Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Last week my friend & I finally managed to watch the second Elizabeth movie with Cate Blanchett.  I think the Blockbuster here rotates their movies because it definitely wasn’t in the store last time I was there and another movie I wanted to rent was no longer there anywhere either.  Hm.

I’m not sure if I really have a preference between the two Elizabeth movies.  This is mostly because they are both about very different times in her life.  In the extras, the director said that in the first Elizabeth movie, he was portraying her rise to power and how she handled this change.  For the second movie, he portrays what Elizabeth does with absolute power.  Cate Blanchett was wonderful as Elizabeth in both movies.  In the second film, when she discovers that Sir Walter Raleigh has married her favorite, Beth without permission, you can really feel her anger and feeling of betrayment. During the movie I made the comment that isn’t it funny watching Elizabeth ride off into battle against the Spanish just as Queen Katherine of Aragon did when she sent Henry off to war elsewhere?

What was most interesting was watching the extras.  I’m always fascinated by the people who build the props and designt he costumes and whatnot.  The exquisite detail and preciseness of everything is absolutely phenomenal.  It almost seems easy being an actor/actress and simply portraying someone else’s life.  But when you hear about the insane schedules they have to keep because their set has strict time lines, you don’t envy them any longer.

I’m very lucky to not be a big history buff, because I think the inaccuracies of movies and books would drive me insane.  Yes, I’m also one of those people that can be seen muttering “It was NOTHING like the book” even though I hardly ever expect it to be, it still takes me by surprise.

Couldn’t put it down

I love it and hate it when there’s a book I absolutely cannot put down no matter that it’s 1:30 AM and I’m tired but I have to finish it.  Luckily since I’m staying at home now, it doesn’t bother me as much to stay up late.  Last night I finished “Birth of Venus” by Sarah Dunant.  Wow.  That’s all I can say.  The entire story was just gripping and compelling.

The story begins with the death of a nun.  Despite her request to be buried in the clothes she died in, the plague has struck and the Reverand Mother thinks it sanitary to have the body properly washed and buried in new clothes and the old ones burned.  The two nuns who are instructed to ready her discover 2 distressing things about the dead nun.  One, the tumor she claimed to have been suffering from was simply pig entrails that had been strapped on to her body.  Two, there was a devilish snake drawing that began at her shoulders and went down through her pubic hair.

After this the book is divided into 3 parts (if I remember correctly).  The Cecchi family has made their fortune from cloth and are living in 15th century Florence.  There are two boys, Tomaso and Luca, and two girls, Plautilla and Alessandra.  We learn that Alessandra is the only child who truly excels at learning and has the ability to agrue logically.  The boys go out at night to carouse and Plautilla is the vain daughter whose only interest is in looking pretty and getting ready for her upcoming marriage.  In 15th century Florence, Lorenzo Medici controlled the city and his love of the arts influenced the city heavily into comissioning artwork.  The Cecchi family comissioned their own artist to do family portraits and to paint frescoes in their chapel at home.  His arrival was shrouded in mystery and so was his existence at the Cecchi household.  The painter came from a monastery in the North and he was shy to all.  Alessandra was not only intelligent, but had a deep passion for artwork.  In her youth, her mother encouraged her interest in drawing.  But now that she was nearing womanhood, her mother felt that Alessandra should leave her artwork behind and embrace the talents that befitted a young woman who would someday be someone’s wife.  Only Erila, Alessandra’s maidservant, humored Alessandra by sneaking in utensils and sometimes sitting for her drawings.  When Alessandra heard that a painter had come to live with him, she took it upon herself to find him and ask his advice and hoped that he could tutor her further in art.  What Alessandra discovered was a man who was practically afraid of his own shadow and even more terrified of women.  Over time Alessandra was able to communicate with him, even if it was mostly a one sided conversation.

With the death of Lorenzo Medici, change was upon Florence.  His son Piero had none of his father charisma nor intelligence of how to run Florence and soon lost favor with the public in lieu of the fire and brimstone monk, Girolamo Savonarola.  Savonarola preached hellfire from the pulpit and insisted that he was the direct link from God.  God had told him that Florence was decaying from the inside out with their vanity and pleasure seeking ways.  Wealth had corrupted the entire city and the only thing that would save them was him and their change to ultra religoius piety.  Within a short time Savonarola had the city purged of indecent art, good times, gambling, prostitution, and anything that didn’t resemble proper conduct in his eyes.  At the same time the French army was invading headed by Charles VII (I think).  To make matters worse and to help Savonarola in his rise to power, several bodies were being found in churches that had been grossly mutilated and left for the scum of the streets to feed on.

For the Cecchi’s, hard times had not quite descended upon them.  Plautilla had married before Florence became a drab town and was expecting her first child.  The boys were home more often and exhibited piety while Alessandra was destined to be married off or sent to a convent, whichever she wished to keep safe from the French.  Alessandra agrees to be married to Cristoforo since this is the only way she will have the freedom she always longed for.  Before she is married off, Alessandra asks the painter to review her work and help teach her.  He refuses and disappears into his construction of the chapel.  Alessandra marries and on her wedding night learns something shocking about her new husband.

