Réécrire l’Histoire : Marguerite d’Anjou, du monstre à la victime

Margaret of Anjou was a powerful 15th century woman; poor and landless, the French-born princess became Queen of England by marrying Henry VI. Since the King was prone to attacks of dementia, she took up arms to defend her only son’s right to the throne. Shakespeare sees her as a sorceress, holding her responsible for the civil war. Rewriting her story two centuries later, French authors tend to rewrite history as well. She is a pretty seductress, an adventurer who loves power, according to Abbé Prévost. She embodies an illegitimate queen although worthy of respect in La Harpe’s tragedy. As for the composers of melodramas and operas Pixerécourt and Meyerbeer, they depict her as an unfortunate victim. Interpretation depends on whether the text is a novel, a tragedy or a melodrama. It depends too on how women and power are seen in the writing context.