Story Overview
My Lady Jane, originally written by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows in 2016 is a comedic, fantasy. It retells Lady Jane Grey’s life in Tudor England. The book cleverly rewrites Jane Grey’s tragic fate as a love story. It also reiterates the political struggles England faced within the monarchy. My Lady Jane tells the story of England’s shortest ruler, Lady Jane Grey. Her story is unique because she was queen for only nine days. In 1556 she lost her power.
The book also cleverly represents the religious feud between the Catholics and the Protestants that overtook England in the 1500s. This feud is shown through the Ethians, the shapeshifters, and the Vertities, the non-shapeshifters. It puta a magical spin on a common societal conflict. This conflict emphasizes Lady Jane’s role in the monarchy. She is forced into an arranged marriage with Lord Gifford Dudley. She finds out later in the story her husband-to-be is secretly an Ethian, however can not control his shape-shifting abilities.
My Lady Jane was adapted into a show in 2024. Adapting a book into television, especially a historical story, is especially difficult. This is because plot points potentially will not fit onto the screen version. In this case, some minor tweaks are made to the story to help flow. However, major plot points are kept the same. Many choices made by the creative team were done well, and made sense for the narrative choices in the show.
The Reasoning Behind the Marriage
In the book, Jane is more comfortable with the idea of an arranged marriage. This alludes to the fact that her mother had previously attempted to set up four marriages before her marriage to Lord Gifford Dudley. The decision to marry Jane and Gifford in the show is a decision made by the king, Henry The Eighths and Jane Seymour’s son, Edward. The marriage is set up as a ploy by Gifford’s father, in an attempt to gain power and status within the kingdom. However, the show portrays Jane’s mother, Lady Frances Grey as the reason behind the marriage. It portrays her as a villain, setting up the marriage because she viewed Jane as an opportunity to gain status. Although both unmistakably portray the parents as power-hungry, the characterization varies between the two adaptations.
King Henry and Catherine of Aragon
The backstory behind King Edward’s parents, Henry the Eighth and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, are changed between the book and the show. In the book, Henry is an Ethian, presenting as a lion, acting as a reason behind his temper. However, in the show Henry is portrayed as anti-Ethian, due to the murder of his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Edward’s sister, Mary uses the vengeance of her mother as an excuse to hate Ethians, which is a primary reason why she overtakes the throne.
Jane and Gifford’s Meeting
The show strongly plays into the romance aspect of the show, meanwhile the show focuses more on the fantasy aspect. In the book, Jane and Gifford first meet at their wedding. Although their interest for each other still sparks during the wedding, the show plays into the slow burn trope. The show has Jane and Gifford meet prior to their marriage, unknowing that they have met their future spouse, acting as a meet-cute.
King Edward’s Love Interest
Notably the best change of the show is King Edward’s love interest. In the book Edward and Jane have a tumultuous relationship, being romantically interested in each other since childhood. This creates awkward tension between Edward and Jane’s husband Gifford, as he later develops his relationship with Jane. Later in the story, his love interest is Jane’s maid and best friend, Grace. Coincidently, Grace is also the leader of the strongest Ethian group, emphasizing the strain between relationships and politics. In the show, Edward is portrayed as gay, replacing Grace with a still-Ethian, male love interest named Fitz.
Gifford’s and Jane’s Ethianism
Gifford has a different relationship with Ethianism in the book than in the show. In the book, he is less ashamed of his condition, and accepts himself as an Ethian. In the show, he views being an Ethian, specifically an Ethian who cannot control his change, as a curse. This stems from another change between the book and the show. In the show, Gifford accidentally kills his mother while changing for the first time, creating a conflict within the show. The book contains the storyline where his mother is still alive, however only appears in one scene and is overall an unnecessary character.
In the book, Jane is also an Ethian, however she only changes into her form as a ferret when she is about to get beheaded. The second half of the book isn’t in the show at all, the first season only covers the first half of the book. Unfortunately, the show was canceled, so there will never be an on-screen adaptation of the second half of the book. The show, however, wrapped up nicely, with Jane and Gifford finally actually alive and in love, with Gifford being cured of being unable to control his Ethianism.
