Mary, Queen of Scots, has inspired artistic and cultural works for more than four centuries. The following lists cover various media, enduring works of high art, and recent representations in popular culture. The entries represent portrayals that a reader has a reasonable chance of encountering rather than a complete catalogue.
Films
The 1936, 1971 and 2018 film dramatizes a fictional meetings between Queens Mary and Elizabeth take place. The Execution of Mary Stuart (1895), produced by Thomas Edison, the first appearance of Mary on film, depicts her beheading. It is one of the first films to utilize an intentional jump cut to create the illusion of a single shot beheading. The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots (1923), stars Fay Compton. Mary of Scotland (1936) was directed by John Ford, written by Dudley Nichols (based on the stage play Mary of Scotland by Maxwell Anderson, which was a Broadway success in 1933). and stars Katharine Hepburn as Mary, Florence Eldridge as Elizabeth I, and Fredric March as Bothwell. Das Herz der Königin (The Heart of a Queen, 1940) features Zarah Leander, the Swedish-German actress from the Nazi period as Mary. This UFA production, directed by Carl Froelich, makes use of the historical story for anti-British propaganda in the context of the then ongoing World War II. Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), starring Vanessa Redgrave as Mary, Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth, Patrick McGoohan as Moray, Trevor Howard as Cecil, Ian Holm as Rizzio, Timothy Dalton as Darnley, and Nigel Davenport as Bothwell. was written by John Hale, who also wrote a novelization of the film's screenplay. Two events were included that never historically took place: a private outdoor meeting between Elizabeth and Mary when Mary arrives in England and Elizabeth's visiting Mary in prison the night before Mary's execution. The Mirror Crack'd (1980), a Miss Marple mystery, is metafiction (a film within a film centred around the making of a motion picture) about Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots; Elizabeth Taylor portrays the actress playing Mary. Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) features Samantha Morton as Mary Mary Queen of Scots (2013), based on Stefan Zweig's 1935 biography, was directed by Thomas Imbach and stars the bilingual French actress Camille Rutherford. Mary Queen of Scots (2018) stars Saoirse Ronan as the titular character and Margot Robbie as Elizabeth.Lucy R. Hinnie, "Queering the Castalian: James VI and I and Narratives of Blood", Allan Kennedy and Susanne Weston, Life at the Margins in Early Modern Scotland (Boydell, 2024), p. 207.
Literature Fiction and drama This list is in chronological order. La Princesse de Clèves (1678), a novel by Madame de La Fayette, features an artistic treatment of Mary, as a young dauphine. Friedrich Schiller's novel Wallenstein and Mary Stuart and play Maria Stuart (1800) feature fictional meetings between Queens Mary and Elizabeth, added for dramatic effect. The Abbot (1820) by Sir Walter Scott (1820) covers the period of Mary's confinement in Loch Leven castle. Mary Stuart (1839-1840) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. Magdalen Hepburn (1854), by Margaret Oliphant, is set during the Scottish Reformation, and features both Mary and John Knox as characters. Mary Hamilton (1902) by Lord Ernest Hamilton, a novel about a lady-in-waiting to Mary, is based on the traditional ballad, Mary Hamilton.Colin Younger, Border Crossings: Narration, Nation and Imagination in Scots and Irish Literature and Culture. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018. (pgs. 119-120). The Queen's Quair (1904) is a novel about Mary by Maurice Hewlett.Joseph Wiesenfarth, History and Representation in Ford Madox Ford's Writings Amsterdam Rodopi, 2004 (p. 112). A Traveller in Time (1939), by Alison Uttley, is a children's book about a young girl who finds herself in the time of and in the company of Anthony Babington, who is attempting to free Mary and overthrow Elizabeth. The Gay Galliard: A Novel of Mary Queen of Scots (1941) is a novel by Margaret Irwin (1941). Child Royal (1951) by D. K. Broster is a novel about Mary's childhood. The Royal Road to Fotheringay (1955) and The Captive Queen of Scots (1963) is a two-part saga by Jean Plaidy, aka Eleanor Hibbert, featuring Mary as its subject. Mary figures importantly in The Lymond Chronicles (1961-1975) by Dorothy Dunnett. Immortal Queen (1972) by Elizabeth Byrd Flawed Enchantress (1973) (in another edition, So Fair and Foul a Queen (1974)) is a novel by Maureen Peters. In The Princeling (1981), volume 3 of The Morland Dynasty historical novels series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, the fictional Lettice Morland becomes embroiled in the dramatic events taking place at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary, Queen of Scots (1987) is a young adult novel by Sally Stepanek. Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles (1992) is a novel by Margaret George. Shadow Queen (1992) is a supernatural novel by Tony Gibbs, featuring Mary. Court of Shadows (1992), by Cynthia Morgan, is a suspense novel. The Marchman (1997), Warden of the Queen's March (1989) and The Queen's Grace (1953) are historical novels by Nigel Tranter. Fatal Majesty (2000), by Reay Tannahill (2000), is a novel featuring Mary's story. Queen's Own Fool: A Novel of Mary Queen of Scots (2001) by Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris is a children's novel about Mary, Queen of Scots and her jester Nichola. Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country, France, 1553 (2002), from the Royal Diaries by Kathryn Lasky, is a children's novel about Mary, Queen of Scots. The Lady of Fire and Tears (2005) by Terry Deary, is a children's novel about Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary is the subject of a short story in The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories (2006), Susanna Clarke's collection of fantasy tales. The Other Queen (2008) is a novel by Philippa Gregory, featuring Mary as its subject. Full Story Inside (2008) is a modern thriller by Steve Horsfall. The mystery centres on Information about Mary. The Memoirs of Mary, Queen of Scots (2009) is a novel by Carolly Erickson The Wild Queen (2012), by Carolyn Meyer, Mary is a young adult historical novel featuring Mary, Queen of Scots as the main character. In The Queen’s Consort (2018) by Steven Veerapen, Mary's second husband, Lord Darnley, is the protagonist.
