he will study law, then
medicine. Though possessing or reading aesthetical works is banned, he
reads works of Shakespeare, Rousseau, Lessing, and German "Sturm und Drang"
("storm and stress") authors.
1775 The academy moves to Stuttgart.
1777 Schiller begins work on his play The Robbers, gleefully
disregarding "the rules" of dramatic construction.
1779 Meanwhile, German drama is becoming more about the rules
and less about breaking them. Lessing writes his last and greatest play
Nathan the Wise, establishing iambic pentameter as the standard
German verse form. Goethe writes Iphigenia in Tauris, the most perfect
example of "Weimar Classicism."
1780 Schiller graduates, and becomes a regiment doctor.
1781 The Robbers is published anonymously, with a phony
place of publication.
1782, January 13 The Robbers is performed in Mannheim at
the Court Theater. Rebellious, violent, and hair-raising, the audience
eats it up. Schiller goes absent without leave from the army to attend
the premiere.
1782, July He is sentenced to fourteen days imprisonment after
a subsequent journey without leave.
1782, August The Duke forbids Schiller from writing any new plays.
1782, September Schiller goes into exile, fleeing to Mannheim,
then on to Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Mainz, Worms... For a time he lives under
an assumed name.
Uprootedness is a fact of Schiller's life. The exile from his homeland
and constant displacement leave a deep impression. Nearly all of his plays
deal with characters driven (in one sense or another) from their homes.
1783 September - 1784 August Schiller is very ill. Sickness dogs
him much of his life.
1784 First performances of The Conspiracy of Fiesco at
Genoa, and Cabal and Love (sometimes translated Passion and
Politics or Love and Intrigue). His subsequent plays are in
verse.
1785 "Ode to Joy"
1787 Completion of Don Carlos
1788 Schiller completes his History of the Fall of the United
Netherlands from the Spanish Government. History permeates his plays.
1788, September 7 He meets Goethe for the first time. They aren't
close until years later.
1788, December 15 Schiller gets an unsalaried history professorship
at the University of Jena.
1790, February 22 He marries Charlotte von Lengefeld.
1790, September Publication of The History of the Thirty Years
War.
1791 First bouts of pneumonia and pleurisy. Rumors of his death.
1793 He write several of his well known essays, among them "On
the Sublime" and "On the Aesthetic Education of Men." Travels in Swabia.
The Schillers arrive in Ludwigsburg on September 8, where Schiller's first
child is born on September 14.
1794 The friendship between Schiller and Goethe begins in earnest.
Goethe is ten years older, and will outlive Schiller by 27 years.
1799 Schiller completes Wallenstein, his massive three-part
drama of the Thirty Years War. He begins work on Mary Stuart. The
family moves to Weimar.
1800 Illness. Schiller completes Mary Stuart. It is his
most fiercely classical work, though the preoccupation with historical
minutiae recalls his earlier histories and historical dramas.
1801 Completion of The Maid of Orleans.
1803 Completion of The Bride of Messina.
1804 Completion of William Tell. In July he is seriously
ill.
1805 Renewed illness. Schiller dies of acute pneumonia on May
9.
Back to Top
About Schiller
If ever we have hopes of a German Shakespeare, this is he!
Timme, German novelist
Faced with
a particular valley, a soldier looks at it with the eye of a professional,
defense is possible here, troops will be vulnerable there, positions can
be dug there and so on. A farmer has a different, but equally professional
eye. This land can be drained, that is only good for pasture, this could
make arable. A typical twentieth century individual, faced with the same
valley, is more likely to experience undifferentiated emotion. "How pretty!
How unspoilt!" We have not gone soft in the head. We have gone Romantic.
Nicholas Dromgoole
The trip
with [Mary Stuart] is that people might mistakenly think that it's an
Elizabethan play. [But] it's a post-revolutionary play. American Revolution.
French Revolution. It has nothing to do with the questions Shakespeare
was asking. This is set in a time of incredible excess and asking questions
about personal liberty. Personal liberty wasn't even a question when Shakespeare
was writing. In Schiller's time, it's the individual versus the state,
religion versus the state, individual sexual freedom. Schiller doesn't
allow you to decide whose side you're on. He was a lawyer and a historian
who created this deliberately dialectical play where both arguments are
strong.
Carey Perloff
Each of
these plays of Schiller's classical period has its own distinctive merit,
but as a piece of dramatic craftsmanship Maria Stuart surpasses the rest.