Alessandra and Cristoforo have a marriage of convenience.  While there is no sexual attraction between the two of them, there is an intense attraction of the minds.  While other married couples may cuddle and kiss and have a romantic intensity about them, Alessandra and Cristoforo are most intimate when discussing books, politics, philosophy or art.  Cristoforo has promised Alessandra all the freedoms she has wished for as long as she keeps his secret.  Her new husband has been having a romantic relationship with her brother Tomaso for 4 years.  The only way to keep the two of them safe is if Cristoforo married and produced an heir.  He also tells Alessandra that if she wished to find her pleasures elsewhere, he only ask that she be discreet.  What unravels is an intense jealousy on Alessandra’s part and a great feeling of mistrust with her family.

At the height of Savonarola’s power, several people have been taken into custody for their sins and most of Florence’s youth have been recruited into holy guards.  Luca has climbed the ranks of the holy militia and watches his family with an eagle eye.  Months into her marriage, Alessandra visits her family’s home and discovers that the painter has locked himself into solitude and refuses to communicate with anyone.  Alessandra uses her cunning to gain access into chapel and discovers what is wrong with him.  The painter feels as if God has left him and halfway through his frescoes began to paint hellish scenes.  Right then and there Alessandra decides to bring him home and nurse him back to proper health.  Erila seriously doubts this plan, as she knows about the attraction between them, but helps bring him home anyway.  Under their care, the painter begins to come back to life.  But it is not until one evening when only Alessandra hears his cries of pain, that he is truly brought back from the dead.  Erila gave strict orders that Alessandra was not to be left alone with the painter for the servants would talk and they were loyal to no one but their master and his secrets.  Nonetheless, Alessandra sees that she is the only one who is awake and can help the painter.  In his room she reads to him and feeds him sips of wine and nips of bread.  After they talk for awhile and he draws her a picture of the monk who passed on the light of Christ to him, he falls asleep holding her.  Alessandra tries a few times to escape his grasp, but he clings tighter to her.  Her curiosity gets the better of her and she begins to seduce him in her innocent way.  They end up having sex and it is the first time Alessandra has had a taste of passion the way Cristoforo and Tomaso must have.  In the morning Erila scolds Alessandra so violently that she is brought to tears, but then relief when Erila says that they were star crossed from the moment they met and it was only a matter of time.  Unfortunately Cristoforo is mad with rage and sends the painter away.

The next time the Cecchi family comes together is when the painter finishes the frescoes in the chapel.  Plautilla is pregnant with her second child, Alessandra with her first.  The painter employs Alessandra’s help to finish the potrait of his saint and is shocked to learn that she is pregnant.  Tomaso intrudes upon the two of them in the chapel, but can deduce nothing and is left only with his vicious tongue to threaten Alessandra.  After everyone has gone back to their homes does disaster truly strike.  Plautilla’s first child has died from the plague, Tomaso has been called into custody and he has named the painter as a brother sinner.  It is surprising to see just how upset Alessandra’s affair has made Cristoforo, but it drives him to such cruelty.  Even after the painter and Tomaso have been released from jail and the upcomning downfall of Savonarola, Cristoforo stings Alessandra’s being with his coldness.  The morning after Erila and Alessandra have wandered the streets in hopes of finding the painter before he is shipped off, Alessandra goes into labor.  She cannot find anyone in the house except for a simple kitchen maid who tells her everyone has been given permission to leave and fight the war.  Upstairs Alessandra is surprised by Cristoforo who snaps at her that her only job was to produce an heir for him and that she has not been loyal to their agreement.  He abruptly leaves her to get help and Alessandra is left alone to labor.  Her mother appears like an angel and helps Alessandra deliver a healthy baby girl.  After a few days have gone by, Alessandra is asked to identify the body of her husband, who has been stabbed to death.

It surprises Alessandra that her mother and husband have come up with such a ruse to give her the ultimate freedom.  As far as they know, Cristoforo and Tomaso have run off to the country to be together.  The painter is in Rome and Alessandra must make a choice.  She decides to join a convent where the rules are lax and she is able to paint and not be ashamed of her intelligence any longer.  Savonarola has been executed and Florence is steadily going back to her old self.  Erila and the baby join Alessandra at the convent and they enjoy their life there together.  Even when the church restructures the convent and the gives them a new Reverand Mother and bishop, Alessandra finds herself at peace there with her daughter, whom she has named Plautilla after her sister who died in childbirth.

Now as Sister Lucrezia, she is free to teach her daughter to paint and draw and has even been asked to paint the chapel of their convent church.  Then one day a visitor appears.  It is none other than the painter.  The Reverand Mother allows him to stay with them and help Sister Lucrezia with the chapel and he teaches their daughter about art and other techniques that he has learned.  They also share a romantic liaison in the evenings in her private cell.  At the end of his visit, she has asked that he take their daughter with him to travel so she can be his apprentice and learn.  For a few years they keep correspondance and just like that, it abruptly ends.  By this time Sister Lucrezia seems to be bored by the foreverness of her life and develops a ruse with Erila on how to end her life.

Although you can probably guess the ending, I don’t want to give it all away.  Throughout the book I was entranced by the amount of historical detail and how you were swept away by the telling of the story.  I will definitely have to check out her other books because if they are anything like this one, then I know I will be impressed.