"To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end...
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd."
Not strictly appropriate, perhaps, but it's in my mind after finishing Alison Weir's 'Innocent Traitor' on Lady Jane Grey. Predictably, it was undoubtedly the most historically-accurate historical novel I've ever read and a good read. I'm not a huge fan of 1st person, present tense narrative but it was effective-- and choosing to have the Executioner's PoV end the book was definitely so. Was fighting back tears while on the T.
I have to add some curses to the heads of the director and screenplay writer for the movie, 'Lady Jane' though, because thanks to them, I was reading the book and seeing Cary Elwes in my head as Guilford Dudley which is the most disturbing thing in the world when reading about Guilford as he really was and not the romantic fantasy imagined by the screenplay writer of 'Lady Jane'. And equally disturbing to have Patrick Stewart in my head as the Duke of Suffolk.
It occurs to me that I have an easier time forgiving the Duke of Northumberland for his actions, even though he was the most guilty of them all and really a completely unscrupulous, manipulative, self-serving and cruel man. He was, after all, a product of his times and it would be hard to expect him to really care about Lady Jane's happiness and well-being. He barely knew the girl so it would have been easier to use her as a pawn to his own ambition. I cannot be so forgiving to the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk, Jane's parents, because they had a duty to care for Jane's well-being and her happiness but they didn't. They never did and instead made her miserable for the entire 16 years of her life and finally, she was condemned to death by her own father's stupidity and selfish ambition. They may have repented but it was too little, too late, and frankly (this may be mean of me) but I hope (in fact, I'm rather confident they did) that they had a long, very painful time in Purgatory after they died. If anyone deserved Purgatory after life, it's them. (Of course, to do them justice, Northumberland probably deserved to go to hell.)
It occurs to me that, tragic though it was, it was probably a merciful thing to execute Lady Jane. There was no way, given the political realities of the time, that she could ever have been released-- doing so would have been suicidally stupid on Mary's part-- and even keeping Jane locked up in the Tower wasn't safe enough. I can't blame Mary and Mary is, in her own way, just as tragic a figure as Lady Jane. And really, Lady Jane's life had been almost unmitigated misery for the most part. In some weird way, it was almost merciful to end her life, given everything and the unfortunate fact that thanks to Jane's royal blood, she was too dangerous to ever be allowed to live a normal life. And if anything is testament to just how harsh a time period the Tudor era was, it's that. Executing a 16 year old girl, whose only crime was her blood and being used by the machinations of others, should not be an act of mercy but in those days, in these circumstances, it really was-- and maybe that's the biggest tragedy of all.
I am reminded that next year, November 17, will be the 450th anniversary of the Accession of Elizabeth I. Hmm. I will, Deo volente, be in law school by then but I must start thinking of some little way to mark the occasion. Because I'm a geek.
Also, it is rather appropriate that this particularly Friday the 13th is the 388th anniversary of the birth of Catherine of Medici. I find it amusing in an odd way that the anniversary of the birth of a woman who was rather sinister, if not downright malevolent, falls on Friday the 13th.
Not strictly appropriate, perhaps, but it's in my mind after finishing Alison Weir's 'Innocent Traitor' on Lady Jane Grey. Predictably, it was undoubtedly the most historically-accurate historical novel I've ever read and a good read. I'm not a huge fan of 1st person, present tense narrative but it was effective-- and choosing to have the Executioner's PoV end the book was definitely so. Was fighting back tears while on the T.
I have to add some curses to the heads of the director and screenplay writer for the movie, 'Lady Jane' though, because thanks to them, I was reading the book and seeing Cary Elwes in my head as Guilford Dudley which is the most disturbing thing in the world when reading about Guilford as he really was and not the romantic fantasy imagined by the screenplay writer of 'Lady Jane'. And equally disturbing to have Patrick Stewart in my head as the Duke of Suffolk.
It occurs to me that I have an easier time forgiving the Duke of Northumberland for his actions, even though he was the most guilty of them all and really a completely unscrupulous, manipulative, self-serving and cruel man. He was, after all, a product of his times and it would be hard to expect him to really care about Lady Jane's happiness and well-being. He barely knew the girl so it would have been easier to use her as a pawn to his own ambition. I cannot be so forgiving to the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk, Jane's parents, because they had a duty to care for Jane's well-being and her happiness but they didn't. They never did and instead made her miserable for the entire 16 years of her life and finally, she was condemned to death by her own father's stupidity and selfish ambition. They may have repented but it was too little, too late, and frankly (this may be mean of me) but I hope (in fact, I'm rather confident they did) that they had a long, very painful time in Purgatory after they died. If anyone deserved Purgatory after life, it's them. (Of course, to do them justice, Northumberland probably deserved to go to hell.)
It occurs to me that, tragic though it was, it was probably a merciful thing to execute Lady Jane. There was no way, given the political realities of the time, that she could ever have been released-- doing so would have been suicidally stupid on Mary's part-- and even keeping Jane locked up in the Tower wasn't safe enough. I can't blame Mary and Mary is, in her own way, just as tragic a figure as Lady Jane. And really, Lady Jane's life had been almost unmitigated misery for the most part. In some weird way, it was almost merciful to end her life, given everything and the unfortunate fact that thanks to Jane's royal blood, she was too dangerous to ever be allowed to live a normal life. And if anything is testament to just how harsh a time period the Tudor era was, it's that. Executing a 16 year old girl, whose only crime was her blood and being used by the machinations of others, should not be an act of mercy but in those days, in these circumstances, it really was-- and maybe that's the biggest tragedy of all.
I am reminded that next year, November 17, will be the 450th anniversary of the Accession of Elizabeth I. Hmm. I will, Deo volente, be in law school by then but I must start thinking of some little way to mark the occasion. Because I'm a geek.
Also, it is rather appropriate that this particularly Friday the 13th is the 388th anniversary of the birth of Catherine of Medici. I find it amusing in an odd way that the anniversary of the birth of a woman who was rather sinister, if not downright malevolent, falls on Friday the 13th.