On Anne Boleyn
Originally posted on my Wordpress blog; will post the Cleopatra entry soon.
Tonight, I am writing about why Anne Boleyn is one of my idols, along side Cleopatra VII, Hatshepsut, Queen Elizabeth I, and Boudicca.
Anne was neither Whore nor Saint. She was a very human woman, with flaws and quirks of her own. In a world of fair maidens, a world where it was rare for women to be educated and have political power, Anne Boleyn was a force to be reckoned with. She was learned at a time where it was simply not done and she put her smarts to good use. She argued against the dissolution of the monestaries and their wealth being transferred to the Crown’s pocket, she was an advocate of Church reform, and she was tri-lingual.
Anne was also brought up as a Maid of Honor in the court of Margaret of Austria, another strong woman who ruled the Netherlands. She was also the friend of Margaret of Angoulême, patroness of poets, humanists, and religious reformers; she was also quite an accomplished writer herself.
Anne Boleyn was also fiery, vivacious, charming, witty, strong and stubborn. She did not want to marry Henry VIII at first and tried to escape his pursuits, as Anne did not want to follow in her older sister’s footsteps and be another disgarded mistress. Still, when Anne realized she didn’t have much of a choice but to give in, it was marriage or nothing.
Anne kept true to her convictions and did not sleep with the King until right before their marriage. She kept him on the run for seven years; and Henry was notoriously fickle and almost ADD in his likes and dislikes. Henry turned England upside down for her and defied the Pope to boot.
What I find fascinating is that Anne wasn’t conventionally beautiful at the time. Blonde, fair women were the ideal and Anne’s looks were dark. Still, despite not being a supermodel of her time, she used her “exotic looks” and considerable charm to her advantage.
Aside from being charming and mysterious, Anne was Henry’s match in practically every way. She took her place by his side in politics and in real life; she did not hesitate to use her intelligence or her influence. Heck, Henry even crowned her using the St. Edward’s Crown, which is only used for a reigning monarch. If Anne was alive today, I have no doubt she’d be an active Feminist.
Look, while she was often hot-tempered (although dealing with Henry and the court, can you really blame her?), lavish in her expenses and not that publically considerate to Henry’s daughter Mary, Anne Boleyn was still a good person who didn’t deserve her Fate.
I honestly can’t blame Anne for being upset at Henry fooling around with Jane; Anne prized loyalty and her own husband couldn’t get his act together and be faithful. Throw in the constant pressure of a need for a male heir, the Catherine of Aragorn/Mary Tudor faction, and well, no wonder the poor woman suffered from miscarriages. That sort of stress must’ve wreaked havoc on her general health.
I look up to Queen Anne Boleyn because in spite of everything, she held strong to her beliefs and was a classy, intelligent, capable woman. She wasn’t some sort of brainless bimbo, but was charming, funny, and outgoing. To quote Eric Ives:
“To us she appears inconsistent-religious yet aggressive, calculating yet emotional, with the light touch of the courtier yet the strong grip of the politician-but is this what she was, or merely what we strain to see through the opacity of the evidence? As for her inner life, short of a miraculous cache of new material, we shall never really know. Yet what does come to us across the centuries is the impression of a person who is strangely appealing to the early twenty-first century: A woman in her own right-taken on her own terms in a man’s world; a woman who mobilized her education, her style and her presence to outweigh the disadvantages of her sex; of only moderate good looks, but taking a court and a king by storm. Perhaps, in the end, it is Thomas Cromwell’s assessment that comes nearest: intelligence, spirit and courage.”
Intelligence, spirit, and courage. We no longer live in the outwardly and unashamedly misogynistic world of the Tudors, but women today still are prisoners of the patriarchy. Beauty, thinness, and conformity to the patriarchal ideas of femininity are lies we grow up with. Anne took the Court by storm armed with only her education, wit, and charm. She didn’t need to be drop dead gorgeous in order to get ahead in life; she relied on her presence and intelligence to help her. Anne Boleyn was a force to be reckoned with and a woman who did not apologize for who and what she was.
In a world where so many women strive to look like Playboy Bunnies or a fashion model, I’ve found the woman I want to model myself on: Queen Anne Boleyn, mother of Elizabeth I and second wife to Henry VIII. If I can ever have half of her intelligence, spirit, and courage, I will know myself to be accomplished indeed.
