My reason to compare these sources is to see how the same events differ when written in essay and narrative format. My first source is a biography titled Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne by David Starkey. My second source is a historical novel titled Elizabeth, Captive Princess by Margaret Irwin. The events I have chosen to focus on are Queen Jane Grey’s short reign, Mary deciding to marry Philip II of Spain, and the time Elizabeth spent in the Tower of London.
Elizabeth was Henry VIII’s second child of three. Elizabeth’s older sister Mary I was a devout Catholic, Elizabeth’s younger brother Edward VI was Protestant, as was Elizabeth. When Henry VIII died, he established Edward as his heir, Mary as second in line for the throne should Edward die without children and Elizabeth as third in line for the throne, should both her siblings pass away without continuing the Tudor line. When Edward was fifteen he caught tuberculosis which at the time was incurable. He had continued his father’s changes in the Church, replacing all Catholic symbols with Protestant ones. Fearing that if Mary were to come to the throne she would revert back to Catholicism, Edward altered the order of succession to make his cousin Lady Jane Grey the next queen. She was related to Edward through Henry’s youngest sister, Margret. When she came to the throne, squadrons of soldiers went out to capture Mary. Mary, however, escaped and rallied the people to her side. By the time Mary reached London, Jane had been queen for nine days. Mary entered the city and won a cope that placed her on the throne. When Mary was still rallying people to her side is where I begin my comparison.
In both sources, several facts are the same despite the differences in style. In Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne and Elizabeth, Captive Princess, we get an account of actions surrounding Queen Jane and Princess Mary. From Queen Jane’s perspective, we discover that it was her father, the Duke of Suffolk, that was originally sent to capture Mary after she had escaped. We also discover that Jane tearfully demanded her father to stay be her side. Instead she sent her chancellor, Northumberland, to seize Mary. Both sources also give this change of leader as what allowed Mary to win her cope. Without Northumberland’s controlling personality in Jane’s counsel it disintegrated which led to Mary being able to enter the city and officially proclaim herself Queen. From Mary’s perspective, we discover that her revolt was backed by not only nobles but also the common man. Mary declared that since she was Tudor and Jane was not Mary should be Queen. The majority of people agreed with Mary and deserted to her side. This is another reason that Jane was dethroned.
The way the facts above were presented is however very different. In Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne, a biography, we get an omniscient view of the events surrounding Mary and Jane. There are minimal emotions described; only those that are well reported in historical texts have been mentioned. Because a biography is in essay format, David Starkey has the ability to give just the facts and not go into emotional detail. In Elizabeth, Captive Princess, a historical novel, there are distinct breaks between Mary’s viewpoint and Jane’s. The novel is arguably almost pure emotion with historical events woven into it. Several facts are presented in the novel that are missing in the biography, such as the tops of oak trees in Jane’s fief being cut off when she was beheaded. Since Elizabeth, Captive Princess is a novel that needs emotion to sell, Margaret Irwin had to rank emotion over historical accuracy in her work.
Mary’s marriage to Philip II of Spain is a second event both sources choose to include in their accounts of the time between 1553 and 1558. Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne and Elizabeth, Captive Princess both discuss how Mary was very keen to marry, and both sources give her Catholic upbringing as the cause. Mary was determined not to usurp a man’s place in the world, and it was because of this she was in a rush to marry. Another factor both sources give for her being in such a hurry to marry is her age. By the time she came to the throne she was thirty-seven. At the time, that age would have been too old to bear children but Mary was naive to that fact. She believed God would bless her with a child for bringing England back to the true Church. It was again her Catholicism that drove her choice. She chose her cousin, Philip of Spain, who was also a zealous Catholic. Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne and Elizabeth, Captive Princess also say that her choice of husband was the cause for the Wyatt Revolt and Elizabeth’s eventual imprisonment in the Tower of London.
