Mary Stuart

Full of intrigue and political twists and turns, Mary Stuart is an excellent biographical portrait of one of Scotland's most iconic queens.

Certain historical tragedies, due to the enormous repercussions they provoke over time, become almost unfathomable mysteries. This is certainly the case with the torment of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, convicted of treason and executed at the age of 44. Held captive for twenty years by her cousin, Elizabeth I, Queen of England, Mary Stuart spent her life embroiled in power struggles that shook the foundations of the European Renaissance.

Hundreds of books, novels, essays, and plays have been written about Mary Stuart, presenting her as a murderer, a martyr, a scheming politician, and a true saint. With the rigor of a scientist and the sensitivity of an artist, Stefan Zweig seeks to focus more closely on the figure of Mary Stuart as a woman, richly contradictory in the decisive moments of her life and in the dark hour of her death.

Zweig, who sought to illuminate the legend of this queen, draws a psychological profile of the protagonist, transforming her biography into a kind of thriller, presenting Maria as a strong and determined woman for her time, who creates her own destiny, but ends up having a sad end.

Mary Stuart is not just another attempt to seek historical truth. Zweig was aware of how variable this truth is, knowing the times and conveniences. It is a captivating book about a passionate character. Stefan Zweig was always more concerned with the "I feel, therefore I am" than with the "I think, therefore I am."

As he says, ""in the history of an existence, only the intense, decisive moments of life matter; that is why it is only narrated accurately when seen in and from them. Only when a human being puts all his strength into play is he truly alive for himself and for others; only when the soul burns within him does his personality emerge.""