Lady Jane
Director Trevor Nunn's film sheds
light on an interesting (and tragic) footnote in the history
of the English crown. Lady Jane Grey, a mousey, young bookworm
with no interest in courtly affairs, discovers to her horror
that her parents have arranged to marry her to Guilford Dudley
(son of the Duke of Northumberland). Initially resentful and
at odds, Jane and Guilford soon warm to each other, but their
bliss is short-lived when it is revealed that Edward VI has died
and has named the 16-year-old Jane as his successor to the throne.
Expected to comply as the pawn of Guilford's father, Jane's youthful
idealism gets the better of her, and she attempts to alter radically
class inequity to revive the nation's economy. With the defeat
of Northumberland, however, Jane is scapegoated as an insurgent
and imprisoned by the newly-crowned Queen Mary in the tower.
Helena Bonham-Carter gives one of her earliestand bestperformances
as Lady Jane, imbuing the character with sensitivity and vigour.
Cary Elwes is equally effective as the young and idealistic Guilford.
The supporting cast are also top-notch, especially Sir Michael
Hordern and John Wood. Patrick Stewart turns in an especially
memorable performance as Henry Grey, the Duke of Suffolk, Jane's
stern and punitive father.
Heart-wrenching and tragic, Lady Jane is a remarkable story of
a young woman who attempted to bring light into a world of carnage
and megalomania, and, in her small way, succeeded.
Paul Andrew MacLean
Shelton CT 06484 USA
(800) 232-2224 voice
(800) 775-2729 fax
LadyJanet@RenaissanceMagazine.com