However, the differences in both accounts are clear. Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne has an omniscient viewpoint. This allows David Starkey to give an eagle’s eye view of the politics in England at the time. This shows us the broadest range of viewpoints possible which in turn creates an account that is as unbiased as possible. We get to see where the Wyatt revolt started, where it went astray, Elizabeth’s possible hand in the revolt and how good she was at covering her tracks along with Mary’s handling of the revolt and Mary’s dependence on Philip to make the tough choices, like who should live or die. In Elizabeth, Captive Princess we only get select viewpoints. Because of this, the events are shown in a more biased fashion. We only get select viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not just have the political facts. Elizabeth, Captive Princess is a novel with subplots, and those subplots dilute the historical information because the historical information is being delivered through a character’s eyes. This can be seen as a good thing because it makes historical events much more alive. It can also be seen as a bad thing because there is no evidence that the emotions presented in the novel are the ones that were felt at the time of the events. We do not get a clear image of how the revolt was handled because of this.
A third point both sources discuss is the time Elizabeth spend in the Tower of London. Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne and Elizabeth, Captive Princess say that the foremost reason she was imprisoned was her involvement in the Wyatt revolt. Whether Elizabeth’s involvement in the Wyatt revolt was true or not, the fact that she was the rival claimant to the English throne made her a threat to Mary’s power. Both sources also give an indirect reason for Elizabeth’s imprisonment under Mary: Elizabeth was Protestant in a Protestant country. This made Elizabeth more popular then her Catholic sister Mary. Not wanting another revolt to happen in Elizabeth’s name, Mary issued orders for Elizabeth to be imprisoned. Both Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne and Elizabeth, Captive Princess give the same account of what happened when Elizabeth was about to be taken away. When Mary’s soldiers came for Elizabeth, Elizabeth asked for paper and ink to write her sister a letter. In this letter Elizabeth pleaded with Mary to set her free and not send her to the Tower of London. Both sources also say that she wrote this letter to buy herself time. Elizabeth knew that she would be transported to the Tower of London via water, and if she could delay her departure long enough they would miss the morning tide. She would then have another day to wait for either rescue or for Mary to change her mind. Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne and Elizabeth, Captive Princess also say that despite the letter, no rescue came.
The differences in documentation between Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne and Elizabeth, Captive Princess becomes very noticeable in the events after Elizabeth sent her letter to Mary. In Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne David Starkey uses a biography’s essay format to show the legendary side of Elizabeth’s time in the Tower and the factual events. He tells us how the legend that Elizabeth had refused to step on the landing at Traitor’s Gate at the Tower of London because she insisted she was not a traitor is false. David Starkey tells us that if one looks at the tidal conditions at the time that Elizabeth was brought to the Tower of London one would see that it would have been impossible for Elizabeth to enter through Traitors Gate. David Starkey also tells of a second legend around Elizabeth’s time in the Tower in which she met with her childhood sweetheart Robert Dudly. David Starkey shows us this element was improbable as well because even though both Elizabeth and Robert were imprisoned in the Tower of London at the same time, they were not housed in close enough quarters to meet. In Elizabeth, Captive Princess Margaret Irwin is using novel or narrative format to tell her story. Because of this, she must choose between the facts and the legends surrounding this time in Elizabeth’s life. And since novels are usually for entertainment, she chooses to put the legends instead of the facts. I believe she did this to tell a better story. Elizabeth, Captive Princess also does not go into detail about what happened outside the Tower of London while Elizabeth was imprisoned there where as Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne does tell us outside events.
My reason to compare Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne by David Starkey and Elizabeth, Captive Princess by Margaret Irwin was to see how the same events are presented in a biography format and a novel format. In Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne, a biography, David Starkey has a lot of freedom to give an unbiased view of the political situation surrounding Jane Grey’s short reign, Mary’s marriage to Philip II of Spain and the time Elizabeth spent in the Tower of London for her supposed involvement in the Wyatt revolt. In Elizabeth, Captive Princess, a historical novel, Margaret Irwin must tell a good story while weaving in historical times, places and facts. This causes an incomplete view of the political situation surrounding the events mentioned above. Because of the novel format, she sometimes must sacrifice historical accuracy to tell a good story. After comparing these two sources, I believe that a biography is the better source when looking for a complete view of history.
A/N- Just a quick note here, I have proofread for commas. I'm not allowed to put one where I think a pause is needed. If you find a sentence that you think would need a comma to be understandable, point it out and I'll re-work the sentence. Other then that, just point out any place where you think an example is needed, or, well, just shred this.
So this is how a teacher would view your essay.