Historical biography and analysis This list is in chronological order. Maria Stuart (1936) by Stefan Zweig, Mary Queen of Scots (1969) by Antonia Fraser, Mary Queen of Scots: A Study in Failure (London, 1988) by Jenny Wormald, Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Murder of Lord Darnley (New York, 2003) by Alison Weir, The Kings & Queens of Scotland (Stroud, 2004) by Richard Oram, "Mary Queen of Scots and the French Connection", History Today, 54, 7 (July 2004), pp. 37–43, by Alexander Wilkinson Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart (New York, 2004) by John Guy, "Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Babington conspiracy", by David Alan Johnson, Military Heritage, August 2005, no. 1, Volume 7, ISSN 1524-8666 Mary Queen of Scots and French Public Opinion, 1542–1600 (Palgrave, 2005) by Alexander Wilkinson, (hdbk) Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens (Vintage, 2005) by Jane Dunn, . Mary Queen of Scots (2006) by Retha Warnicke, Queen of Scots: Truth or Lies (2011) by Rosalind K. Marshall, Embroidering Her Truth: Mary, Queen of Scots and the Language of Power (Sceptre, 2022) by Clare Hunter, The Afterlife of Mary, Queen of Scots (Edinburgh University Press, 2024) edited by Steven J. Reid, Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary Queen of Scots (Michael O'Mara, 2024) by Jade Scott,
Photography and art books Singer Tori Amos portrayed Mary Queen of Scots for a photo shoot in late makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin's book Face Forward ().
Poetry In Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky's 20 sonnets to Mary Stuart (in Russian) the poet addresses her as an interlocutor. The Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote a poem Lament of Mary Queen of Scots, on the Approach of Spring upon Mary's feelings while in her captivity in England, towards her cousin Elizabeth I of England and foreboding of her approaching death. The Spanish poet Lope de Vega wrote an epic poem upon Mary Stuart's life and death: Corona trágica (Tragic crown), published in 1628. Shortly after Mary Stuart's execution in 1587, the English Jesuit poet Robert Southwell composed an emblem poem portraying Mary as a Catholic martyr. The poem was never published in the early modern period; even owning a manuscript version of the poem was "inevitable flirtation with treason" in Elizabethan England.St. Robert Southwell: Collected Poems. Ed. Peter Davidson and Anne Sweeney. Carcanet Press: Manchester U.K., 2007 The 1596 edition of Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene includes an allegorical representation of the trial of Mary Stuart (Book 5, Canto ix, stanzas 36–50). Mary Stuart is represented by Duessa and Elizabeth is figured by Mercilla. The allegory dwells on Elizabeth's reluctance to condemn Mary. Elizabeth's delay of three months before agreeing to have Mary executed is represented by a gap of three stanzas at the end of Canto ix.The Faerie Queene. Ed. A.C. Hamilton. Harlow, UK: Longman, 2001, p. 577 n. Mercilla's judgment and Duessa's execution do not actually occur until the beginning of the next Canto (x.1–4).
Music John Barry, composer of the soundtrack to the 1971 film, wrote two songs, "Wish Now Was Then" and "This Way Mary" with lyricist Don Black based on themes from the film. They were performed by Matt Monro, with the latter song covered by Scott Walker and Johnny Mathis amongst others. The American progressive metal band Dream Theater uses a variation of the mark of Mary, Queen of Scots, as their trademark "Majesty" symbol. The song "Fotheringay" by Fairport Convention (with lyrics by Sandy Denny) featured on the 1969 album What We Did on Our Holidays and is an interpretation of the story of Mary's last days in the prison of Fotheringhay Castle. After leaving Fairport Convention, Denny formed a folk rock band named Fotheringay, which released an eponymous debut album Fotheringay in 1970, the cover of which depicted an illustration of the band, including Sandy Denny dressed in Elizabethan costume. The song "The Ballad of Mary (Queen of Scots)" by Grave Digger is about her time in prison. The song "My Blood Will Live Forever" by Grave Digger is about her time before the execution. Data Regina (2017), a multimedia suite by composer Olivia Louvel, featuring violinist Fiona Brice and mastered by Antye Greie, digs deep into the psychic warfare between two 16th-century British queens. Drawn to the life and writings of Mary Queen of Scots, a poet and essayist herself and one of the most read woman of her time, Data Regina is a body of work which gathers electronic songs, "The Antechamber", along with a series of instrumentals, "The Battles", a sonic landscape inspired by the 16th century battles on the Anglo-Scottish border. The song "To France" by Mike Oldfield, featured in the 1984 album Discovery, it's based on the story of Mary, not only as a reference in its chorus, but can be perceived in the whole romantized feeling of longing for her old homes, the angst of being imprisoned, the realization of not leaving her prison with life, as the lyrics of the song tolds us. The song "Sad Song" by Lou Reed, featured in the 1973 album Berlin, references Mary in its initial verses. The song was also recorded as a demo by Reed's band The Velvet Underground with different lyrics (this version appears on the box set Peel Slowly and See and the "Fully Loaded Edition" of Loaded, but the Velvets' version still references Mary. Robert Schumann composed a song cycle "Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart" (Op. 135) based on five poems from the collection "Rose und Distel" by Gisbert Vincke (1852). This cycle was among the final works that Schumann composed before he went insane.