Tonight, I am writing about why Anne Boleyn is one of my idols, along side Cleopatra VII, Hatshepsut, Queen Elizabeth I, and Boudicca.
Anne was neither Whore nor Saint. She was a very human woman, with flaws and quirks of her own. In a world of fair maidens, a world where it was rare for women to be educated and have political power, Anne Boleyn was a force to be reckoned with. She was learned at a time where it was simply not done and she put her smarts to good use. She argued against the dissolution of the monestaries and their wealth being transferred to the Crown’s pocket, she was an advocate of Church reform, and she was tri-lingual.
Anne was also brought up as a Maid of Honor in the court of Margaret of Austria, another strong woman who ruled the Netherlands. She was also the friend of Margaret of Angoulême, patroness of poets, humanists, and religious reformers; she was also quite an accomplished writer herself.
Anne Boleyn was also fiery, vivacious, charming, witty, strong and stubborn. She did not want to marry Henry VIII at first and tried to escape his pursuits, as Anne did not want to follow in her older sister’s footsteps and be another disgarded mistress. Still, when Anne realized she didn’t have much of a choice but to give in, it was marriage or nothing.
Anne kept true to her convictions and did not sleep with the King until right before their marriage. She kept him on the run for seven years; and Henry was notoriously fickle and almost ADD in his likes and dislikes. Henry turned England upside down for her and defied the Pope to boot.
What I find fascinating is that Anne wasn’t conventionally beautiful at the time. Blonde, fair women were the ideal and Anne’s looks were dark. Still, despite not being a supermodel of her time, she used her “exotic looks” and considerable charm to her advantage.
Aside from being charming and mysterious, Anne was Henry’s match in practically every way. She took her place by his side in politics and in real life; she did not hesitate to use her intelligence or her influence. Heck, Henry even crowned her using the St. Edward’s Crown, which is only used for a reigning monarch. If Anne was alive today, I have no doubt she’d be an active Feminist.
Look, while she was often hot-tempered (although dealing with Henry and the court, can you really blame her?), lavish in her expenses and not that publically considerate to Henry’s daughter Mary, Anne Boleyn was still a good person who didn’t deserve her Fate.
I honestly can’t blame Anne for being upset at Henry fooling around with Jane; Anne prized loyalty and her own husband couldn’t get his act together and be faithful. Throw in the constant pressure of a need for a male heir, the Catherine of Aragorn/Mary Tudor faction, and well, no wonder the poor woman suffered from miscarriages. That sort of stress must’ve wreaked havoc on her general health.
I look up to Queen Anne Boleyn because in spite of everything, she held strong to her beliefs and was a classy, intelligent, capable woman. She wasn’t some sort of brainless bimbo, but was charming, funny, and outgoing. To quote Eric Ives:
“To us she appears inconsistent-religious yet aggressive, calculating yet emotional, with the light touch of the courtier yet the strong grip of the politician-but is this what she was, or merely what we strain to see through the opacity of the evidence? As for her inner life, short of a miraculous cache of new material, we shall never really know. Yet what does come to us across the centuries is the impression of a person who is strangely appealing to the early twenty-first century: A woman in her own right-taken on her own terms in a man’s world; a woman who mobilized her education, her style and her presence to outweigh the disadvantages of her sex; of only moderate good looks, but taking a court and a king by storm. Perhaps, in the end, it is Thomas Cromwell’s assessment that comes nearest: intelligence, spirit and courage.”
Intelligence, spirit, and courage. We no longer live in the outwardly and unashamedly misogynistic world of the Tudors, but women today still are prisoners of the patriarchy. Beauty, thinness, and conformity to the patriarchal ideas of femininity are lies we grow up with. Anne took the Court by storm armed with only her education, wit, and charm. She didn’t need to be drop dead gorgeous in order to get ahead in life; she relied on her presence and intelligence to help her. Anne Boleyn was a force to be reckoned with and a woman who did not apologize for who and what she was.
In a world where so many women strive to look like Playboy Bunnies or a fashion model, I’ve found the woman I want to model myself on: Queen Anne Boleyn, mother of Elizabeth I and second wife to Henry VIII. If I can ever have half of her intelligence, spirit, and courage, I will know myself to be accomplished indeed.