Elizabeth and Leicester
£2.50
Inconsequential Talk - This book is very disappointing!The author rightly says that all one can do is to present the evidence, but sadly that is exactlywhat Sarah Gristwood hasn t done: many of the relevant sourcesshe doesn t mention, or worse, she misrepresentsthem and offers ridiculous explanations.E.g.: when we are told that the Earl of Arundel andthe Duke of Norfolk warned Leicester not to go intothe Queen s bedchamber in the morning, habitually handing herher shift, we are not told what the two lords said else to Leicester (they made clear to him they would condone his behaviour, if he could assure them he was betrothed to the queen, but as he couldn t, he would endanger the queen s honour), instead we get aquainted withthe fact that Henry VIII also was handed his shift by a gentleman (sic)and that this was a great honour to that gentleman, so the duke and the earl were just jealous!It seems to have escaped Sarah Gristwood that Henry VIII was male, while his daughter was female. There are many such examples in the book. Another annoying aspect is the talkative style: she talks about everything but the subject her book purports to be on. E.g., she lectures on Catherine the Great and Potemkin and the courtly love of the High Middle Ages (which was apparently very chaste, despite Tristan and Isolde who, of course, don tfigure in the book)...I read a work on Potemkin, in case I am interested in him, I am definitely not in this context...it is exasperating to see more Hamlet quotations in this book than those from the letters and papers thatbelong here:The author fails entirely to evoke the wonderful images of this couple and their unique love, not even the apotheosis of the Armada, their last days together, and his last letter are well conveyed, it is mostly essayistic babble.
Elizabeth and Leicester - This book has a very interesting subject but I found the read rather intense. There are so many different aspects being covered all at once and I found it a little hard to keep up at some points. It puts to bed the long held theory of the Elizabeth and Leicester s so called love affair and concludes that he was in fact simply a manipulated favourite. It also dulls down the idea that Elizabeth was ever truly in love with Robert Dudley, despite the fact that it was always going to be impossible for them to marry. It is a rather biased interpretation of the evidence. It is none the less an interesting and informative read.
How much did Elizabeth s eyes see? - There are certain themes in history that have captured the imagination, whose heroes and heroines escape from dusty pages and occupy a place in our own times. At every point in between the same stories and people have their tales told, with an interpretation that fits the relevant age. Of all the kings and queens of England, one has held the hearts of her subjects for longer than any other - Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen. Either by her own deft knack of public relations, or by the expert spinning of her advisers, the Queen of England was a legend in her own time. Her portrait was standardised, and is as recognisable today as it was four centuries ago. The idea of her being married to the kingdom, both her virginity and devotion intact, has endured through the ages. Despite her successes on the throne, ruling over the emerging English empire, her relative religious tolerance and stable reign, it is her relationships that have taken the starring role of popular history. Of all her relationships, that with Robert Dudley, later Earl of Leicester, has been the most examined, gossiped and intrigued. Sarah Gristwood has managed to write a book that balances the extensive source material, the voluminous secondary writings and her own views to present something approximating a balanced view. She admits that anything approaching the truth is impossible to know, but that by setting forward the arguments on both sides one can at least form an informed opinion. Gristwood s writing is engaging, silkenly weaving a rich narrative that evokes the complex characters at its heart. A supporting case of ambassadors, advisers and ladies in waiting add colour to the story, especially with her extensive quoting of ambassadorial despatches. Gristwood quotes Henry IV of France as saying that the subject of Elizabeth s virginity was one of the three questions all Europe wanted the answer to. It still remains one of the more intriguing questions left forever unanswerable. But there is also more than just the titillation of the queen sexual relations or lack thereof. Gristwood works to rehabilitate the reputation of a man who was a key advisor and power broker in her reign. More than just the plaything of the Queen, Leicester emerges as a historical personality with quite independent ambitions and ideas. One of the reviewers on this site has suggested this is one for the fans of Philippa Gregory, rather than the serious history scholar. Whilst I would agree that this is not a heavyweight academic tome (and on such a subject, it probably never would be), I disagree in it lacking merit for those interested in history. Whilst it is true that the author s opinions are stated, she is more upfront in clarifying that they are her opinions. This is more honest than many `popular histories that simply lay down narrative as fact, despite all history being subjective.
The Queen s lover? - It s been over 40 years since a biography of Elizabeth I focussed on her relationship with Robert Dudley. Their relationship is fascinating because of the many unanswered questions. Not only, did they ever consummate the relationship, but also did Elizabeth ever truly want to marry him? What was his real influence over events? I ve always found their relationship interesting because of the contrast between Elizabeth s actions and those of Mary Queen of Scots in a similar situation. Of course, the two women were different personalities and their political situations were also very different. Elizabeth, though, weathered the scandal of Amy Dudley s death (suicide? accident? murder?) and accepted that she could never marry Robert, where Mary, after Darnley s murder, seemed to wilfully throw away the many advantages she had accrued in her years in Scotland to marry Darnley s accused murderer. The bond between them was strong and Elizabeth drew a lot of comfort from the loyalty of her closest advisors, Dudley among them. Sarah Gristwood s book is an entertaining study of the relationship and how it has been viewed over the past 400 years.
A guilty pleasure - If you re looking for an academic history which is methodologically sound then forget this - but if you re looking for an engrossing, witty, pleasurable read then this is perfect! This is basically a fictional treatment of Elizabeth and her relationship with Leicester dressed up as popular history. Starting with Elizabth s youth, it eschews the political for the romantic, and focuses on her intimate personal relations with Leicester amongst others. The treatment of the death of Amy Dudley admits that we can never know what really happened, and yet lays out the evidence in such a biased way that we know exactly what the author both thinks and wants to have happened.I enjoyed this book enormously, but it s definitely one for the fans of Philippa Gregory, rather than the serious history scholar.