The action of the play is compressed into the last three days in Mary's
life, before her execution at Fotheringhay; all the antecedentsher French
marriage, her brief and troubled Scottish reign, her long imprisonment
in Englandemerge by means of retrospective analysis. Although Schiller
repeatedly diverged from the recorded facts in his treatment of the subject,
he displays in his play a profound grasp of the historical situation.
Schiller offers a disturbing analysis of the problems that arise whenever
political expediency masquerades as justice and judges are subjected to
the pressures of power politics or ideological conflict. Mary turns outward
disaster into inward triumph by accepting the verdict of the English tribunal--which
she regards as unjust--in expiation of her sins committed in former days.
By giving to the decree of her judges a meaning that they had not intended,
she rises superior to their jurisdiction, a sinner redeemed and transfigured.
This conforms to Schiller's theory of tragedy, which turns on the hero's
moral rebirth through an act of voluntary self-abnegation.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Conflicts
[in Schiller's drama] reveal whether or not characters are genuinely committed
to the ideals they profess. . . . .Like Elizabeth of England in Maria
Stuart, Demetrius and Wallenstein would prefer to live with truth and
honor. But forced to decide between truth and honor or power, they choose
power and become the persons they essentially were. Wolfgang Wittkowski
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
According
to Schiller. . . .. nobody can [lose their freedom of choice.] According
to Schiller, they never could. Nobody can. The question is whether they
muster the strength to make the right decision despite their difficult
situations. Such difficulties always depend on two sides: the individual
and the challenge they must meet. Elizabeth falls victim to her strongest
instincts. . . . . Philosophically sounder than Kant, Schiller considers
such a decision against the moral imperative to be just as free as the
opposite choice, but only if it is a true choice. And choicesdecisionsare
at the core of Schiller's dramas.
Wolfgang Wittkowski
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
The greater
concern [in Schiller's play's] seems to have been with the inner self
of the perpetrator, not the least because of the humble awareness that
guilt can catch up with anyone. Unwanted guilt is the subject of tragedy.
And since the plots deal with political history, the political enemy generally
is tainted with two different kind of guilt. First, there is the guilt
of the evil-will character in contrast to the good will which, according
to Kant, is the only thing in the world we are fully justified to term
"good." Second, Schiller intensifies and clarifies this guilt when the
evil character, either through reckless negligence or vicious intention,
causes others to become guilty.
Wolfgang Wittkowski
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
Are these
people doing the right thing? Schiller is, I believe, exactly of that
opinion. The characters are not fanatics, driven by universal ideologies.
Instead, they try to avoid guilt and act only in defense, from total selflessness
and out of a deeply felt obligation to act out their conviction even if
they risk their own well-being. They are motivated neither by success
nor loss but by moral values, by moral idealism.
Wolfgang Wittkowski
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
This discussion
about the sense is one of the sources of Schiller's dramaturgy, a source
which has not been traced as yet.. . . .In agreement with the familiar
hierarchy of senses, Schiller describes the eye as the widest, the most
beautiful and noblest sense. Yet. . . concerning dramatic declamation
Schiller declares: "The way through the ear is the most practicable and
the nearest to our hearts." From then onward Schiller's reflection on
dramatic impact will always imply a reflection on the senses. . . .In
wavering between the eye and the ear, Schiller seems to mirror the competition
between the senses. . . .
It is nature herself which raises man from reality to semblance, by furnishing
him with two senses which lead him to knowledge of the real world through
semblance alone. In the case of the eye and ear, she herself has driven
importunate matter back from the organs of sense, and the object, with
which in the case of our more animal senses we have direct contact, is
set at a distance from us. What we actually see with the eye is something
different from the sensation we receive; for the mind leaps out across
light to objects. The object of touch is a force to which we are subjected;
the object of eye and ear a form that we engender. As long as man is still
a savage he enjoys by means of these tactile senses alone, and at this
stage the senses of semblance are merely the servants of these. Either
he does not rise to the level of seeing at all, or he is at all events
not satisfied with it. Once he does begin to enjoy through the eye, and
seeing acquires for him a value of its own, he is already aesthetically
free and the play-drive has started to develop.
