HER STORY, "HERSTORY" & HEIRS: a look at the novel, The White Princess
Was she a wild Irish rose? A yellow rose of Texas? Nay, I say to thee good readers. She was a white rose of York!
I really enjoy Philippa Gregory's series, although I've read it out of published and historical order. Each book presents a realistic historic "landscape" filled with entertaining characters and dramatic events. I appreciate that the author is a historian who does substantial research to be as accurate as possible: it definitely impacts and benefits her historical fiction novels. Through this, you see more possible and realistic truths as opposed to what's been believed today (primarily through the Tudor's propaganda spinning and history rewriting).
However, I found The White Princess less compelling than some of the other books -- The White Queen, The Constant Princess, The Red Queen--primarily due to the flow and focus of characters and events. I found a few characters so annoying, that I got frustrated. However, if they were fairly and accurately presented by Gregory, then she did her job well!
The book is strongly pro-York and anti-Tudor (which after reading this and other books in the series, you might agree!). On a personal note, I am descended from Edward I and other Plantagenets on my paternal grandmother's side. English medieval history is practically a hobby of mine, and I often wonder what my ancestors were really like in such dog-eat-dog times. While I have Earls of Lancaster ("Red Rose Gang") in my medieval family tree, I continually felt more compassion and support for the Yorks ("White Rose Gang"). They were clearly more "royal" than the Tudors, and knew how to win the love and loyalty of the people and nobility.
The food for thought I've been trying to digest is this: how would the future have progressed if one of the York heirs had survived and ruled? Yet I see it as a mixed blessing because the blood of Elizabeth of York passed through to Henry VIII and the magnificent Elizabeth I: like her great grandmother Margaret Beaufort, she was very strong and imposing; like her grandfather Henry Tudor, she was a spymaster and propagandist; but like her York ancestors, she was beloved, understood her role and image as Queen. Without Elizabeth of York, Queen Elizabeth Tudor would not have been the Gloriana she was. Like Lady Gaga, Queen Elizabeth Tudor "lived for the applause."
 |
| The Tudor Rose: a combination of the Lancastrian red rose and the York white rose. Henry Tudor's propagandist creation to claim that gang warfare had ended: both Lancastrians and Yorkists should go on a Royal Court team building retreat (hot stone massages after doing trust exercises). |
Now back to our story: the focus is the White Princess (Elizabeth of York) and other women who are forcefully drawn into the world of a usurper, Henry Tudor, and his domineering, controlling mother, Margaret Beaufort (member of the Lancastrian "Red Rose gang"). The men: Jasper Tudor, Henry Tudor, Teddy the York heir, and "the boy," play a role in the sense that they either create a new (or hope for a new) kingdom / or must decide to succumb or revolt against it. The York heirs are memorable and to be pitied for their end, but it's the women in the book who pull the strings throughout the novel: Elizabeth of York (Henry Tudor's queen), her mother(former Queen Elizabeth Woodville married to King Edward IV), her aunt and grandmother at the Burgundian court, and Margaret Beaufort. These strong women must find a way to manipulate people and wield their influence and power in order to get what they want and protect those they love. In the case of Elizabeth of York, she is subtle and careful in order to protect herself and her family, while Margaret Beaufort comes off as a mafia capo.
They all live in a world of instability where things change on a dime and allegiances shift like the wind. They play the game, fight for their families, scheme and sacrifice. A family member could easily plot indirectly against a loved relation. Fealty and fidelity were fluid and muddy. For what they saw as the greater good or for selfish reasons, they would put others in danger or have them sacrificed.
There was also very little privacy, even in a time without the presence of security cameras and bugs. True, heartfelt conversation was rare in the royal court: covert letters and messages are intercepted; priests betray private confessionals; a web of spies is woven by the Tudors and an intelligentsia is created. Nobles, monarchs and others are paranoid, scheming, watchful of rebellion.
What I appreciate most about this book is how you look at the time period and understand how few choices people like Elizabeth of York had--how she had to learn to be in control of her exterior while she endured the worst for her family. She had very little power with Henry or his mother, but she kept the York bloodline alive through her descendants, and she knew how to play the role of Queen. I clearly saw Elizabeth as a regal, sophisticated foil to Henry's inexperience, unpopularity and paranoia.
 |
| Elizabeth of York's signature |
If you want more information about the beginning Tudor era, watch The Winter King documentary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhGGg1Ikzzw
Comments
Post a Comment