The Image of 'Bloody' Mary

Mary Tudor, the first Queen of England has never had a good reputation throughout history and this idea has translated onto film. All in all there have only been three films made centering on Mary and her story. These films are Marie Tudor (Capellani, 1917), Marie Tudor (Gance, 1966) and The Twisted Tale of Bloody Mary (Barnard, 2008).

However, the majority of the time when Mary is in films or TV shows about the Tudors, she is usually a minor character or features only as a cameo. In films such as Anne of the Thousand Days (Jarrott, 1969) or The Other Boleyn Girl (Chadwick, 2008) she is reduced to a cameo appearance. On television she has appeared in Henry VIII (Granada, 2003) and The Six Wives of Henry VIII (BBC, 1970); both times she has only a minor role and her relationship with Henry is never really explored.

When in films about Elizabeth I she has always been the antagonist to Elizabeth’s protagonist. In the mini-series’ Elizabeth R (BBC, 1971) and The Virgin Queen (BBC, 2006) Mary is seen as unjust in her treatment of Elizabeth, hardly showing any redeeming qualities whatsoever. The same happens in Elizabeth (Kapur, 1998) where again she is seen to be treating Elizabeth cruelly. This is a recurring theme throughout films regarding Elizabeth’s early days and often Mary comes across as if she’s on the brink of insanity and isn't fit to rule a Kingdom. But it is easy to gather this image from Mary's treatment of Elizabeth; Mary did have her sister committed to the tower of London for fear of rebellion.

As well as Elizabeth, she is often seen as an antagonist towards other historical figures in film. After Elizabeth there is Lady Jane Grey, who ruled England for nine days when her family and others came together in a bid to prevent Mary from claiming her crown. As a cousin to the Tudors she had a good claim to the throne through her grandmother, Mary Tudor but she wasn’t the next in line until Edward VI changed Henry VIII’s will. These depictions include Tudor Rose aka The Nine Days Queen (Stevenson, 1936) and Lady Jane (Nunn, 1986). In both cases Mary is the villain to Jane’s protagonist, who is portrayed as an innocent young girl who is unjustly treated by Mary. In the case of being unjustly treated, perhaps that can be debated as she was eventually executed in the tower of London; yet according to one of Mary's biographies, England's First Queen by Linda Porter, Mary only resorted to execution as a last resort after Jane's father rose up an unsuccessful rebellion in his daughter's name while she was still prisoner. Although this was unsuccessful the next one may not be as far as Mary was concerned; so Jane had to go. Before this Mary was inclined to save her cousin if she could, as it was over a year before Jane was finally executed. Mary appears to not have wanted Jane dead, likely knowing Jane didn't have a say in any plans made by Edward VI's advisers and her family; but her father's actions tragically sealed the girl's fate, not Mary's.

In Mark Twain’s classic The Prince and the Pauper (1881) she is again depicted as cold and heartless. This story is about Edward VI, Mary’s younger brother who swaps places with a pauper; hence the title. At one point Tom Candy (the pauper replacing Edward) tells “the grimly holy Lady Mary” that she is banished to her closet and “beseech God to take away that stone that was in her breast and give her a human heart”. This has also been developed into a Disney film.

In truth, Mary and Edward had been close before Edward became King, with people believing that Edward looked up to his sister as a mother figure. Both siblings had similar stubborn traits; once Edward confronted Mary on her disobedience, and they both ended up in tears. They had cared deeply for the other, and if it hadn't been for their religious differences then they may well have remained close.

The most recent depiction of Mary in The Tudors (2007) is perhaps by far the most sympathetic portrayal on screen to date. In the Showtime TV series she is portrayed from a young child adored by her father through her parents’ divorce, her own bastard status and her life up to the point of Henry’s last days.Mary's own suffering is shown in better detail here than in previous projects, showing a child forced to accept herself as a bastard or face execution. Although the most sympathetic it still alludes to the idea of her future reign and her desire to purge England of heresy with the burnings of heretics.

All in all, there are very few portrayals of Mary Tudor as a human being, someone who was a victim at some point in her life. Any films about Henry VIII show Mary in a cameo role; films on Elizabeth or any other figure tend to show her as an antagonist with very little redeeming characteristics.

As well as an unpopular reputation on film, to date there has only been three documentaries where Mary is the topic of discussion. One is entitled The Most Evil Women in History (n.d.), discussing Mary and her reign in a negative way. The second is Edward & Mary: The Unknown Tudors (2002) by David Starkey who discusses her life, only briefly looking at her childhood, concentrating on why she hated Elizabeth before going on to discuss her reign, painting Mary as a weak monarch. The opening credits of the documentary give you Starkey’s point of view of Edward and Mary with a strong pose from the actor portraying Edward, and the actress portraying Mary looking into the camera with an almost deranged look on her face. His discussion of Edward conveys the idea that he was on his way to becoming a great King, whereas Mary’s reign isn't really addressed, but her growing cruelty is highlighted as well as her phantom pregnancies and her unsuccessful marriage to Philip II. It didn't include the fact that the majority of the country was still catholic or the policies that she was working on to reintroduce coinage - which Elizabeth took all credit for; or the fact that she introduced foreign trade with Russia, which was successful. Both documentaries concentrate on the burning of Protestants, bringing no new information or viewpoints to light.

Mary’s reign is remembered as a dark age before Elizabeth became Queen, but few take into account the opposition that Mary faced throughout her life or how she helped influence her sister in how to rule the country. Elizabeth is remembered as the Virgin Queen, married solely to England; but she was not the first to use this line of speech. Throughout her reign Mary gave several powerful speeches; during the Kentish rebellion in 1554 she spoke directly to the troops declaring:

“I was then wedded to the realm, and to the laws of the same, the spousal ring whereof I wear here on my finger, and it never has and never shall be left off.” (Whitelock, 2009; 215)

Here she declared that she would put the interest of her subjects first, comparing her love for her subjects to the love that a mother has for her child. Mary was a great spokeswoman, and successful in gaining her throne and was kind to her subjects, even disguising herself as one of her ladies in waiting and giving alms to the poor, talking to them about everyday things; but she is still remembered for the burnings of the Protestants.

Some historians argue that Mary was disillusioned in her use of burning, and some debate that Europe was on the verge of discarding this form of punishment altogether. Eamon Duffy points out that this isn't the case at all and that this argument “has a whiff of historical wiggery about it” (Duffy, 2009; 82). One example he includes in his findings is the number of Protestants burned in the Spanish Netherlands during the 1560s being around 270; summarising that Mary’s council were not the only government who used this form of punishment to restore order. Mary’s negative image seems to be due to the propaganda that emerged during Elizabeth’s reign, which highlighted the cruelty towards the Protestants under Mary’s rule, giving her the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’.

Due to the propaganda that established Mary’s image throughout history, it overlooks the fact that burnings still took place during Elizabeth’s reign and even before that, during her brother Edward's reign, although it had been outlawed. In an article Witches in the Dock (BBC History Magazine, 2012), Henry VIII’s witchcraft act, repealed in 1547, was resurrected in 1563 as an ‘Act Against Conjurations, Enchantments and Witchcraft’ (AACEW) which led to many burnings throughout Elizabeth’s reign; yet these burnings are barely remembered compared with those of the Protestants.

All in all, Mary’s reign is not fondly remembered, she may well be seen as the medieval equivalent of Margaret Thatcher; never to be remembered as fondly as her sister. As a result Mary’s image translates on screen as that of an angry and sometimes deranged tyrant who’s death is only remembered for being on the same day as Elizabeth’s accession to the throne.