Loves Of Charles II The Wondering Prince / A Health Unto His Majesty / Here Lies Our Sovereign Lord

1. Henriette is introduced as a garrulous, opinionated, two-year-old political refugee masquerading as the son of a peasant. That feisty personality does not reemerge until page 216, when Henriette exiles La Valliere in a vociferous fit of rage over the girl's dalliance with Louis. In between these episodes, Henriette cuts a meek and tolerant figure, mild and forgiving even in the face of her husband's flagrant indiscretions, her mother's ruthless political ploys, and her lover's repeated infidelities. Is Henriette a wimp, or does she display exquisite control over her emotions? Either way, is she likeable?2. What classical figures does Plaidy draw on for her characterization of Louis's and Henriette's affair: "In those weeks it was enough for Louisas it was for Henrietteto know themselves loved by the loved one. Their relationship seemed to them the more perfect because, as they saw it at this time, it could never reach its natural climax. It was romantic love which seemed to gain beauty from the fact that it could not reach that climax and therefore would go on forever at the same high level"?3. The long-suffering Henrietta Maria plays both the tragic figure and the villain throughout this novel. Do her constant harangues intensifyor offer comic relief fromthe relentless tension of the story? Do any of her wishes for her children come about?4. Louis's love for Henriette is increasingly tainted by his jealousy over her relationship with her brother. At what point does his obsession turn ominous? Does Henriette recognize the shift? How does Anne of Austria's death affect Louis's attitude toward leadership and love?5. Why does Henriette acquiesce to a rigorous Catholic education, when she knows it is against the express wishes of her late father and most of her siblings?6. This story is largely that of the timid, miserable, and misunderstood Catherine. However, Plaidy makes it abundantly clear that her sympathy lies with the bumbling, jovial Charles who continuously breaks Catherine's heart. Does Catherine read as an innocent victim or a masochist? In modern parlance, does her behavior "enable" Charles? Does Charles's insensitivity occlude his likeability as a character?7. Charles embraces a social tolerance that is out of step with the politics of his time. While his ministers call for the blood of his father's enemies, Charles "was the one who alone...desired that these men should remain unpunished...Revenge...was enjoyed by the failures of this world." While Presbyterians and Anglicans wrangle loudly over who should enjoy the king's favor, Charles wonders "Why could they not...be easy in their minds? Why should not men who wished to worship in a certain way worship that way? What should another man's opinions matter to the next man...?" When and how does this enlightened but unpopular attitude get Charles into trouble? Do his laissez-faire ideals ever catch on among his subjects?8. Lord Chesterfield provides a great deal of mirth to his peers by his thwarted attempts to court his own embittered wife. What does Chesterfield's saga reveal about the sexual politics of Restoration England?9. Catherine spends the entire novel ruingand paying forher initial inflexibility on the issue of Charles's infidelity. She is deemed "willful," "stubborn," "obstinate," "narrow-minded," full of "vanity and self-love," "foolish," "rigid," "simple and ignorant," andPlaidy, Jean is the author of 'Loves Of Charles II The Wondering Prince / A Health Unto His Majesty / Here Lies Our Sovereign Lord', published 2005 under ISBN 9781400082483 and ISBN 140008248X.