Mary Stuart

Mary was crowned Queen of Scotland at nine months of age, and Queen of France at 16 years; at 18 she ascended the throne that was her birth right and began ruling one of the most fractious courts in Europe, riven by religious conflict and personal lust for power.

She rode out at the head of an army in both victory and defeat; saw her second husband assassinated, and married his murderer. At twenty-five she entered captivity at the hands of her rival queen, from which only death would release her.

In Schiller’s romantic drama, Mary is under house arrest at Fotheringay Castle in the last days of her life — nominally for the murder of her husband Darnley, but actually due to her claim to the throne of England held by Queen Elizabeth I. While Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, hesitates over signing Mary’s death sentence, Mary hopes for a reprieve