Queen Christina Page #3

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that you sign the treaty with France now.

Do not fear, Monsieur Chanut.

The Spaniard's arrival cannot disturb

the natural harmony...

between Sweden and France.

But the strained relations, Madame,

between my government and Spain...

They can never affect ours,

Monsieur Chanut.

Madame, you are my despair.

Why?

Because you rebuff me always

with such charm...

that at the end of all our interviews

I find myself always in a veritable glow...

of disappointment.

And I, of anticipation.

Your Majesty, our university at Uppsala

is the oldest in Sweden...

one of the oldest in Europe.

To admit professors from Spain and Italy

might corrupt the purity of our teaching.

The danger is not so much of corruption

as of staleness.

We need new wine in the old bottles.

Here is the new draft of the treaty

with Cromwell, Your Majesty.

There are several important changes in it,

so if you read it, please...

that I may know your opinion.

I will do so, Chancellor.

Your Majesty, I must again speak to you

about your marriage with Prince Charles.

This eternal talk about Charles.

I cannot tell you how it wearies me.

I do not see eye to eye with Charles

about anything.

- He is a hero.

- There are varieties of heroes.

He is a hero at fighting,

and fighting bores me.

- His only gift is with the sword.

- The sword has made Sweden great.

Yes, but do we not exalt that gift

too much, Chancellor?

You cannot remake the world,

Your Majesty.

Why not?

Look, Chancellor, the philosophers

remake it, the artists remake it...

the scientists remake it.

Why not we who wield the power?

The people follow blindly the generals

who lead them to destruction.

Will they not follow us who lead them

beyond themselves...

where there is grace and beauty,

gaiety and freedom?

Europe is an armed camp, Your Majesty,

not Utopia peopled with shepherds.

But Chancellor...

Snow again. Eternal snow.

Your Majesty, it is for Sweden.

It is your duty.

Why is it my duty?

My days and nights are given up

to the service of the state.

I am so cramped with duty

that to be able to read a book...

I have to rise in the middle of the night.

I serve the people with all my thoughts,

with all my energy...

with all my dreams, waking and sleeping.

I do not wish to marry,

and they cannot force me.

You must give Sweden an heir.

Not by Charles, Chancellor.

You are Sweden's Queen.

You are your father's daughter.

Must we live for the dead?

For the great dead?

Yes, Your Majesty.

Snow is like a wide sea.

One could go out and be lost in it...

and forget the world and oneself.

There are rumors that Your Majesty

is planning a foreign marriage.

They are baseless.

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