In Scholars and Poets Talk about Queens, Carole Levin and Christine Stewart-Nuñez have brought together a rich, interdisciplinary collection of essays by North American scholars about medieval and early modern queens. Interwoven between these essays are separate poems and plays about these women. As Levin explains, “By pairing scholarly essays with contemporary poems and creative pieces about them, the collection intends to demonstrate the on-going relevance and immediacy of these women” (1). This novel approach is successful, reminding the reader of the inspirational qualities of past queens. An essay by Marguerite A. Tassi, for example, on the maternal grief of the mythical queen, Hecuba of Troy, in Golding's 1567 translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, is paired with a poem, “Hecuba's Dream,” by Tassi, and another, “Hecuba Laments,” by Darla Biel.

The essays in this volume are all interesting and thought provoking. Andrea Nichols's critical examination of Cleopatra's depiction in late Elizabethan and early Jacobean drama argues, compellingly, that Cleopatra offered a useful figure through whom contemporaries could critique Mary I, Elizabeth I, and Mary, Queen of Scots. Katarzyna Lecky's analysis of Raphael Holinshed's The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1577) maintains that the Iceni queen Boudicca was deliberately depicted here in a way that showed her embracing a commonwealth model of rule, thereby pitting “herself against traditionally patriarchal systems” of government (69). Charles Beem's essay provides a valuable appraisal of feminist approaches to studying King Henry I's daughter and heir, the empress Matilda, suggesting that the empress viewed the world in terms of class/status rather than gender. Carole Levin considers why Margaret of Anjou's reputation suffered so much, especially at the hands of sixteenth-century writers. Levin contends that, although the moniker “she-wolf” was used to castigate Margaret, it also had positive connotations, since it acknowledged her role in protecting her son. Theresa Earenfight focuses on Catherine of Aragon's early life (1485–1504), thoughtfully evaluating how Castilian and English experiences of queenly authority may have influenced her approach to queenship.

Alyson Alvarez's exploration of Mary Stewart's periods of widowhood asserts that Mary's erratic behavior after Lord Darnley's death is best understood in the light of her experiences after the death of her French husband. As Francis II's widow, she performed the role of a grieving widow in line with established convention. After Darnley's death, however, Mary's inability to observe the social niceties of mourning contributed to her political downfall. Paul Strauss examines the portrayal of Elizabeth I as a nurse of the church in court sermons, which drew inspiration from Isaiah 49:23 (“Queens shall be thy nurses”) as an acceptable model for female rule. Sonja Drimmer's essay on Elizabeth I centers on a lively discussion of the gifts Elizabeth received on New Year's Day 1567, including a fine pedigree book and, intriguingly, a set of instruments for her teeth from Petruccio Ubaldini, an Italian author. Drimmer reasons that the poor state of the queen's teeth threatened her ability to carry out state business, since her mouth and her ability to articulate her views orally in many languages was one of her most important diplomatic tools. Brandie Siegfried looks at an engraving of the 1593 meeting between Grace O'Malley, the Sea Queen of Connaught, and Elizabeth I, published two hundred years later on the cover of the Anthologica Hibernica. As Siegfried explains, Grace's portrayal in simple, revolutionary garb, as one of the people, before an outdated Elizabeth I, resonated strongly with late eighteenth-century Irish concerns about English authority in the aftermath of the Irish tax rebellion (1751) and the execution of King Louis XVI of France (January 1793).

The collection draws to a close with two other carefully crafted essays—the first, by Catherine Medici, looks at Jane Dudley (d. 1555), Duchess of Northumberland, a woman who served five English queens and cultivated fruitful contacts with Spanish nobles at the English court. The second, by Jo Eldridge Carney, examines queens who were poisoners in early modern in literature and life. Overall, this remarkable volume contains much that is valuable for specialists in royal studies, literature, drama, and historical research.