ABSTRACT
In recent times, as academic concerns for the quality of popular or public history have grown, historians have begun to engage more with visual media 'as both a competitor and a collaborator' in communicating the past to the public. This chapter examines how well informed these popular images of Fairfax have been, and the motives underpinning their presentation of him to the public. It also examines how changing representations of Fairfax have reflected broader transformations in English political culture. Multiple and contrasting images of Fairfax have emerged from literature, film and fiction. While the military hero, Yorkshire patriot and 'great man' proved powerful representations until the mid-twentieth century, more recent depictions of Fairfax have concentrated on 1649 and showcased his anxiety, indecision and fragility. The filmmakers were disinterested in contemporary evidence, admittedly that of hostile satirists and Royalist contemporaries, that depicted Lady Fairfax as unsightly and obese.