Here Schiller does not postulate a totality of sensual perception which
would be utopian. He is too deeply molded by the current division of labor
between the sense. But in the free interaction of the eye and the ear,
both "senses of semblance" as contrasted to the "tactile senses," and
esthetic concept of perception is being developed which does not reduce
the senses to mere tools. It is just this reflection on sensual perception
that makes the letters ber die sthetische Erziehung des Menschen the
essential theoretical source for Schiller's dramaturgy. Whereas the eye
and the ear conclude the theoretical treatise, they are the premises of
Schiller's later dramas, where they are the central media of the aesthetic
effect. In these plays his aesthetic concept of sensual perception is
made sensual reality.
Peter Utz, "The eye, the ear, and the heart"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
[Mary Stuart]
is the tragedy of two queens.. . .Maria Stuart's tragic fate cannot be
seen as fundamentally different from that of Elisabeth; neither queen
can "cast off the bondage of the senses.". . . . .According to Schiller's
understanding of dramatic theater, not only the one who suffers but also
the one who causes suffering deserves our pity.
Andreas Mielke, "Maria Stuart:" Hermeneutical Problems of "One" Tragedy
with "Two " Queens"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
Fortunately,
the controversies surrounding this play are well documented. These occurred
before the drama was even finished, continued during casting and rehearsals,
and were reflected in contemporary reviews. The available documents supply
significant material for the understanding not only of Schiller's intentions,
but also of the historical prejudices against which he has to fight.
Schiller anxiously tried to keep the topic of his new historical drama
a secret. He did not even tell his best friend Krner. When he heard that
the notorious Jena gossip August Bttiger had not been able to keep his
mouth shut and had divulged the secret to Krner, Schiller became very
angry. He became furious when, even before the play was finished, Goethe's
Weimar intruded with courteous and courtly censorship, which was motivated
by the religious feeling of the time.
The personal interference of Duke Karl August, supported, if not instigated,
even on stage, a confession scene with all its Catholic rituals. Schiller
seemed to have anticipated some objection, but when Goethe finally justified
the duke's criticisman explanation accompanied by an invitation to come
to Weimar immediately to "talk it over", Schiller became even more infuriated.
His passionate outburst made quite an impression on the actors who reported
the incident. Schiller, according to these reports, thought of having
the play performed outside Weimar, and he even threatened to bring to
the stage a rape scene they would be forced to watch. The furor certainly
does not sound like the language of a pious poet who want to support with
his Maria Stuart the religious ritual as an aesthetic "Weihespiel" of
the Catholic church.
Even more telling is the extraordinary concern Schiller showed in the
casting of the players. He was involved in the distribution of roles,
and his ideas were in conflict with the stereotypes of his time. He explained
the part of Elisabeth to the very attractive Weimar star, Caroline Jagemann
(the Duke's mistress), and worked hard to convince her to accept it. This
actress had found Schiller's favor because of her spiritual strength,
her "geistige Kraft"; whereas, the decisive factor in choosing Madame
Vohs for the role of Maria, the "immer physische Wesen," was her "ppige
Gestalt," her sexually appealing body. Both women were supposed to be
attractive!
Andreas Mielke, "Maria Stuart:" Hermeneutical Problems of "One" Tragedy
with "Two " Queens"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
The basic
problem of this play lies in Elisabeth and her "geistige Kraft." Maria's
doom is sealed very early, at the latest after the "interview" in Act
III. But there are two more acts that flowered this meeting which cannot
be ignored and are indeed a genuine part of the entire tragedy. These
acts supply the illustration of Elisabeth's personal tragedy, and bit
it only for reasons of Schiller's sense of "poetic justice," as A. W.
Schlegel suggests.
The playwright has presented us with an ambiguous play. Both queens deserve
a fair judgement, not just the one appealing to our senses. In a rare
show of agreement, however, Elisabeth has been neglected in the scholarly
literature, Claude David being the exception which proves the rule. Elisabeth
suffers under a definition ex negativo: we evaluate her in terms of fate
and demise of Maria Stuart and hardly ever in terms of her own problematic
character, her merciless Puritan upbringing, and her lonely role as execution
of the will of both the English parliament and the people.
Schiller did not intend to juxtapose sensuality and spirituality as symbolized
by the queens or by the actresses who portray them. On the contrary, Schiller
was not interested in showing the victory of mind (Elisabeth) over matter
(Maria). Both are thoroughly mixed characters. How much Schiller was interested
in balancing the heterogeneous powers is shown by his ingenious idea to
have the actresses perform their parts in turn.
