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Thursday Book Club: Introduction to Anne Boleyn

September 13, 2007 by WendyB

Anne Boleyn

Good lord! When I said I’d do a Thursday book post, I didn’t realize Thursdays were going to start coming at me so fast and furiously! When did every day become Thursday? I feel like I just did Katherine of Aragon a minute ago.

Katherine was the first of the six wives of Henry VIII. Anne Boleyn was Henry’s second wife and the most famous one. That’s what you get when your husband has your head chopped off: lasting fame. Not much of a consolation for the head thing, is it? Henry was married to Katherine when Anne caught his eye. Generally, anything the king wanted was his for the taking, but Anne decided she wasn’t going to become a king’s mistress like her sister Mary Boleyn. She would be queen or nothing and she managed to fend Henry off for seven years while he tried to divorce Katherine. When the Pope wouldn’t grant a divorce from Katherine, Henry started his own church which, not surprisingly, was more obliging.

My interpretation of the famous Boleyn initial pendant. You’ll notice I didn’t do a literal copy/museum reproduction like the necklace you see on “Ugly Betty.”

Henry finally married Anne in 1533. Her coronation took place that year when she was pregnant with what turned out to be her only surviving child: Princess Elizabeth. Considering that Henry’s main excuse for divorcing Katherine was his need for male heirs, this wasn’t the best outcome for Anne. Anne was only queen for a thousand days before Henry had her executed.

Princess Elizabeth grew up to be Queen Elizabeth I

I always wonder why Anne, who cleverly manipulated Henry for so many years, fell apart after her wedding. Maybe it was the cumulative stress of those long years of maneuvering to be queen — years during which she endured harsh criticism from the public and the court. Maybe it was panic over her failure to produce a son (Elizabeth was followed by several miscarriages.) Whatever the reason, Anne seemed not to realize that a royal wife’s role needed to be played differently from a royal mistress’s. When she was pregnant and Henry was ogling another lady in her entourage, for instance, she threw a most un-Katherine-like tantrum. “You would best close your eyes,” Henry said ominously, “as your betters did before you.”

The ultimate Anne biography is The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives. The most popular Anne fiction is The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (soon to be a movie starring Natalie Portman as Anne). The story is told from the perspective of Anne’s sister and Henry’s ex-mistress, Mary Boleyn. I feel that book really gets Anne’s psychology. However, there is also quite a bit of poetic license, including the portrayal of her brother George as gay/bisexual (not that there is anything wrong with that; it’s just unlikely to be true) and the far more … er … “poetic” plot point of having George committing incest with Anne to give Henry an heir. An accusation of incest did figure prominently in sending both Anne and George to their deaths, but reasonable people have long dismissed the claims as trumped-up by Henry and his advisers, who were desperate to get rid of Wife #2 without the hassle of another long divorce battle.

As far as I know, the non-fiction book that created the “George is gay” theory was one by Retha Warnicke. I was amused by a note in the preface about an unfortunate (for the author) “great minds think alike” moment: “While I was engaged in investigating the life and person of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second queen, Professor E. W. Ives’ monumental biography of her was published and its appearance would seem to call for a justification of this book.” In other words, there was no need for this book unless it offered a big surprise. History is always open to reinterpretation, so I don’t fault the author for making the most of a theory. That doesn’t mean I’m convinced!

There’s still a lot to say about Anne Boleyn and many books to recommend. I will save that for my next book post. In the meantime, you can enjoy Thomas Wyatt’s beautiful poem about the elusive Anne Boleyn.

UPDATED TO ADD FOLLOW-UP POSTS:

  • Anne Boleyn, Continued
  • More Anne Boleyn

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Filed Under: anne boleyn, book club, great minds think alike, queens

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. The Sewing Bunny says

    September 13, 2007 at 3:33 pm

    wow this sums up everything i ever wanted to know about that family very nicely! ive always been interested in the glamour of kings and queens, but never actually read anything into it. i really hope ‘the other boleyn girl’ movie is a great one.. natalie portman is one of my favorites!

  2. Victor says

    September 13, 2007 at 8:14 pm

    i didnt really read it but i love ur jewelry. What happens with ur book posts

  3. Frasypoo says

    September 13, 2007 at 9:04 pm

    I read a Readers Digest condensed version of Henry the 8th wives when I was 13 but I like your post better!

  4. WendyB says

    September 13, 2007 at 9:16 pm

    Aw, thank you Frasypoo. I should also recommend this site:
    http://tudorhistory.org/

    It’s great!

  5. Asha lee says

    September 14, 2007 at 1:29 am

    Hi Wendy..I love, I love reading about history and can’t wait to see the film as well as the next ELIZABETH movie starring Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen.
    We should do more movies like this, don’t you think so?

  6. wendygital says

    September 14, 2007 at 4:58 am

    What a sad fate she had…
    Can’t wait until your next thursday post! 🙂

  7. Olga says

    September 14, 2007 at 10:10 am

    I loved the book, even though Anne sounds too modern there, as if she lived in the 21st century 🙂

    I love the pendant, but Anne had such a bad destiny…

  8. Romeika says

    September 14, 2007 at 11:11 am

    I love reading biographies and i’m very interested in History, though i lack knowlodge on Anne Boleyn. The little i know of her i saw in that 1933 film starring Charles Laughton, “The Private Life of Henry VIII”. I can’t wait for “The Other Boleyn Girl”.

  9. jennine says

    September 14, 2007 at 11:53 am

    ahh… your reinterpretation is totally you… it’s gorgeous! and b for brandes!

  10. LML says

    September 15, 2007 at 9:12 am

    haha i love BETTY and have noticed that necklace!
    oh and i cant wait to see that movie as well 🙂

  11. nishitak says

    January 4, 2009 at 7:36 am

    Another series of books on the Tudor family that I highly enjoyed is one by Jean Plaidy. “Murder Most Royal” in particular is very entertaining and tells the stories of Anne Boleyn and her cousin Catherine Howard (who also married Henry VIII and was beheaded for adultery).

  12. Schreiber says

    June 11, 2013 at 1:49 pm

    For those of you who might have an interest in a modern version of the Anne Boleyn/HenryVIII relationship, I wanted to let you know about an online/radio play that is currently in the works. It is called “In the Real World”. It’s a mystery – as much a “To whom was it done ?” as a “Who done it?” Just to make things interesting Harry Houdini also puts in an appearance. I’ll let you know when the play is available.

    Roy Schreiber

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MEET WENDY BRANDES

Award-winning designer of fine jewelry inspired by women's history and pop culture. A former journalist who writes about jewelry, fashion, medieval history, news, feminism, dogs, cats and whatever else is on her mind. Blogging since 2007.
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