Abstract
This chapter looks at Isabella of Angoulême, wife to King John of England (1199–1216) and how she is depicted in modern popular culture, that is, Victorian biography, historical romance novels, and film. The case studies here are limited to two films: Richard Lester’s 1976 Robin and Marian and Ridley Scott’s 2010 Robin Hood. Overall, this paper considers how the depiction, if not creation, of Isabella’s personality and motivation reflects contemporary popular attitudes towards powerful women, marriage roles, and the morality of each period, especially in light of the evolving feminist movements of each of those eras. It looks at Isabella in the context of medievalism and which aspects of her personality and behavior have been used as signposts and shorthand for characterization in these fictional works.
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Fleiner, C. (2018). ‘She Is My Eleanor’: The Character of Isabella of Angoulême on Film—A Medieval Queen in Modern Media. In: North, J., Alvestad, K., Woodacre, E. (eds) Premodern Rulers and Postmodern Viewers . Queenship and Power. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68771-1_5
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