Andreas Mielke, "Maria Stuart:" Hermeneutical Problems of "One" Tragedy
with "Two " Queens"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
Schiller
did not want to have his Queen Elisabeth be the cold puritanical intellectual,
and certainly not an old virginal hag, secretly lustful, hypocritical,
and vain, as presented in a famous Cologne production. This would be Elisabeth
as seen through Maria's eyes. Schiller changed history deliberately because
he was interested in a different constellation of figures. He made both
queen younger, Elisabeth much more so. Elisabeth is not only Maria's chronological
and social peer, but she is also supposed to be sexually appealing. In
a letter to Iffland [Schiller] explained his concept beyond doubt:
Elisabeth
must be a person dramaturgically equal to Maria Stuart. This is in full
accord with the balanced construction of the play, and demands a balanced
interpretation. Elisabeth is, like Maria, a young queen who is not in
control of her sensuality. She is not the virtuous virgin she would, perhaps,
like to be, the exceptional woman above natural, sensual inclinations;
on the contrary, she falls victim to these forces in very much the same
way Maria does.
. . . . Schiller deliberately made an effort to prevent any untainted
sympathetic identification with Maria Stuart, even before she makes her
first entrance. He knew that he could not avoid pity for Maria, but he
differentiated between universal and personal pity. In fact, he stated
bluntly in his famous letter to Goethe that Maria Stuart was supposed
to arouse no personal no personal feeling of tenderness in the audience.
Andreas
Mielke, "Maria Stuart:" Hermeneutical Problems of "One" Tragedy with "Two
" Queens"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
If one cannot feel pity for Elisabeth, the balance of
the play is destroyed. This balance is, of course, not merely a formal
balance of scenes and acts: it includes the entire ethical, political,
and religious set of struggles for which the structure is but one formal
symbol. Once the reader loses genuine interest in the moral and sensual
struggle of Elisabeth, the actions lose significance altogether. They
become trivialized into the story of the hypocritical, power-hungry, and
vain fairy-tale queen who has her poor powerless and innocent "sister"
killed. That would be the old sad story of the fight between "Edelsinn
and Tiranie" but tragic it would not be.
Objectively speaking, both queens are responsible for the death of at
least one human being. The main moral difference seems to be that the
one does it for her pleasure, whereas the other does it out of hatred.
The main political difference is that Maria misuses the Scottish parliament
which she forces to acknowledge a murderer as her husband, whereas Elisabeth
uses the law of England and the will of the people to get rid of Maria.
Positive and negative aspects are skillfully attributed to both queens.
In addition, each queen has her respective religion behind her.
Andreas Mielke, "Maria Stuart:" Hermeneutical Problems of "One" Tragedy
with "Two " Queens"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
Two extreme approaches to human sensuality characterize
the queens in this play, and these approaches are the result of the preachings
of the two religious denominations fighting for power in England. . .
. In the view of the Catholic church, Maria may be a martyr, she may even
be angel; but there is sufficient evidence to make her claim to moral
triumph an impossibility. We should hesitate to call her escape from human
responsibility into the sanctuary of faith a moral victory.
Andreas Mielke, "Maria Stuart:" Hermeneutical Problems of "One" Tragedy
with "Two " Queens"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
Still today, Maria Stuart casts her spell upon the observer.
It is obviously the spell of sensual beauty. At the same time, however,
Maria's sensuality represents that of her church, the Roman Catholic church,
a power more than eager to win back the lost territory of England. This
church is also responsible for the legitimization of the Scottish queen's
claim to the English throne and, at the same time, of the bastardization
of the queen of England, who, by definition produced in Rome, is born
out of wedlock. Not without reason did Schiller give Mortimer such a strikingly
fanatical role. Mortimer's fascination with both Maria's and Rome's splendor
and glamour shows the blinding aspect of the Church as does his equating
Maria with the Virgin Marywhom he wants to rape! This scene is as grotesque
as Maria's last encounter with Leicester. She falls into his arms, instead
of into the desired arms of her Savior. Maria Stuart equates. . Jesus
Christ with a lover.
Andreas Mielke, "Maria Stuart:" Hermeneutical Problems of "One" Tragedy
with "Two " Queens"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
In contrast with Maria Stuart, Elisabeth is the one
who makes moral decisions, unfortunately to Maria's disadvantage. We have
a statement attributed to Schiller which indicates that he indeed saw
in Elisabeth's sudden decision a parallel to his definition of sublimity.
