This book addresses the portrayals of queens who exercise murderous violence in English drama from the 1560s to the 1620s. It discusses bloody acts and murder, and addresses the modus operandi of murderous queens, as well as the symbolic nature of the desecration implied by their actions, real or imagined.

It analyses plays such as Gorboduc, Locrine, Titus Andronicus, King Lear, Cymbeline and Macbeth, in addition to topical history plays depicting contemporary queens (Mary Tudor, Mary Stuart and Catherine de ' Medici ) on the English stage, with forays into French, Spanish and Italian literature. It also explores murderous queens ' afterlives and their enduring appeal, from seventeenth-century adaptations by Nahum Tate to twenty-first century appropriations in popular TV series such as House of Cards and Game of Thrones. The book sheds light on ongoing debates about gender, history, performance and violence .