Really geeky Tudor England discussion
So I read The Other Boleyn Girl this weekend. It's about Mary Boleyn, sister to Anne (most sources I've checked seem to indicate she was older than Anne, but the book makes her a few years younger)--she was also Henry VIII's mistress after Bessie Blount and before he was involved with Anne. Mary was also rumored to be Francois I's mistress (both Anne and Mary served in the French court--Anne was noted for her love of French fashion, and in her portraits she is usually wearing the French (curved) hood, whereas Catherine of Aragon (Anne's queenly predecessor) and Jane Seymour (Anne's replacement) both wore a gabled hood. The book doesn't mention Mary's reputation for promiscuity--in fact she is extremely sympathetically portrayed, and Anne is much less so. The book shows Mary as respecting and caring for Catherine (whom she served as lady-in-waiting) and torn between her desire to do the decent thing, her loyalty toward her family, and her love for Henry. It's all well-written and interesting, although parts of it do not quite ring true--the book assumes that Henry Carey was Henry Tudor's bastard, but then the King takes no interest in his upbringing which we know was not the case with Henry Fitzroy (his acknowledged bastard by Bessie Blount). The King is shown as being thrilled when Mary is pregnant both times, and then forgets about the kids--inconsistent characterization. The book also says that Anne assumed the role of Henry Carey's guardian--first off, I'd *never* heard this before (but it seems this really did happen?--I think I found confirmation online), but how could one woman take away parental rights from another? Mary Boleyn was still alive, still there and I believe William Carey had other family. I realize family law was different back then but it still doesn't make sense, or at any rate, Gregory (the author) doesn't make it plausible--she says Anne's motive was to have a trump spare heir in the wings (because the King's Great Matter was all about Finding That Heir). Why would Anne do this when it's Henry's bastard? How would that be her trump? It just didn't make sense.
Mary and Anne had another noted sibling, their brother George, who was executed along with Anne when his wife, Lady Rochford, testified to their incestuous affair. Gregory's theories are more plausible here, because she paints a decent characterization of George and Anne as the only two who really understand each other (George is homosexual in this portrayal and Anne is the prototypical fruit fly--historians are divided on George's proclivities but Lady Rochford certainly did have it in for her husband. And the rest of the Howards--she also turned in Catherine Howard (George, Mary and Anne's first cousin) a few years later for adultery. She was directly responsible for the deaths of three Howards!). Anyway, Anne is desperate to conceive a child and apparently Henry is impotent (okay, Gregory, we KNOW he fathered Edward VI--that child was a classic Tudor male, dying at 15), so driven nearly insane by her ambition and that of her family, she hooks up with her brother, and the result is a monster baby that miscarries. Anne's mounting instability and its effect on the rest of the family is nicely portrayed, as is her relationship with her two siblings. There's a lovely, weirdly evocative scene just before everything comes crashing down, the night before the day everyone is arrested, and Anne and George sense something is about to happen, and they cuddle in front of the fire all night, whistling past the graveyard. I also like the portrayal of Mary's relationship with William Stafford (her married-for-love second husband who was much lower socially than she). Stafford seemed like a straight up guy!
I would love to read a novel about Catherine Howard. She fascinates me, for some reason.
Mary and Anne had another noted sibling, their brother George, who was executed along with Anne when his wife, Lady Rochford, testified to their incestuous affair. Gregory's theories are more plausible here, because she paints a decent characterization of George and Anne as the only two who really understand each other (George is homosexual in this portrayal and Anne is the prototypical fruit fly--historians are divided on George's proclivities but Lady Rochford certainly did have it in for her husband. And the rest of the Howards--she also turned in Catherine Howard (George, Mary and Anne's first cousin) a few years later for adultery. She was directly responsible for the deaths of three Howards!). Anyway, Anne is desperate to conceive a child and apparently Henry is impotent (okay, Gregory, we KNOW he fathered Edward VI--that child was a classic Tudor male, dying at 15), so driven nearly insane by her ambition and that of her family, she hooks up with her brother, and the result is a monster baby that miscarries. Anne's mounting instability and its effect on the rest of the family is nicely portrayed, as is her relationship with her two siblings. There's a lovely, weirdly evocative scene just before everything comes crashing down, the night before the day everyone is arrested, and Anne and George sense something is about to happen, and they cuddle in front of the fire all night, whistling past the graveyard. I also like the portrayal of Mary's relationship with William Stafford (her married-for-love second husband who was much lower socially than she). Stafford seemed like a straight up guy!
I would love to read a novel about Catherine Howard. She fascinates me, for some reason.