#mary sidney

[shakespearenews]

Some of the Best Bards Were Women

In “Shakespeare’s Sisters,” the Renaissance scholar Ramie Targoff presents an astounding group of Elizabethan women of letters.

Woolf concluded that any glimmer of female creativity in Shakespeare’s time would have been expunged by a pinched life as a breeding machine of children who so often died, disallowed opinions of her own. Had any woman survived these conditions, wrote Woolf, “whatever she had written would have been twisted and deformed, issued from a strained and morbid imagination.”

Wrong, says the Renaissance scholar Ramie Targoff in “Shakespeare’s Sisters,” her fascinating excavation of four intellectual powerhouse women of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Woolf had just not dug deep enough to find Mary Sidney’s sublime translations, Aemilia Lanyer’s groundbreaking poems or Elizabeth Cary’s subversive dramas. She dismissed the fourth, the great diarist Anne Clifford, as “trivial,” says Targoff — a view not shared by Anne’s distant relative Vita Sackville-West when she discovered and lovingly edited the diaries in 1923.

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When he left for two years to fight in Protestant wars in the Netherlands, his mother hired someone to write letters to him in Elizabeth’s name in case her husband found her obvious intelligence repellent.

[lifeisstrangebitch]

Characters I have a crush on in ADOW

Diana Bishop/De Clermont

Matthew De Clermont/Clairmont

Sarah Bishop

Miriam Shephard & Marcus Whitmore

Phoebe Taylor

Satu Järvinen

Ysabeau De Clermont & Marthe

Mary Sidney

Gallowglass

[romelzacarnes]

[rambosaysso]

I love this passage from Shadow of Night.

Diana being the observant, intelligent, alchemy expert and historian that she is

While Matthew is overly literal, oblivious and pleasantly stupid until prompted.

[catherinesvalois]

Amanda Hale as Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke in A Discovery of Witches Season 2. 

[ohnotoomanyfandoms]

Hey! Fellow ADOW fan here. I saw your post about season 2, and I was wondering what your opinion of the characters that are introduced in season 2 (particularly Philippe, Gallowglass, and Father Hubbard) is in terms of casting, adaptation from the book, etc?

Hi, thank you for the question! So many characters to discuss, let’s see... 

I absolutely adored the casting for Mary Sidney, and I think her character and vibe were perfect. Same for the Queen, it’s nice to see an older Elizabeth not being played by a conventionally beautiful 30-year-old for a change. She was perfect, as you guys could glimpse from the trailers. 

I do have to say that (privately) I wasn’t sure about the casting of Paul Rhys for Andrew Hubbard, mostly because of his age and demeanor in the books, but I was wrong because he is UNRECOGNIZABLE in the show and plays his part very well. 

I had similar feelings for Philippe, I thought someone else could have been a better fit, but James Purefoy has done a spectacular job becoming Philippe and I have nothing but praise for him. He definitely captured the larger-than-life charisma of Philippe. You’ll see. 

Goody Alsop is perfect. There is a little surprise with Susanna Norman - which isn’t a secret because author Deb Harkness herself has tweeted it a few times - she is played by the amazing Aisling Loftus, who is also reprising her role as Sophie. Yes, she’s playing two characters this season and it’s absolutely genius, because this way you can truly see the family resemblance. 

I think the choice for Louisa de Clermont is very fitting, as were Walter Raleigh, Henry Percy, and William Cecil. 

For Phoebe, I wanted to have no expectations and let Adelle surprise me, and she certainly did. I loved what she did with the character, especially because we see so little of her in Shadow of Night and even The Book of Life. She kind of keeps a marginal role until we truly get to know her in Time’s Convert, and I was so happy to see more of her in the show. Phoebe fans will adore episode 4. 

Pierre and Françoise were great. So were Rudolph II and Edward Kelley. 

And now, to my all-time favorites, Gallowglass and Kit. Absolute scene-stealers. A+++++++++ for casting and for acting. Tom Hughes does an incredible job in showing Kit’s duplicitous nature, his feelings for Matthew, and glimpses of his daemon madness. 

Steven Cree is brilliant as Gallowglass. He is Gallowglass, exactly how I’d pictured him in the books. From his very first scene, you can tell his chemistry with Matthew is so genuine and really shows Gallowglass’s loyalty and love for his uncle. 

Wow, I do hope I’m not forgetting anyone. If I am, know that it wasn’t intentional so don’t read anything into it. You’re welcome to send in more questions if you want, and I’ll answer what I can. 

My (non-spoilery) review of season 2 is almost finished, I’ll publish that soon, so stay tuned! 

I’m also dabbling with the idea of publishing another article after everyone has had the chance to watch the new season where I go all in and unpack everything. Definitely write me any questions/requests as you’re watching and I’ll be sure to analyze those scenes in the spoilery review!

[meddlewithmycase]

Mary Sidney (née Dudley) (c. 1530–1535 – 9 August 1586) was a lady-in-waiting at the court of Elizabeth I, and the mother of Sir Philip Sidney and Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke. A daughter of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, she was marginally implicated in her father's attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the English throne and affected by his attainder.

I've seen this portrait being identified as Queen Mary I of England but rather this is Lady Sidney, daughter of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland.

The more you know.

[venicepearl]

Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (27 October 1561 – 25 September 1621) was among the first Englishwomen to gain major repute for her poetry and literary patronage. By the age of 39, she was listed along with her brother Philip Sidney and with Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare among the notable authors of the day in John Bodenham's verse miscellany Belvidere. Her play Antonius is widely recognized as reviving interest in soliloquy based on classical models and as one likely source of Samuel Daniel's closet drama Cleopatra (1594) and of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (1607). She was also known for translating Petrarch's "Triumph of Death," for the poetry anthology Triumphs, and above all for a lyrical translation of the Psalms.