Author Philippa Gregory was born in Nairobi, Kenya on January 9, 1954. At the age of two, she moved to England with her family. She received a B.A. in history at Sussex University in 1982 and a Ph.D. in 18th-century literature from the University of Edinburgh in 1984. She has taught at numerous universities and was made a fellow of Kingston University in 1994. She adapted her novel A Respectable Trade, about the slave trade in England, into a four part series for BBC television. Her script was nominated for a BAFTA and won an award from the Committee for Racial Equality. She won the Feminist Book Fortnight Award in 1990 and the Romantic Novelist of the Year Award in 2002. She is the author of the extremely popular book, The Other Boleyn Girl. The book was made into a major feature film in 2008 starring Natalie Portman. She also writes children's books, is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines, a frequent broadcaster for radio and television, and runs a small charity that builds wells in schoolyards in Gambia. She currently lives in the North of England with her husband and two children.
This reading group guide for The White Queen
includes discussion questions and a Q&A with author
Philippa Gregory. The suggested questions are intended to help your
reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your
discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation
and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Questions For Discussion
1. Discuss Elizabeth''s first few encounters with Edward and her
motives for seeking him out. Do they marry for love? Did you find
it surprising that Edward defied his mentor Warwick and upheld his
secret marriage to Elizabeth? Why or why not?
2. How does Elizabeth and Edward''s clandestine marriage change
England''s political landscape?
3. Anthony tells Elizabeth that she and Edward are creating
enemies by distributing wealth to their "favorites, not the
deserving" (page 204). What are your thoughts on Edward and
Elizabeth as monarchs? How adept is Elizabeth at playing the
political game, both before and after Edward''s death?
4. What is your view of Elizabeth as a daughter, a sister, and a
mother? Her daughter Elizabeth says to her, "You love the crown
more than your children" (page 312). Does Elizabeth, in fact, place
her ambition ahead of her children''s well-being? How does she
regard her daughters versus her sons?
5. Compare the Plantagenets and the House of York with the
Woodvilles. What are the most apparent differences between the two
families? What similarities do they share?
6. Elizabeth makes some questionable moral choices, such as
standing silently by while her husband and his brothers murder
Henry IV and knowingly putting a page boy in harm''s way by sending
him to the Tower in place of her son. Are her actions justifiable
or not? How does she feel about the choices she made?
7. What is the significance of the legend of Melusina? Anthony
dismisses Elizabeth''s belief in Melusina and in her own mystical
abilities as "part fairy tale and part Bible and all nonsense"
(page 239). Is he right, or are she and Jacquetta really able to
perform magic? With the penalty for witchcraft being death, why do
they take the risk? What unintended consequences are there of some
of their actions?
8. In what ways are women especially vulnerable during this
tumultuous time? What power do women have? How do Elizabeth,
Jacquetta, Cecily, and other female characters in the novel use
their intelligence and influence?
9. Elizabeth is aware of and even tolerates the king''s
adultery. Why then does she take exception to his association with
Elizabeth Shore? Why does Edward''s former mistress later come to
the queen''s aid while she is in living in sanctuary?
10. When the younger Elizabeth pleads with her mother to come to
an agreement with Duke Richard, why does she refuse to even
consider the idea? How does the relationship between mother and
daughter change while they are in sanctuary for the second
time?
11. "Despite my own caution, despite my own fears, I start to
hope," muses Elizabeth. "I start to think that if King Richard
marries Elizabeth and makes her his queen I will be welcomed at
court again, I will take up my place as My Lady, the Queen''s
Mother" (page 392). After all the bloodshed, why is she willing to
risk putting her daughter on the throne?
12. The fate of the two princes in the Tower is a mystery
historians have been trying to solve for centuries. What is your
opinion of the way Philippa Gregory presents this aspect of the
story? Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is suspected of being
responsible for their deaths. Why is Elizabeth inclined to believe
him when he says he did not order her sons to be killed?
13. Elizabeth paid a high price for the throne, losing her
father, brothers, and two of her sons. What, if anything, do you
think she would do differently if given the chance? What would you
have done in her situation?
14. When Edward is overthrown and flees to France, Elizabeth
says, "It is as he warned me: he could not spread out the wealth
quickly enough, fairly enough, to enough people" (page 130). What
does The White Queen reveal about human nature?
15. How does The White Queen compare to other works of
historical fiction you have read, including books by Philippa
Gregory? The novel has somewhat of a cliffhanger ending. Are you
interested in reading the next book in the series? Why or why
not?
