Opposing Views of Mary, Queen of Scots

Budiansky, Stephen. Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the

Birth of Modern Espionage. New York: Plume Book, 2006.

Warnicke, Retha. Mary Queen of Scots. New York: Routledge, 2006.

Many books have been published offering opposing views of Mary, Queen of Scots: the French and Scottish queen perhaps best known for her imprisonment in England and alleged involvement in a conspiracy against the life of Queen Elizabeth. The two books we shall examine over the course of this paper are Her Majesty's Spymaster by Stephen Budiansky, and Mary Queen of Scots by Retha M. Warnicke. First we will look at the ways in which Mary is portrayed in each of these books, published in the same year but with different takes on the Stewart queen. Then it will be prudent to examine the reasons each author had for composing his or her work, including their intended audience. Finally let us ask the question of readability: whether one of these books is more engaging or more helpful than the other, and reasons as to why this may be. Through these methods we hope to offer readers an understanding of each book and the different ways in which each is written.

Warnicke and Budiansky give us rather contradictory accounts of Mary Stewart. Warnicke's book paints the queen in a more positive light than does Budiansky's, but perhaps this is due to the fact that Queen Mary is not the primary focus of Her Majesty's Spymaster, which concentrates largely on Sir Francis Walsingham, and lightly skims over many other historical figures. Budiansky writes of a Mary who is not especially clever, but very manipulative. He cynically hints at her involvement in the murder of her husband Darnley, yet often seems to sympathize with her plight, as though he were himself entranced in the spell of her charm. Budiansky, then, does not show Mary as a licentious villain; but her character does seem a bit flat. In a book primarily about Walsingham and his many adventures, the author of Her Majesty's Spymaster does not have the liberty to fully develop the personality of Mary, Queen of Scots; rather he speaks of her only when her path crosses that of his protagonist, and she comes off as something of a shadowy figure working behind the scenes: the mysterious figurehead behind conspiracies, instead of a full-fledged human being.

Warnicke's Mary, on the other hand, is much more impressive and interesting than is that of Budiansky. The leading lady in Mary Queen of Scots is a remarkably intelligent one, and is given the attention that Her Majesty's Spymaster neglected to grant her. Warnicke's book speaks of the controversies which surrounded this female monarch in a time when women were thought to be unreasonable and hysterical; this book shows Mary Stewart in her proper historical context, rather than simply as a charming woman attempting to orchestrate the downfall of an English queen. In Warnicke's biography, as opposed to Budiansky's, Mary has been switched from the role of antagonist to that of tragic hero. Above all, Warnicke's depiction of Mary is that of a determined and strongly religious woman. Great attention is given to the fact that Mary forgave her executioner and died a loyal Catholic. This said, Warnicke does not paint Mary as entirely loving and innocent: the queen is shown playing in the political games of her day, and knows better than to speak her mind in all cases. In short, Warnicke's book shows that Mary, Queen of Scots "was not the open, trusting, uncomplicated woman described by some of her sympathetic biographers" (15), but a smart and devoted individual.

Many of the differences we have seen between the works of these two authors may be due to their intentions in composing the works, and the readers by whom these books were expected to be enjoyed. Budiansky and Warnicke each have admirable ambitions in writing these biographies, but just as each author focuses on a different historical figure, so too do their approaches to the subject matter differ. Budiansky's book is full of excitement and intrigue, beginning with the dramatic telling of an attempted assassination, and ending with an impressive summary of Walsingham's many accomplishments. While the author does not tell us his specific intentions in writing this book, it is clearly his means of making history, for lack of a better word, "interesting." The very title, Her Majesty's Spymaster, calls to mind images of mystery and conspiracy. This book is likely to be enjoyed by younger audiences such as high-school students, to whom the excitement of gunshots and explosions, murder and espionage, cannot fail to appeal.

Warnicke's book, like Budiansky's, also strives to tell historical facts in an unconventional way; but in Mary Queen of Scots this is done through the themes of the work, rather than the telling itself. Warnicke's book is part of a larger collection: Routledge Historical Biographies; this may lead readers to expect an average book of average quality and average interpretations of the queen's life, but this is not the case. Mary Queen of Scots is written, in great part, as a response to other biographies about Mary which, as Warnicke sees it, do not reflect fairly upon the Stewart monarch. The author's complaint is that Mary is too often viewed in terms of extremes, and is seldom seen in a realistic light as a human individual. Here however is an inherent problem in Warnicke's work, for while she does show the trials and difficulties Mary encountered as a female ruler, the circumstances of such an extraordinary life will always come off as romanticized, despite efforts to ground them in reality. This said, Warnicke's biography offers readers a new take on an old topic, and will appeal to anyone with knowledge of Tudor and Stewart history. The author considers the book a necessary addition to those already in existence which fail to consider the expected roles of women in the 16^th century, thus it is written not only with historians in mind, but also for pioneering women in all fields and, in all likelihood, for Mary herself.

Above we have seen some of the strengths in each book; now let us ask simply which is easier and more engaging to read. As mentioned, Her Majesty's Spymaster is a very captivating biography; this said, it is sometimes difficult for readers to locate what they are looking for, as the book includes no proper index, and the chapter names are often ambiguous. Mary Queen of Scots is organized in much the same way as Her Majesty's Spymaster, but also includes helpful family trees, a fuller bibliography, better headings and an extremely useful index with which readers can quickly find what they are seeking. For these reasons, Warnicke's book is easier to read than Budiansky's, as Warnicke assists the reader in ways that Budiansky does not.

We have seen then that while Budiansky's Her Majesty's Spymaster casts Mary in a simple light, Warnicke's Mary Queen of Scots offers a fuller and more grounded study of the Stewart queen. We have also looked at the authors' intentions in composing these books, seeing that Budiansky's history is written as a thrilling mystery which will appeal to a wider -- or perhaps a younger -- crowd, while Warnicke's book is written to contest previous ideas about Mary, and makes note of the trials Mary underwent as a female monarch. Finally we judged the two books side by side, concluding that while Budiansky's is engaging, it is less reader-friendly than is Warnicke's. Overall, neither book should be neglected by anyone with an interest in Renaissance history. The two works focus on separate historical figures, and each author writes in his or her own respective style. Though these books may be compared, it is difficult to disregard one and to favor the other entirely; in truth, readers should not think it a burden to take the extra time and simply read both.