TUDOR AND STUART WOMEN
[To the Editor of- the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—With reference to Mr. St. Loe Strachey's delightful article in the Spectator of January I7th on Mrs. Wilson's Society Women of Shakespeare's Time, he speaks of the rapid decline of womanhood after the Shakespearean epoch— between .1620 and 1720, and adds : " I confess I cannot solve the problem."
" The high standing, social and literary, of the Elizabethan -women" was due to the Renaissance, of which the Reforma- tion was one phase. Not only in England, but in France (Margaret, the sister of Francis I.) and Italy, the women were emancipated equally with the men. Henry VIII. was highly educated, so were his Protestant children. Renaissance was in the air. James I. was under its influence. Then came the calamity to England which had wiped out the Royal dynasty of France—a de' Medici on the throne—Catherine de' Medici (wife of Henri II.) in France ; Henrietta Maria, daughter of Marie de' Medici (second wife of Henri IV. of France) on the throne of England as wife of Charles I. It seems that the first years of their married life were stormy, until she had mastered him—henceforth he was her puppet ; her sons were Charles II. and James H. ; her granddaughters, Mary and Anne. As the Tudors stood for strength, enterprise, enlightenment, so do the Stuarts, influenced by this woman, stand for duplicity, intrigue, and, above all, reaction. And not only the women of this period " haunt the places where their honour died " ; the men were an excellent match— Charles II., Rochester, etc.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