A Conversation with Philippa Gregory
For readers who love your books set in Tudor England,
what you would like them to know about the Plantagenets and the
House of York?
I suppose I''d like them to know that here is a family just as
fascinating as the Tudors, perhaps more so. Certainly, they are
more complicated, more wicked, and more passionate -- takers of
great risk. I think people have been put off this period because it
has been so well studied by military historians that it has been
regarded as being just about battles. But there is so much more to
it than this! The history of the women of the period has been very
neglected because of this emphasis on battles and thus the male
leaders.
What appealed to you about using Elizabeth Woodville as
the main character in a novel? In what ways do you think modern
women can identify with Elizabeth?
The things I discovered about Elizabeth in the first days of my
reading about this period told me at once that she would fascinate
me, and she has done so. Her background as a descendant of a family
who claim to be related to a goddess was enough to have me
absolutely enchanted straightaway. It is in the historical record
that her mother was widely believed to be a witch, and that charge
was leveled at Elizabeth also. This is exciting enough, but it also
indicates that people were afraid of Elizabeth''s power, and I am
interested in powerful women. I think she will fascinate modern
women in the same way that many historical women strike a chord:
despite so many changes in the world, women are still trying to
find happiness, manage their children, seek advantage, and avoid
the persecution of misogynists. As women of any time, we have a lot
in common. Despite the amazing advances in the rights of women (and
I am so grateful for these myself), the struggle for women''s
freedom, independence, and the right to exercise power goes on.
Throughout the novel there are scenes relating the story
of the goddess Melusina. Is this based on an actual historical
fable, or is it something you created for the novel?
The fable of Melusina is well known, perhaps to everyone, in its
retelling as the story of the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian
Andersen and then in the Disney movie. As I say at the beginning of
the novel, the legend of Melusina goes far back in time, perhaps to
the classical legends, perhaps even earlier. The fable was studied
by Carl Jung; Melusina has been identified as a form of the
material of the world -- the dark, watery element that combines
with the sun in the alchemist''s "chemical wedding." This is a
potent myth, indeed, and I retell the story here in a way that
speaks to my characters and to me.
"These are not chivalrous times; these are not the times
of knights in the dark forest and beautiful ladies in moonlit
fountains and promises of love that will be ballads, sung forever"
(page 22), you write in The White Queen. Is there a tendency to
romanticize history, both for writers and readers? How do you make
sure to realistically portray all aspects of the time period
you''re depicting, even the more difficult ones?
Yes, indeed. These are not chivalrous times. I suspect that no
times have ever been chivalrous times. We glamorize the past, and
we romanticize it; we even look back at our own personal histories
and cast a rosy glow or an enhanced dark shadow over our own
childhoods. I keep my writing grounded in realism by reading a
great deal before I start writing, by looking at the record with a
critical eye, and by being skeptical of grandiose claims. Having
said that, I too find it hard to resist the charm of Edward or
Elizabeth or the marvelous character Jacquetta or any of the other
powerful and interesting people who strove for themselves and for
their families in these dangerous times. These are not chivalrous
or romantic times, but they are times of danger -- and in such
circumstances one sees both the worst and best in people.
What challenges, if any, did you face when writing about
the battle scenes and the military strategy, which was often a
crucial factor in determining who took the throne? Did you visit
any of the places where the battles took place?
I became a researcher in military history, which is not my
natural home! I visited battle sites and I read long and
complicated descriptions of battles and the modern speculations. In
the end I found myself absolutely intrigued and fascinated by how
the battles were lost and won by small events, even sometimes by
luck. The mist at Barnet is a recorded fact, and it was possible
for me to weave it into the story of Elizabeth and her mother as
well as to see it as a determining factor on the battlefield. The
three suns of Towton were both a real phenomenon and a powerful
metaphor for the troops. The history of battles is a central part
to the story of the Cousins'' War, and part of my task in this
novel and the others in the series was to take this history, as I
take any other, and make it come alive in the novel.
The fate of Edward and Richard, the princes in the
Tower, is a subject that has confounded historians for centuries.
Why did you decide to approach this aspect of the story the way you
did? Is there evidence to suggest that Elizabeth sent her son
Richard into hiding and a page boy in his place to the
Tower?