. . . .Elisabeth could have signed the [death warrant] much earlier. All
she needed was a sudden sensual stimulant, hatred, to enable her to do
what she herself described as necessity. At last, we have a situation
in which inclination and necessity become one.
------Andreas Mielke, "Maria Stuart:" Hermeneutical Problems of "One"
Tragedy with "Two " Queens"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
Maria Stuart is both the unfortunate Catholic queen
and the representative of anarchic lawlessness, and Elisabeth is both
the unfortunate Protestant queen and the representative of merciless legality.
Andreas Mielke, "Maria Stuart:" Hermeneutical Problems of "One" Tragedy
with "Two " Queens"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
Maria's admitted crimeshe is however, also responsible
for othersis a crime of the past, whereas Elisabeth's crime is happening,
now and obviously, before our very eyes.
Andreas Mielke, "Maria Stuart:" Hermeneutical Problems of "One" Tragedy
with "Two " Queens"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
There is a like-mindedness between Schiller and Jung
that goes beyond their concurrence on psychological types: both men studies
medicine; both had an intense interest in philosophy; for each, the encounter
with Kant's work was a turning point in his life; each sought his identity
in terms of personality differences with his more famous contemporary:
Schiller with Goethe, Jung with Freud.
A Poet's Intuition: Schiller's Anticipation of C.G. Jung's Phsycholoyg
in "Uber Nave und setimentalische Dichtung"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
1. Schiller's nature is analogous to Junt's "unconscious";
2. Schiller's idea of man's progressive development parallels Jung's process
of individuation; 3. Schiller's poet who either is or seeks nature, is
closely related to Jung's poet or artist, who either is the instrument
of or the spokesman for the unconscious.
A Poet's Intuition: Schiller's Anticipation of C.G. Jung's Psychology
in "Uber Nave und Sentimentalische Dichtung"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
All peoples who have a history have a paradise, a state
of innocence, a golden age, indeed every individual has his paradise,
his golden age which he remembers with more or less enthusiasm.
A Poet's Intuition: Schiller's Anticipation of C.G. Jung's Phsycholoyg
in "Uber Nave und Sentimentalische Dichtung"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
It is of interest. . . .to look at Kant's description
of human wholeness: The inner wholeness of man consists of having control
of the use of all his potentialities, in order to subordinate them. To
this end, it is necessary that reason rules without weakening sensuality
(which by itself is rabble because it does not think) because without
it there would be no material to be processed by legislating reason.
A Poet's Intuition: Schiller's Anticipation of C.G. Jung's Psychology
in "Uber Nave und Sentimentalische Dichtung"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
No concept occupies a more important position in the
aesthetic theory of Friedrich Schiller than that of freedom. No other
concept more strongly distinguishes the individual nature of Schiller's
post-Kantian idealism nor, at the same time, stands as conspicuously for
the debt Schiller's idealism owed to Kant.
A Poet's Intuition: Schiller's Anticipation of C.G. Jung's Psychology
in "Uber Nave und Sentimentalische Dichtung"
Friedrich von Schiller And the Drama of Human Existence edited by Alexej
Ugrinsky
The phases we have called classical (those of Racine,
the English Augustans, the middle Goethe), have something of a culmination
about them, suggesting a balance and harmony that can only come from an
order that has reached its zenith. Goethe's and Schiller's historical
position is at the very end of this order, in fact after its end as a
vital force in life and when a new social and intellectual order was already
clearly in the making. In literature the latter is reflected, as an early
stage of modernity, in second half of the eighteenth century as Rousseauism,
in Germany as Empfindsamkeit and Sturm und Drang. Our problem then is
largely to determine whether classical German literature is fully classical
in the tradition sense or whether because of this historical position
it has elements of modernity.
R. B. Farrell, Classicism, Periods in German Literature
Art does offer balm for the spirit, but it is not a
religious balm. Exactly what sort of balm is it? One of the most impassioned
attempts to answer this question was made at the end of the eighteenth
century by the German poet, playwright, and philosophical essayist Friedrich
Schiller (1759-1805).
Roger Kimball, Schiller "Aesthetic Education" in The New Criterion
Struggle of various sorts was a leitmotif of Schiller's
life: a fact of life that became an existential principle. Things tended
not to come easily to him. He was undoubtedly a genius, but he lacked
the effervescent facility that often attends the character of genius.
His was a divided, introspective nature. In this |