From 1857 to 1863, Bjørnson was mostly preoccupied with writing plays that conjured the values and the period of Old Norse sagas - Mellem Slagene (1857), Halte-Hulda (1858), Kong Sverre (1861), and his dramatic trilogy, Sigurd Slembe (1862). Sturtevant records that Bjørnson attended a performance of Schiller’s Maria Stuart (1800) whilst in Hanover in 1862. Schiller’s play is set in the period of Mary Stuart’s period of imprisonment in Fotheringhay Castle and Elizabeth I’s attempts to get rid of her dangerous cousin. Bjørnson shifts the scene to an earlier period in Mary’s life, representing the turbulent eighteen-month period in Scotland from …
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Citation: Rees, Kathy. "Maria Stuart I Skotland". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 April 2017 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35898, accessed 25 November 2024.]