Alas, I feel the need to start off with a digression concerning the Soap Opera style of the text. While I understand the need to appeal to a popular audience, this technique neglects several important themes. For instance, Neale only makes passing reference to role commerce played in the Protestant Reformation. Why was this? I found it particularly interesting that sale of monastic lands and properties created a vibrant middle class. Wouldn’t this have been a major catalyst driving Elizabeth’s popularity and anti-Catholicism of the time? Instead, the Neale focuses almost entirely seamier sides of the personal relationships between Mary and Elizabeth. I suppose conflict and sexual tension always sell. Neale’s text also portrays Elizabeth