The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl (Motion Picture) ,
Anne of the Thousand Days (Motion Picture), Mistress Anne by Carolly Erickson
I have been on somewhat of a Tudor kick lately, and one of the perks of working in a library is the ready access to multiple books and movies on the same subjects. The interest was spawned by my desire to learn everything about Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s final wife. This led me to down the long list of his wives to his most infamous and controversial- Anne Boleyn. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about a brief recap- Henry the VIII was the second king of the Tudor line in 16th century England. He is best known today for his habit of marrying and discarding wives, going through six in his life. He changed the religion of England to divorce, his first wife, Catherine of Aragon in order to marry his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
This was a momentous change in England. What kind of woman is the catalyst behind such a change? The answer to that is: it depends on what you read.
In Gregory’s books, Anne is a clever courtier who is put forth by her family to garner rewards. She withholds sex from Henry, apparently the first to ever do so, encouraging him to leave his wife and disown his daughter for her. She does anything once she has him to keep him, including incest with her brother and a light dabbling in witchcraft. She never loves him, having been forced to leave her first love by her family. We’ll call this version “Anne Dark”. In the movie The Other Boleyn Girl Anne is a bit more sympathetic. She is put forward by her family, along with her sister, Mary, to get Henry’s attention and forces him to ignore her sister whom Henry has impregnated. She is not as devious as in the book and doesn’t commit incest with her brother. She is also raped by Henry, which was not in the book. We’ll call this version “Anne Beige”. The Anne in Carolly Erickson’s Mistress Anne is cast in the same mold.
The Anne in Anne of the Thousand Days is most sympathetic yet. She doesn’t love Henry, he pursues her and she eventually gives in. Once she does he stops loving her. She then dies heroically to keep their daughter Elizabeth the heir to the throne, rather than give him an annulment allowing him to declare Elizabeth illegitimate. We will call this version “Saint Anne”.
Who do I think she was? Obviously there are some real differences in the three versions. I find it hard to believe that Anne was guilty of everything of which she was accused: witchcraft, incest and treason (in those days treason was being unfaithful to the King of England). She wasn’t “Anne Dark”. On the other hand, I don’t see her as quite as pure and heroic as she is in Anne of the Thousand Days. I’m pretty sure “Anne Beige” is closest in character if not in detail to the real woman. I’m sure she fought and argued with Henry and alienated power players in the Tudor Court. She didn’t give Henry the male heir she had promised him. She made the mistake of teaching him that queens are disposable, so when she didn’t give him a prince, she was disposed of.
Each of these books and movies are available at the Cavendish Fletcher Community Library. Read or watch a few and decide for yourself.
A bit of a postscript to this review- I found a dusty book in the stacks today called Anne Boleyn written in the 1950’s. I wonder which “Anne” dark, beige or saint is in it? I’m taking it home to read it and find out.
