Mary Queen of Scots: Romance and Nation [Hardcover]

Jayne Lewis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415114802 | ISBN-13: 978-0415114806 | Publication Date: December 17, 1998 | Edition: 1

As an historical figure Mary Queen of Scots has been perpetually represented on canvas, page and stage, and has captured the British imagination since the time of her death in 1587. The 'real' Mary Stuart however has remained an enigma.
Mary Queen of Scots: Romance and Nation sheds light on Mary's life by exploring four main themes:
* the history of Mary's representation in Britain from the late Tudor period focusing on key periods in the formation of the British identity and closely analysing several texts against a background of the visual, musical and literary works of each period
* the reasons why those representing Mary have been so conscious that her image was largely a debatable fiction
* the identification of symbolic styles, using Mary to reveal the habits of representation in each historical period
* The link between the image of Mary Stuart and Britain's long struggle to define itself as a single nation, focusing on the roles of gender and religion in this development.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A very good book...struck out on a new and very original line. Historians and literary scholars will certainly find it important.
–Dr. Jenny Wormald, St. Hilda's College, Oxford

Interesting and impressive...at the cutting edge of works on Mary Queen of Scots.
–Robin S. Oggins, SUNY, Binghamton

Jayne Lewis brilliantly constructs Mary Stuart's 'dream-life' from the moment of her beheading to the birth of the modern era. This is post-modernism at its best: reflexive, thoughtful and poetic.
–Stella Tillyard, European University Institute, Florence

About the Author

Jayne Lewis is Associate Professor of English at UCLA.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (December 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415114802
• ISBN-13: 978-0415114806
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,041,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Academic history at its worst, July 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mary Queen of Scots: Romance and Nation (Paperback)

While the idea of writing an overview of how Mary Queen of Scots has been portrayed over the centuries is a good one, Jayne Lewis is simply not up to the task. For one thing, she seems to have only a superficial knowledge about Mary herself, which lends a shallowness to Lewis' interpretations. For another, her style is extremely dry and overly analytical. At times, she sounds so laughably like the stereotype of the "Ivory tower" pompous professor, that the book begins to read like parody.

Worst of all are a number of unforgivably egregious historical errors she makes, which, again, just shows her unfamiliarity with her subject. For instance, she includes several unflattering quotes about Mary that Lewis attributes to Sir James Melville's "Memoirs." These quotes actually come from "Master Randolph's Fantasy," a libellous ballad about Mary that was circulated by her Protestant enemies in 1565. In discussing Hugh Campbell's 1825 book, which prints several letters (not to be confused with the famous "Casket Letters,") supposedly written by Mary to Bothwell, Lewis says Campbell himself forged those letters. Since Campbell was merely reprinting letters from a pamphlet that was published in 1725 (one of the letters was originally printed in the 16th century memoirs of Brantome,) Campbell obviously was not the one who wrote them. Such obvious mistakes make it hard to take anything Lewis says very seriously. (Speaking of the "Casket Letters," Lewis gives the impression that these, too, have been proved to be forgeries--which is very far from the truth.)

In short, the idea of the book was a good one, but it was wasted in the hands of a bad writer.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The strange and beautiful afterlife of a Catholic queen, August 30, 2008

By 

Julia Lupton (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mary Queen of Scots: Romance and Nation (Kindle Edition)

This is a lovely account of the strange afterlife of Mary Queen of Scots in the English historical and libidinal imagination, from the reign of Elizabeth through the reign of Victoria. Lewis writes a luminous, intelligent prose that radiates a deep affiliation with her subject. This is a scholarly book, not a novel, bio or pop analysis. Expect some psychoanalysis, and some difficult formulations.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good premise, disappointing result, September 2, 2000

By 

"itsdavid" (Grosse Pointe, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mary Queen of Scots: Romance and Nation (Hardcover)

This is a very painful book to read. The concept is excellent, but the author's writing style goes beyond academic. It is pompous, arrogant and, ultimately, laughable. Often I have read a sentence in her book only to think: "Yes, I read it, but WHAT did she SAY?" Although I am not a scholar on Mary Queen of Scots, I have read quite a bit about her. In this book, there is a tone that somehow just doesn't ring true. Although I would not recommend this book to anyone, readers who are very serious about Mary Queen of Scots might want to read it merely because it exists.