avoid angering Mary, Elizabeth “conformed outwardly to Catholicism,” but she secretly hoped and plotted to restore Protestantism. She was briefly locked up in the Tower of London, and was almost executed. The movie begins with the execution of three Protestant activists, ordered by Mary, illustrating her hatred and intolerance for Protestants. In order to avoid angering Mary, “Elizabeth continually had to proclaim her pious distaste for heresy.”(Jagger) In the movie, Mary meets with her advisors, including the Duke of Norfolk, who advises her to arrest Elizabeth for treason, and possibly execute her. They believe that she is part of a conspiracy to kill Mary, ascend the throne, and reinstate Protestantism. The movie shows Elizabeth being captured and taken to the Tower of London, where she is kept for short period of time. During the time when she is imprisoned, Mary’s advisors, namely Norfolk, attempt to persuade her to put Elizabeth to death, but Mary is reluctant to do so. Elizabeth is taken to see Mary, who at this point knows that she is dying of ovarian cancer. Mary begs Elizabeth to promise that when she becomes Queen, she will preserve Catholicism in England. Elizabeth promises only to “do as her heart tells her to do,“ which angers Mary, and she is then put under house arrest at the royal manor of Woodstock in Oxfordshire, where she stays until Mary’s death. In reality, these events followed somewhat of a different course. Elizabeth was suspected of plotting the reinstatement of Protestantism with a French ambassador and other Protestant activists, and Mary’s advisors suggested that Elizabeth be put under surveillance, as it might be then possible to find reasons for sending her to the tower. Investigations proceeded, and Elizabeth was finally sent to the tower, where she was held for two months in a suite of four rooms, where only her servants could visit her. ...
