Essay, Research Paper: Analysis Of Mary Stuart, Queen Of Scots

In 1567, the year when Mary, Queen of Scots abdicated, she
tried to explain for her faults that, "Prudence and reason were
swept away by a cataract of human passion."* Mary's true battle
was not with her English cousin Elizabeth I, but with herself. In
George Malcolm Thomsom's piece of non-fiction, The Crime of Mary
Stuart, the reader must go to when before Mary was crowned Queen
of Scotland to see where this conflict originated. First,
influenced by her proud, aristocratic French heritage, Mary is
thrown into an awkward, powerful position before she is old
enough to comprehend consequences or other opinions. Secondly,
when Mary becomes Scotland's sovereign, the country feels an
ominous cloud and becomes uneasy as she reforms the government.
Thirdly, her vulnerable emotions win in the tug of war against
her vaulting ambitions when she succumbs to the Earl of Bothwell
and his plot to kill her husband. Finally, Mary gives up herself
and her throne for love, unable to fight the two opposing forces


Thomson, George Malcolm. The Crime of Mary Stuart. (New York:
E.P. Dutton & Co., 1967), 124. All other references to this work
will be cited in the text.
within her.
Mary and her family, the Guises, had a distinct and
influential place in French society, which directly contributed
to her conquering and willful attitude. A great-granddaughter of
Henry VII of England and a descendant of Charlemagne and St.
Louis, Mary was already born with the expectations and
responsibility of royal blood, something which could not be
denied. The Guises were of the highest nobility, especially
within the corrupt Catholic Church. Mary's uncle, Charles, was a
cardinal and an archbishop who challenged the Pope's position; he
had become a mentor or father figure for Mary's early childhood.
The Guises were "magnificent in presence, consummate in charm and
energy," but also "audacious, vindictive and cursed with a
volcanic temper" (16). Not only did Mary gain their temperament,
but their passion for blood. Present at battle where her half-
brother James fought, she felt "the exhilaration of danger, the
throb of intense physical exertion, the cruel pleasure of war"
(23). Mary did not live in the environment of playing with other
children, but was exposed to spies, conspiracy, a short reign as
the Queen of France, widowhood, and the torture of fifty-six
Protestants. The only thing Mary knew in this world was to be
merciless, a trait she would later find out that a young woman
could not endure.
In 1561, Mary Stuart came onto the shores of Scotland as a
young, widowed matriarch where she came with visions of hope, but
the nation with skepticism. John Knox, the leader of the
Protestant Church in Scotland, announced on the day of Mary's
arrival, "The sun was not seen to shine two days before, nor two
days after" (20). His insecurity was based on the grounds that
after recently succeeding in suppression of the Catholic Church
in Scotland, Mary would try to counter-reform. She "made no bones
about her religion," and made John Knox well aware that she would
continue to worship freely (22). Not only was Knox but the whole
country skeptical as to what this foreigner's motives were.
Edinburgh was a crowded city where rumors flowed like water and
hostility even more, so Mary was received coldly. But that
concern was only secondary; she was the nearest heiress and
successor to Queen Elizabeth. This goal was never realized
through poor governmental administration. She continued to ignore
the Calvinists as well as her own husband. Two men also began to
dictate her life. First, Mary's husband, Darnley, had her French
secretary David Riccio, who was accused of impregnating the
Queen, assassinated during a coup d'etat Darnley had planned. It
is certain that this event "murdered" the little trust they had
in each other during an already rocky marriage. Second, she
restored the Earl of Bothwell as Lieutenant of the Border, the
most calamitous decision she ever made.
Mary's possessivity seems to change from the power of a
kingdom to the power of a man through the confessions of the
Casket Letters. They are a collection of epistles she wrote to
Lord Bothwell while in Glasgow. While Mary was coaxing her
husband to return to Edinburgh, a secret love affair had sprung
with Bothwell. In one letter, Mary admits she is tired and
rambling because she does not want to stop writing about her
infatuation with the Lieutenant, showing the first cracks of her
armor. It is such a contrast to envision her groveling at a man's
knees with reverence when she seemed to carry the respect of a
goddess. Mary even goes beyond any sort of good judgement for the
sake of Bothwell's love. Although she reproaches she would
"rather be dead than do it," Mary obeys the Lieutenant's wishes,
falling into the trap of playing follower to her passions and
losing control of her situation (64). What this event she was
reluctant to take part in can only be assumed is complicity in
her husband's murder. Bothwell was not handsome and had a
horrible reputation, far more appalling than her last two
partners. Mary was also responsible for finding him a fiance,
which the author believes why she fell for him. The forbidden
fruit or the ultimate challenge was what was most appealing to
her, and Bothwell was definitely a dangerous and explosive
character, identical to Mary.
