Directed by Jamie Babbit and Stefan Schwartz, My Lady Jane makes us privy to a reimagination of a terrible tragedy that happened in real life when Jane Grey, queen of England, was killed after nine days of her marriage. This story takes inspiration from that real-life incident and then weaves a fictional narrative around it. The series is based on the works of Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton, and it takes us back to those times when patriarchal society did everything to make the existence of a woman miserable. So, let’s find out what happened in My Lady Jane series and how our protagonist dealt with the various conflicts that came her way.
Spoiler Alert
How did Jane and Gilfred get married?
Jane Grey’s father had passed away, and as if the pain of losing him was not enough, the family realized that their grand uncle, Duke of Leicester, was going to inherit all the wealth since Jane’s father did not have a male heir. The revelation sets the tone of the series My Lady Jane, and we realize how patriarchal society was at that time. Women were treated as fodder, and they were blatantly discriminated against by the men, as if it were the most natural thing one could do. There were people like Lady Frances Grey who had accepted their fate and played according to the rules set by society, but then there were people like Jane who just didn’t want to give in. Jane wanted to lead an independent life where she could study medicine, publish her compendium with new medical research, and experience the beauty of life, but quite early in her life, she realized that she was not allowed to do that. Jane’s mother wanted her to marry Guildford Dudley, as that was the only way through which the family could become financially stable.
Jane went to meet Lord Dudley and the family, and she mistook Stan for his brother Guilford. Jane was horrified, and it felt like her worst fears were coming true. She tried to run away from her house with Susannah, her house help, with whom she shared a very good equation. Susannah was more like a friend to Jane, and that’s why she decided to help her in her escape. But the girls were caught by the guards, and that’s when a shocking revelation was made. We got to know that Susannah was an Edian, i.e., she could transform into an animal whenever she wanted. Now, these Edians were considered abominations by the ruling class, and there were guidelines that restricted their freedom. For years, they had been persecuted and tortured, and when Edward was made king, he ordered them to go to the forest and never sneak inside the premises of the city.
Jane was literally forced to get married to Guildford, and she was told time and again that she should consider it an honor to be married to a man. Marriage was considered to be the biggest achievement of a woman’s life, but Jane was never like that. She hated the fact that nobody even entertained the fact that a woman could be financially independent and lead her life independently. A twist came in the narrative when Jane realized that Guildford was not who she presumed to be but the man she met in the tavern a night before her wedding. It could be said that Jane didn’t find him despicable, and he was far better than the snooty and arrogant royals she had met before that. Guildford was also shocked when he saw Jane standing next to him during the wedding ceremony, and his brain just froze before saying the vows. Jane and Guildford finally got married after much hullabaloo, and Frances Grey was the happiest as she knew that the financial situation of her family would become stable.
What did Jane get to know about Gilfred?
It didn’t take Jane a lot of time to find out that Guildford was also an Edians, but still, he was a bit different from his kind; because of this, he encountered a lot of probes throughout the hide. Guildford was very small when he was going together with his mother when a group of Edianss attacked their caravan. Guildford took the form of a horse for the very first time in his life, and his mother wasn’t able to survive the onslaught. Since that day, Guildford has blamed himself for the death of his mother, though the reality is that it wasn’t his fault. Unlike other Edianss, Guildford didn’t have any control over when he changed into his animal form. During the night, he was in his human form, but as soon as the first sunlight hit the surface of the earth, he became a horse. Jane sympathized with his situation, and that’s when they entered into a kind of agreement. They both knew that their marriage was just a contract, but they inevitably had to stay together because that was what their family wanted. So they decided to use it to their advantage, and during their so-called honeymoon, Guildford revealed his master plan. Guildford knew about Jane’s inclination and interest in the medical field, and he wanted her to do some research and find a cure for his situation, which he considered an illness. Jane was very happy at first, as she got to do what she liked, and she believed that she could do something to stop people from being born as Edians. But with time, Jane realized that she wouldn’t be able to help Guildford’s cause as there was no cure for it. Guildford was disappointed, as it was his last chance to probably lead a normal life. He knew that society wouldn’t accept him ever, and he would have to hide his real self as long as he was alive.
Why did Mary want to kill Jane?
