Laura Merrell
Mary, Queen of Scots, is a fascinating historical figure and now she has her very own television show, Reign. Mary Stuart, whose life is the driving force of the show, was brought up in the French Court and married very young to the Dauphin. She led an exciting life including scandal over her second husband whose murderer was said to be her next husband, as well as her imprisonment and eventual execution by her own sister, Elizabeth I. She was in the middle of gripping political intrigue, court drama and religious tension, but she has been relegated to reside within the realm of dramatic and promiscuous television shows that seem to multiply each year.
This powerful, beautiful and intriguing monarch has been recast in Reign as a love-sick, unsure teenager, pining after her intended husband, Francis, the Dauphin. The political power struggle between Mary and her sister Elizabeth I is lost. Instead, Mary is entirely at the mercy of the French Court, not as an independent agent in her own right since she is so devoted to getting Francis to accept her. The show seems to only delve into diplomatic issues and political maneuvers if they involve sexual power dynamics. The biggest denouement of an episode typically revolves around the revelation of who is sleeping with whom. I was surprised that the episodes don’t have titles such as “Watch As Love-Sick Mary Follows Francis Around For 43 Minutes” or “The King Tries to Find A Mistress to No Avail.”
I’m all for guilty pleasure television shows. I’m eagerly awaiting the return of The Bachelor and I avidly follow the developments in this season’s America’s Next Top Model. Go Chris H.! However, I take issue with Reign’s attempt — as with The Tudors before it, to have the modern emphasis on sex, intrigue, betrayal and scandal with a little history thrown in. Setting it in a far-off historical period does not lend legitimacy to and a justification for the historical liberties they take. It also does not excuse or shield the show from the misinformed and uncritical representation of monarchs, the French court, and politics they present. It’s not about nitpicking and going through and pointing out each subtle historical inaccuracy, but it’s worrisome that this could be taken without any analysis as a suitable historical interpretation or close enough not to warrant further research.
Reign is not a way to get your History Channel fix of the history of 16th century Britain, just as the new Dracula with Jonathan Rhys Meyers is not a wholly suitable representation of England in the 1800s. There is no problem with people watching historical dramas such as these as long as they are also seeking out and learning about history elsewhere. For a good examination of the personality and previous misconceptions of the personality of Mary, Queen of Scots, I recommend Antonia Fraser’s biography or Jenny Wormald’s section on Mary within her larger work. In the case of watching historical television shows, ignorance is not bliss.