For four hundred years, there has only been circumstantial
evidence if ever Mary knew about the plot to assassinate her
husband, Darnley. Nevertheless, it is absolutely undeniable that
Bothwell was the ringleader of this nefarious plot. He was
jealous by nature and violent by habit. Now that he had the
Queen's love, it was unlikely that he would tolerate the
disowned, degenerate youth as second in power. If Mary were ever
to lose the throne, her son would be too young to reign; Darnley
would have to fill in as Regent. Also, if Darnley was distrustful
of David Riccio and had him killed, it would be certain an equal
punishment would come to Bothwell. On February 10, 1567, Kirk
O'Field was blown up along with the King inside. It was probably
the clumsiest, most reckless, and amateurish crime ever! Evidence
laid in the streets, witnesses counted exact numbers, and there
was even a party upstairs the time the accomplices were setting
up the explosives. Not only did this bring suspicion upon
Bothwell and his associates, but Mary too. Many servants have
confirmed that messages went between Bothwell and Mary days
before the murder. Immediately, allies from Spain and France had
bowed out to aid the Queen; Mary had lost her willpower against
emotions, and now was losing political fierceness.
The climax, or culmination of the destruction of Mary's
reputation and reign came with the marriage of Bothwell. It is
certain the uproar heard when she announced she was to marry the
murderer of her latest husband. At this point, Mary was
completely blind and oblivious to the jealousy of officials, the
surprising coolness of foreign courts, and the withdrawal of
important nobility from the Queen's court. Only her passions were
real; she didn't defy the dangers around her, rather, she was
unaware of them. The couple's sole intent was to devise another
underhanded scheme: to get married. Bothwell was already married,
so a phony rape was set up in order for the Lieutenant to get an
annulment from his present marriage. As if ravishment of the
Queen wasn't damaging enough, some accused Bothwell of being a
sorcerer, and the Protestant church believed that this union "was
odious and slanderous to the world" (121). All over Catholic
Europe the marriage, rather than the idea that Mary had been a
party to the murder of her husband, was the decisive factor in
destroying her reputation and blighting the hopes of those who
saw in her a future Catholic sovereign of England. "The Pope said
he did not know which of the two was worse, Mary or Elizabeth"
(123). The Pope broke off relations, political and financial,
with the Queen of Scots. Finally, Mary had lost the battle. With
rebel forces outnumbering Bothwell's, Mary consented to come back
to Edinburgh in exchange for Bothwell's life. Mary's future was
looking so bleak, her cousin Elizabeth had taken pity on her,
trying to free Mary from imprisonment. But all attempts failed.
At the age of 25, Mary stepped down from her throne, her 13 month
old son James became King of Scotland, and the government was
left in limbo.
Mary's blunder was that she tried to play a man's role in a
woman's body. As many opposites do not attract, her conquering
no-mercy zeal was shrouded by the helpless maiden. She lacked the
experience and the patience that her successful counterpart,
Elizabeth I, obtained. "Her burning fever" was more than the
ambition of the Lorraine breed could handle in the case her
selfish desires for a man who carried a price tag (138). Mary was
a "victim of a temperament that belonged to the heights or the
depths," paralleling her rise to power and fall from reason.
Mary Stuart shows striking resemblances to Shakespeare's
Othello. Othello had risen to the ranks of a general, commanding
great respect and an infamous reputation, even as a Moor. As did
Mary have to go against the odds, Othello probably was
discriminated and felt tension from others who thought he was
incompetent and that he should step down. His pride and his
concern for his reputation was a mirror image of the insecurity
that Iago molded through insinuations and guile. Not able to find
equilibrium, Othello threw away common sense for his anger and
vengeance. As did Mary, Othello made the fatal decision of
killing his spouse, a fatal choice that led to his own
destruction.