Exploring the reign of Queen Mary I in Selah Atwood’s “Mary, Mary”​

I’ve always found Bloody Mary fascinating, even just learning about her in school. One thing that makes her story really interesting is that she devoted her entire ruling to “restoring England.” And when she died from a supposed sickness about five years after ruling, her sister took the throne and immediately reversed all of the changes Mary had made. It just goes to show that something so significant in someone’s life and something that caused so many deaths can become almost pointless in a blink of an eye.

I thought telling Mary’s story alongside a nursery rhyme inspired by her would be a really interesting way to tell some of her story, and I feel that it (hopefully!) will be blunt and straightforward while leaving an air of discomfort behind. History is uncomfortable, and even more so when it’s told through the use of innocent sing-song!