Hello Readers,
It might surprise some of you that I am a bit of a history buff as much as I love Egyptology and The Greek Pantheon, I am a huge Tudor fan girl and Anne Boleyn is my Queen. No offence to any of the other Queens but Anne is my favourite. I can’t pinpoint the exact moment that Anne became my favourite Queen, but I can confirm after a little fact check with Mother Goose that even when I was around 12, I thought Anne had a rough public image. I also love the irony that the daughter he despised Anne for became one of the greatest British monarchs.
Before we jump in, I just want to jump on my soap box for a couple of minutes. I am slightly freaked out about how history has romanticised Anne’s beheading. “He clearly still loved her he got in the best swordsman in from France” and “He was kind she didn’t see it coming” HE CUT HER FREAKING HEAD OFF!!!! Slated not only her character but ruined her family name and set up her villainization through history. What do I mean by that I mean the rumours of her being a witch, the sixth finger and the rumours around why she was arrested.
Six Tudor Queens: Anne Boleyn A King’s Obsession by
Alison Weir
This book is one of six books by Alison Weir focusing on the Six wives of who dealt with Henry VIII. I love Alison‘s portrayal of Anne Boleyn, in this book Anne is a lot more than a scheming “Whore” and shows the reader the “Real” person who was in an unfortunate predicament in history. This book is beautifully written and gives a more rounded view and delves into Anne's thoughts, desires, and reactions. It goes beyond the historical facts to show Anne as a real person by cleverly taking the known facts of her unenthusiastic acknowledgment of Henry's attentions and builds a superb fictional story around them. From the start Anne had no interest in the king and didn’t want all this attention. She refused to be another mistress who is used by Henry and cast aside. After seeing how her sister and other women have been treated not just by Henry but Francois in France, she didn’t want the same fate. Anne puts her own personal romantic inclinations aside, decides that if she must be with Henry, then it will be as his wife and Queen and help bring about a reform from the Church in Rome.
Six the Musical
I love the musical as whole and have been lucky enough to see it three times. Anne Boleyn in Six is witty, sarcastic, and just outright funny. Anne’s Solo song Don't Lose Ur Head is so funny and smart if you listen to the lyrics. One thing the soundtracks don’t include are the wicked one liners Anne manages to sneak into the musical between songs. The musical itself is beyond clever and the amount of history and facts are contained is nothing short of amazing. I think Six does a wonderful job of allowing all the Queen’s to tell their story not just Anne but she’s still my favourite (#Herstory)
The Tudors - Natalie Dormer
I am sorry in my opinion no one else can beat Natalie Dormer’s portrayal of Anne. I hated her when she first showed up. Yes, I knew the history and the story and that nothing was going to change but still. Seeing her “Break up” Kathrine and Henry I was raging alongside viewers and then the bubble popped. Katherine was gone they were married and the romance to a degree was over. Seeing how Anne was treated not only by Henry but the court was heart breaking at times. Going from hating someone to crying with them as they miscarried a child was a real roller coaster. The rage I felt when Henry started his old habits was surprisingly palpable. I would like to think the shows betrayal of how blindsided Anne was by the accusations and her arrest was accurate. When I tell you I cried when it came to her beheading it would be an understatement. I was sobbing. It wasn’t until Anne surprise return in the final episode of the Tudors that I cried again, even just writing it brought up goose bumps. Natalie's delivery of the line “Poor Katherine Howard, she lies in the cold ground next to me. Poor child. It was not her fault either.” That broke me. (I am using a poster image I have found through google I do not own any rights and am using the image purely for review purposes (Fair use under the copyright act sections 29 and 30 under use for a review).
L x
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