Part of my response to this story was simply emotional: I have a
son of my own, and the thought of Elizabeth losing both her sons
was tremendously painful. So I confess a bias to wanting at least
one to survive. Then there is the historical evidence. A very
interesting book by Ann Wroe, Perkin, suggested to me that the
so-called pretender Perkin Warbeck might well have been the
surviving prince, Richard. Her case for it is very compelling, as
others have suggested too. There is other persuasive evidence that
both boys were not killed as the traditional history (and
Shakespeare) suggests. Even the traditional history -- of them
being suffocated in their beds in the Tower and buried beneath a
stair -- is filled with contradictions. If Perkin was Richard --
and this is speculative history, as indeed all history around this
genuine mystery must be -- then Richard must have somehow survived.
How could this have happened? It seemed to me most likely, not that
he escaped from the Tower, but that he was never sent to it. His
mother knew the danger her older son was in, had herself seen Henry
VI murdered in the Tower, and was highly aware of the danger to her
sons. It seemed to me most unlikely that she would hand over a
second son when she had lost the first. The changeling page boy is
my invention, but the history of Perkin in Flanders is based on his
own confession. His story will continue in the series.
Elizabeth''s father says to her, "We are forming a new
royal family. We have to be more royal than royalty itself or
nobody will believe us. I can''t say I quite believe it myself"
(page 63). How unlikely was it that Elizabeth Woodville would
become queen? How has she been remembered by
historians?
Elizabeth''s ascent to the throne is one of the great triumphs
of a commoner and was considered so exceptional in her own time
that one of the explanations offered was witchcraft. It is really a
triumph of unlikely events. How unlikely that Edward, raising
troops for a battle, would be diverted by a woman he must have met
by chance? How unlikely that he would offer marriage when he knew
as well as Warwick that to secure his reign he must marry well,
preferably a European princess? How unlikely that even after a
secret marriage he would honor his vows? It is a catalogue of
unlikely events, and the only coherent explanation is that Edward
and Elizabeth fell in love at first sight and married for love.
Elizabeth, like many powerful and effective women, has been
unkindly treated by historians. Some follow the gossip against her
at the time that begrudged her good fortune; some point to the
alliances she made for her family as symptoms of greed and
self-aggrandizement. She gets little credit for surviving two
periods in sanctuary, nor for her courage during the siege of the
Tower. She is like many women "hidden from history" in the phrase
of historian Sheila Rowbotham, and when her role is acknowledged
she is often treated with very harsh criticism.
Anthony Woodville, the queen''s brother, seemed to be
ahead of his time in regard to education and culture. What more can
you tell us about him? Was Elizabeth honoring his memory by
becoming a patroness of Queens'' College Cambridge?
Elizabeth took over the role of patron of Queens'' College from
her predecessor Margaret of Anjou, but her interest in education
and culture may have been inspired and would certainly have been
encouraged by her brother, who was a true Renaissance man:
spiritual, martial, thoughtful, and innovative. He brought the
printer William Caxton to England and sponsored the first printed
book; he was famous for his ability in the joust; and he was a
loyal brother to Elizabeth and a devoted uncle to her son. The poem
I quote in the book was indeed the poem he wrote the night before
he died. We can only speculate as to the sort of man he can have
been that he should spend his last hours on earth, not in rage or
grief, but in crafting a poem of such detachment and clarity.
If you could go back in time and live in any of the
royal courts you''ve written about, which one would it be and
why?
I would be absolutely mad to want to be a woman of any of these
times. A Tudor or Plantagenet woman was wholly ruled by men: either
father or husband. She would find it difficult to seek any
education, make her own fortune, or improve her circumstances. Her
husband would have a legal right over her that was equal to his
ownership of domestic animals; and the chances of dying in
childbirth were very high. If one could go back in time and be a
wealthy man, these would be times of adventure and opportunity but
still tremendously dangerous. I think I would prefer the Tudor
period to diminish the danger of being killed in battle, but there
were still regular plagues and foreign wars to face. I cannot
sufficiently express my enthusiasm for modern medicine, votes for
women, and safe contraception.
The younger Elizabeth emerges as quite a vivid and
spirited character. Will we be seeing more of her in a future
book?
Elizabeth, the Princess of York, goes on to marry Henry VII and
so is mother to a royal dynasty, just as her father and mother
hoped they were creating a royal dynasty. She is, of course, mother
of Henry VIII, and her granddaughter is England''s greatest queen
-- Elizabeth I. Elizabeth of York will be the subject of the third
book of this series, to be called The White Princess. But
coming next is the story of the mother of Henry VII, the
indomitable Margaret Beaufort, whom you may have glimpsed in this
novel but who deserves a book all to herself. It is called The
Red Queen.
The #1 "New York Times"-bestselling author of "The Other Boleyn Girl" presents the first book in a new series set amidst the tumult and intrigue of England's passionate family feud, The War of the Roses.
