This is pretty good. The actress playing Elizabeth was on Shameless, right? One thing, did men in the Tudor era commonly have pierced ears?
Yes, pierced ears were fairly common in the Tudor/Elizabethan eras, especially in men, who usually pierced just the one ear. If you look through Tudor Portraits, you’ll see lots of pierced ears on both sexes.
I don’t know how I feel about the movie’s portrayal of Amy Dudley’s death, though. I mean, intimating that she committed suicide in despondency over her husband’s lack of attention is rather extreme, isn’t it? Especially in the way they showed it – Amy sending her nurse off to the fair and then throwing herself from the third floor. Isn’t it more likely that she slipped on the stairs and fell?
Other than that, I’m very happy that Elizabeth and Robert Dudley haven’t fallen into bed together. I kept anticipating it, but it was always ending up a dream or a lady in queen’s clothing. The view of Lettice in Elizabeth’s dress without a shift was a little weird, though. You’re not supposed to see armpit in an Elizabethan gown.
I would call this one more historically accurate than the Cate Blanchett movie, but still very dramatic. Costuming is excellent, too.
Is this a new production?
I saw it in the guide, and simply assumed it had to be a rerun - there have been so many EI shows lately - including IIRC one on MP quite recently.
It is a rerun. I know I saw it before, probably less than a year ago. Didn’t mean to watch more than the beginning this time but I got caught up and watched to the end. Great show.
Amy Dudley’s death has always been a historical mystery. The facts that we know are these: she sent her servants to the fair and when they returned, they found her laying at the base of the stairs, dead of a broken neck. However, her clothing was not in disarray as one would expect of a person who had tumbled headlong down a flight of stairs.
Some historians have speculated that Lady Dudley had advanced breast cancer. (There is mention in the historical records of a “malady” in one of her breasts.) Supposedly, this could lead to a softening of her vertebrae and she suffered a spontaneous fracture when she stepped off the stairs. Other scholars believe that she was murdered and placed at the foot of the stairs to make it look like an accident. Whatever happened to her, it’s clear that *someone *took the time to rearrange her clothing and headdress before she was discovered by everyone.
Faint praise indeed - that is an exceedingly low bar to pass :p. The Cate Blanchett film was, from a historical standpoint, garbage.
- Tamerlane