...so that I could venture back to the 1520's and meet this intriguing woman for myself. Well, actually, I wish I could discover what she actually believed about her faith, because pretty much no one today knows for sure. Why does it matter? Because the truth behind her character and actions lies in what she believed. Was she a true Christain? Was she a power-grabber? Was she something in between? Was she really Protestant, or actually Catholic?One author claims that she was a better Catholic than most of her family, which makes no sense because she was obviously in favor of Henry's separation from Rome. Furthermore, she in good conscience (as a good Catholic) could not have married an excommunicate! (If my understanding is correct.)
So, at the moment, I'm inclined to believe she really was Lutheran. But will we ever really know? Probably not. Which makes my task examining this in a research paper rather annoying. I want to know for certain!
I console myself with thoughts of writing a novel, based on the premise that she was an Evangelical Protestant. Because the best way to truely examine the motives of a historical character is to put yourself in their shoes as much as possible. And I think one of the best ways to do this is to write fiction. Because you have freedom to explore the truth.
All this is actually quite radical for me, because until fairly recently I was very pro-Catherine of Aragon/Princess Mary. Anne was always the villianess. But my recent reading has been testing and changing those beliefs and what I'm finding is the fascinating woman that has intrigued historians for years.
And, for the record, the new movie "The Other Boleyn Girl" is based on a supposedly interesting but woefully inaccurate book of the same title. I have not yet decided whether I shall be seeing it or not. On the one hand, I would love to see Natalie Portman portray Anne, but on the other hand I think the inaccuracies would send me screaming from the theatre.
4 comments:
If she was a 'true' practicing Catholic, she would not have been involved like she was with King Henry, since he was excommunicated, and
exactly my point.
Ha, you were right! Portman is playing Boleyne... Though I have a bad feeling will be nothing more than a film about affairs and the like, rather focusing on a more realistic history... *sighs* Hollywood...
Of course I was right! =)
No, the book is outrageously inaccurate, and (from reading the reviews) the movie was even more immoral than I expected- it was given a PG-13, but it sounds as though it should have been an R.
Oh well...maybe someday an obliging history prof will show a scene from it in a class...haha.
Even the costumes aren't historically accurate. Which, of course, is unforgiveable.
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