Emily Hay

e.hay.1@research.gla.ac.uk

Research title: Quenis awne hand’: the literary agency of Mary Queen of Scots in shaping her own public image, 1567-1587

Research Summary

The ‘Quenis awne hand’: the literary agency of Mary Queen of Scots in shaping her own public image, 1567-1587

My doctoral research evaluates the cultural image of Mary Queen of Scots as presented in her own writing: her self-portrayal in poetry and correspondence in the period 1567-1587. It also contrast this self-fashioning against the images of Mary portrayed by others in published propaganda both for and against her in Britain in the same period. My analysis recentres the narrative of Mary in her own words and reveals, for the first time, the extent to which her enduring public image is based on her own agency as an author, and how much was outwardly projected onto her.

Publications

Emily Hay, 'Opening the Casket: Transcending Boundaries of Interpretation in Mary Stuart's Casket Sonnets', eSharp (2021).

Supervisors

Grants

  • SGSAH AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership Scholarship, 2021-present, £70000.
  • Joanna Baillie Scholarship for Research in Scottish Literature, 2020, £5000.

Additional Information

Affiliations

PG Intern, Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies, 2021-2022.

PGR Office Intern, UofG Researcher Development, 2021-2022.

Awards

Neil Munro Medal for Highest Achieving Single Honours Student in Scottish Literature (2020).

Douglas Gifford Prize for Excellence in Scottish Literature (2020).


Emily Hay