Mary had eyes on the crown for a very long time. Her mother was abandoned by her biological father, King Henry, because he fell in love with a woman, who later turned out to be an Edians. From that day on, Mary despised each and every Edians, and she made it the goal of her life to come to power and turn the odds in her favor. Edward, the present king, was ill, and people believed that he would succumb to his illness sooner or later. That is why it was decided that Edward would make a will so that, in the event of his untimely demise, the throne would not be left vacant. Mary hoped that she was named the heir to the throne, and even her lover, Seymour, affirmed her beliefs, as he claimed that he had seen the will. But that was a lie that Seymour told Mary to be in her good books.
In reality, Edward had named Jane as his heir, as he had doubts about the intentions of his own people. His doubts proved to be true when his pet dog, Petunia, took the form of a girl and told him that he was being poisoned and that there were people in his close circle who wanted him dead. Once Edward learned about it, he stopped eating the food that was being served to him. But all hell broke loose when Mary lost his patience, and Edward jumped from his window, giving everybody the impression that he had died from the fall. Mary was ecstatic as she knew that she was next in line to become the queen of England, but her dreams were shattered when the real will of Edward was found by Charles (the Dudley family’s loyal soldier), and he presented it in front of everybody. Mary, with rage in her eyes, looked at Seymour, who had the audacity to first lie to her and then present a fake will to prove his point. We got to know in My Lady Jane season 1 that it was Bess, Mary’s sister and Edward’s cousin, who had stolen the will because she knew that if it went to the wrong hands, then the nation would be in trouble. Also, Bess had the courage to do what she knew was best for her nation, and her decisions were not influenced by her own vested interests.
After Jane was made queen, the first thing she did was amend the division laws, which prohibited the Edianss from entering the city. Jane knew that it was not going to be such an easy task to do so, but still, she invited Susannah and other members of the Edians pack to her coronation ceremony. Mary constantly tried to poison Jane but, call it destiny or fate, she was never able to do that. Now, Jane’s little sister unintentionally informed Mary and Seymour that Jane had found some incriminating evidence that could prove that they were behind Edward’s death, and that’s when Mary and Seymour escaped from the kingdom. Later, when Mary became queen, she gave a lot of preference to Margaret and gave her an important title, as she knew that had it not been for the little girl, Jane would have put them behind bars. Mary got support for Lord Norfolk, and she came charging at the door of the kingdom, and Jane had to inevitably surrender.
Does Mary execute Jane and Wilfred?
Jane was imprisoned, but her mother, Frances, and sister, Katherine, were given special treatment just because Margaret played a crucial role in making Mary the queen. Mary was a true blue dictator and shot and killed anybody and everybody who didn’t obey her orders. The local people protested outside the walls of the palace because they wanted Jane to be reinstated as queen. But Mary had made up her mind that she was going to execute both Jane and Guildford. Jane, from the prison, tried everything that she could to get the better of her cousin’s sister, but she was just not able to. She tried killing Mary by applying poison to her lips that she made in prison and then kissing Mary, but that plan also failed. Mary wanted Jane to vouch for her in front of the people so that the protests would stop, and the former promised that, in return, she would not kill Guildford. But Margaret went to meet Jane in prison, and she told her that Mary did not have any plans of doing so and that she would inevitably kill Guildford after Jane gave a speech to the common people.
So Jane, finally at the end of My Lady Jane season 1, resigned to her fate and mentally prepared herself for her execution. But there came a twist, as Edward was still alive and he went and met the pack, i.e., Susannah’s group, and asked them to help Jane. Jane was the first ruler who at least tried to abolish the division laws and make things better for them. Jane knew that the Edians had to struggle for the necessities of life. She empathized with their situation, too, because she saw the kind of miserable existence Guildford led. At first, Susannah’s gang didn’t agree to the plan, as they didn’t want to risk the lives of hundreds of Edians. Jane was brought to the scaffold, and just as she was about to be killed by the executioner, a bird came out of nowhere and targeted his eyes. The Edianss had arrived to rescue their queen, and together with Guildford, Jane made a near escape from there.
Mary was beyond frustrated, as once again, her plans to kill Jane had gone down the drain, and she didn’t know how it hadn’t come to her attention that the pack was planning something like that. Though Jane and Guildford got together at the end of My Lady Jane season 1 and expressed their love for each other, the battle is still not over. If there is a season 2, we will see Mary unleashing her wrath and doing anything in her power to kill her arch-nemesis. As for Jane and Guildford, they had a lot of things to figure out together with other Edians, and only time would tell what fate had in store for them.
