Kenilworth (novel)

Kenilworth. A Romance is a historical romance novel by Sir Walter Scott, one of the Waverley novels, first published on 13 January 1821. Set in 1575, it leads up to the elaborate reception of Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth Castle by the Earl of Leicester, who is complicit in the murder of his wife Amy Robsart at Cumnor.

The novel was another huge success for Scott, who at this stage was still publishing anonymously, and was adapted for plays and several operas over the rest of the 19th century. Despite taking serious liberties with the known facts, its account has dominated understanding of the real events it recounts. Though there was certainly a great scandal over the death of Amy Robsart, but it remains unclear to historians whether her death was anything more than the accident the extensive inquest concluded it to be. There have been numerous adaptations of the novel, as plays, musicals, operas and in ballet. But these were mainly before World War One, and the novel has apparently never been filmed, except for a BBC television series that is lost.

Kenilworth is set in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and centres on the secret marriage of Robert Dudley and Amy Robsart, daughter of Sir Hugh Robsart. Amy passionately loves her husband, and the Earl loves her in return, but he is driven by ambition. He is courting the Queen's favour, and only by keeping his marriage to Amy secret can he hope to rise to the height of power that he desires. At the end of the book, the Queen discovers the truth, to the shame of the Earl. The disclosure has come too late, for Amy has been murdered by the Earl's even more ambitious steward, Varney. The title refers to Dudley's Kenilworth Castle in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. The novel opens at Cumnor Place, near Abingdon in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire).

Kenilworth is a novel of selfishness versus selflessness and ambition versus love. Amy and the Earl both struggle internally with selfishness and love, while Varney and Tressilian each typify the extremes of the two qualities. Perhaps the finest point of this work is its characterization. The Earl is shown as an ambition-driven man who will stoop to deceit and almost anything else in order to attain his goals, but with one saving grace—he loves Amy, and in the end gives up his pride and ambition to confess their marriage. Amy Robsart is a pretty, spoiled child whose tragic circumstances teach her maturity and determination, although such lessons come too late to save her. Tressilian is the serious, steadfast lover of Amy, and continues to try to save her from herself throughout the book and finally dies of a broken heart. Varney is the chief villain of the work. His greed and ambition know no bounds. It is he that pushes the Earl beyond what he would normally do to secure power, and it is he that finally murders Amy Robsart.