Anne Boleyn

We're having a "snow day" here.  Even though the amount of snow we've received is laughable absolutely everything is closed so I have spent the day curled up with The Lady in the Tower by Alison Weir.  This book is a historical account of the last four months of the life of Anne Boleyn. I'm about halfway through, and it's turning out to be a fairly juicy read as far as these sorts of books go.  


Anne Boleyn is one of my favorite historical figures. I find her life and tragic death completely captivating, and I enjoy learning the actual facts regarding her rise and fall as much as I enjoy the more sensationalized versions of her personality in movies, television, and novels. Writers tend to over sexualize her, but that obviously makes for better entertainment.  

I loved the novel The Other Boleyn Girl, but the movie was dreadful- too condensed, not enough character development. Such a shame, because it could have been awesome. Lot's of people say Natalie Portman did a bad job as Anne, but I just don't think she had enough to work with. I've watched clips of Natalie Dormer's Anne Boleyn on The Tudors and I think she's fabulous. However, my absolute favorite Anne Boleyn portrayal is Genevieve Bujold's. She won a Golden Globe and received an Academy Award nomination for her lead role in Anne of the Thousand Days opposite Richard Burton.  

Here's a clip of my favorite scene from Anne of the the Thousand Days. The first part is a little sappy, but when she and Richard Burton have their final blowout things get pretty intense. This might be an unnecessary setup, but Anne Boleyn has been placed in the Tower of London on charges that she has been unfaithful to the King. In this version the charges were bought and paid for by Henry (most historical accounts claim she was setup by Cromwell) so that he would be free to marry Jane Seymour. Henry still loved Anne (in his psychopathic way) but was afraid that she would not provide him with a male heir. Genevieve Bujold does an amazing job delivering her lines, and I've never seen someone take a slap to the face with so much dignity. She is pure indignation and I love it!