"Va, preparati, furente"
Go, you fury, and prepare yourself
Mary, Queen of Scots has requested an audience with Queen Elizabeth 1, who is holding her captive because of the threat she poses to Elizabeth's throne from plotters wishing to restore a Catholic monarchy in England. A meeting is arranged while Elizabeth is hunting near the castle where Mary is imprisoned. The initial intent is to soften Elizabeth's feelings, but Mary will not humble herself and reviles Elizabeth as Anne Boleyn's bastard. In a rage, Elizabeth warns Mary to prepare to die, a fate Mary accepts with noble dignity, despite the distress this causes her supporters.
MARY
(spoken)
Shameful whore! Vile bastard!
ELIZABETH
Go, you fury, and prepare yourself
To suffer your final fate!
I will heap shame
Upon your despised head.
Take away this fury
Who has condemned herself.
CECIL
Almighty heaven has heralded
Vengeance for this audacity.
ANNA, TALBOT
Such words! Wretched woman!
You have insulted Elizabeth!
She may well have determined
Her vengeance for this offence.
MARIA
Thank heaven, I can breathe at last.
She has fled from my sight.
Humiliated before me,
Her glory has dimmed.
LEICESTER
Ah! I have lost you, o reckless one,
When I longed to save you.
When I faithfully came back to you
Fate struck us down.
COURTIERS
The queen has decreed for you
The final shame of execution
Be silent, come, tremble with fear
All hope is lost.
TALBOT
Leicester, come
Elizabeth will not listen to you.
MARIA, LEICESTER
Farewell, forever!
ANNA
Be silent, I beg you. Ah, come!
ELIZABETH
Take her away!
In the axe which awaits you
You will find my revenge.
Take away this fury
Who has condemned herself.
MARIA
Now lead me to my death:
I will defy my ultimate fate.
This single moment of triumph
Has repaid all my suffering.
Maria Stuarda by Gaetano Donizetti
For many years, Queen Elizabeth I of England has kept her cousin, Mary Stuart (Queen of Scots), a prisoner in Fotheringhay Castle as she is a focus for Catholic plots which threaten Elizabeth’s throne. Lord Cecil, Elizabeth’s chief minister, opposes mercy for Mary. The Queen’s favourite Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, loves Mary and hopes to gain her freedom. Jealousy compounds Elizabeth’s political distrust of her cousin.
Leicester arranges a meeting between the two sovereigns, together with Cecil, George Talbot, Mary’s jailer, and Anna, Mary’s lady in waiting. The encounter quickly deteriorates, with Mary insulting the Queen as a “vile bastard”. Elizabeth responds by threatening Mary with execution. This dramatic ensemble piece conveys the intense emotions and high stakes involved when the two queens meet. The death warrant is soon signed by Elizabeth and Mary is executed in the hall of Fotheringhay Castle, calmly approaching her death as a martyr to her faith.
In reality, Elizabeth and Mary never met, but the dramatic potential of such an encounter has inspired the imagination of both writers and composers.