Tennyson's poetic drama portrays the life and reign of Mary Tudor with lyrical gravity and historical depth. Set during England's fraught transition from Protestant to Catholic rule, the play explores themes of power, persecution, and personal anguish. With richly drawn characters and tragic pacing, it offers a meditation on leadership, legacy, and the high cost of political conviction.

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS (1809-1892) was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language. Tennyson wrote a number of phrases that have become commonplace, including: "Nature, red in tooth and claw", "'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all", and "Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die". He is the second most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations after Shakespeare. This volume is a play, along with notes.