Anne Boleyn is one of the main characters and the main antagonist of The Other Boleyn Girl, and was based on the real historical figure of Queen Anne Boleyn.
In the Tudor series, she is the older daughter of Sir Thomas and Lady Elizabeth Boleyn, the younger sister of George Boleyn, the older sister of Mary Boleyn, and the twenty-second wife of Henry VIII, however, this is untrue. Anne was the younger sister of Mary Boleyn, not the other way around. During her ill-fated marriage to Henry, Anne gave birth to a daughter: Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Anne was portrayed by Jodhi May in the 2003 television film adaption and by Natalie Portman in the 2008 theatrical film.
Books[]
The King’s Curse[]
She stands surrounded by a circle of the most handsome men of the court, the centre of attention in the beautiful arched hall, her dark head crowned by a French hood of deep crimson set with rubies and gold thread. She does not look out of place, she does not look shamed as she should, a lady in waiting who has forgotten her place. Instead, she looks utterly triumphant. She sweeps a shallow curtsey, her red velvet gown spread wide, and she does not hurry to join the queen’s train, as she should.
There is a momentary pause, almost an intake of breath, and then the queen looks from her husband to the Boleyn girl as if she realizes that something new and strange is happening here. The young woman is not going to withdraw from the hall following the queen, walking behind the superior ladies in order of strict precedence – and since she was born the daughter of a simple knight there are very many of us to precede her. She is not coming at all. In this one act she has changed everything. And the queen is not ordering her. And the king is allowing this.
The Other Boleyn Girl[]
‘I’m ready,’ Anne said and rose to her feet. The rest of her court came into the room and the ladies in waiting arranged the long train of her cape, I straightened her headdress, and spread her long dark hair over her shoulders.
Then my sister, the Boleyn girl, went out to be crowned Queen of England.
The Boleyn Inheritance[]
Only when the news finally came from London could I learn what my cousin Queen Anne had done. My maid told me, I can hear her now telling me, that Lady Anne was accused of terrible crimes, adultery with many men, her brother among them, witchcraft, treason, bewitching the king, a string of horrors from which only one thing stood out to me, an aghast little girl: that her accuser was her uncle, my uncle Norfolk. That he presided over the court, that he pronounced her death sentence and that his son, my handsome cousin, went to the Tower like a man might go to a fair, dressed in his best, to see his cousin beheaded.
The Taming of the Queen[]
I think of her mother, Anne Boleyn, sweating at the May Day joust, knowing her danger but not knowing what form it would take. ‘Certain?’
‘You don’t think I was cuckolded?’ he demands. ‘You don’t think she is another man’s child? Do you deny her mother’s guilt? I had her mother beheaded for that guilt.’
She is the spit of him. Her brassy hair, her white skin, her stubborn little pout of a mouth. But if I deny her mother’s guilt I accuse him of being a wife-killer, a jealous fool who put an innocent woman to death on the gossip of old midwives. ‘Whatever Anne Boleyn did in later years, I believe that Elizabeth is yours,’ I say carefully. ‘She is a little copy of you. She is Tudor through and through.’
The Queen's Fool[]
Those days and then weeks in the Tower with the princess were the worst ones of my life in England, the worst days for Elizabeth too. She went into a sort of trance of unhappiness and fear which nothing could lift. She knew that she was going to die, and in the very same spot where they had beheaded her mother Anne Boleyn, her aunt Jane Rochford, her cousin Catherine Howard, and her cousin Jane Grey. There was a lot of family blood already soaked into that earth, and soon hers would join it. That spot, unmarked by any stone on the green inside the walls of the Tower, overshadowed by the White Tower, was the dying ground for the women of her family.
The Virgin's Lover[]
‘It’s the painter, sir. He asked was he to do the Boleyn family too?’
‘The queen’s mother?’
The clerk did not blink. He named the woman who had been beheaded for treason, witchcraft and incestuous adultery against the king, and whose name had been banned ever since. ‘The Lady Anne Boleyn, sir.’
Robert pushed back his jeweled velvet cap and scratched his thick, dark hair, looking in his anxiety much younger than his twenty-five years.
‘Yes,’ he said finally. ‘She’s the queen’s mother. She can’t just be a gap. We can’t just ignore her. She has to be our honorable Lady Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, and mother of the queen.’
The Other Boleyn Girl (2003)[]
In the BBC TV Movie Anne is portrayed very differently than in the book. She is shy and timid instead of confident and ambitious.
The movie starts in the gardens of a castle with the three Boleyn siblings playing a game and laughing in merriment. We then are introduced to Anne and Mary , on their own, in a confessional like room where they talk directly to the camera. Mary reveals that she is married and hopes to have at least four children and Anne reveals that she is unmarried and wants to fall in love. The year is 1524, and at court things are becoming increasingly apparent that the Queen is desperate for a male heir as she starts to wear hair shirts, much to the Boleyn sisters’ amusement. The king barges into the Queen’s chambers and warmly invites the Queen to dinner before turning his attentions to the newly married Mary. Shortly afterwards in the palace’s gardens, George, Anne and Mary are gossiping when they are summoned to their father’s rooms at court. The Boleyn family, Thomas Howard and Mary's husband William Carey have gathered to tell Mary that the King has summoned her to his bed and she has no choice but to go. Later that night, Anne helps a tearful Mary prepare for her night with the king.
Anne and Henry Percy's courtship
While at court, Anne begins a relationship with Henry Percy. During one of their meetings, they are interrupted by Mary Boleyn. Anne hurriedly follows after her sister and enquires about her night with the King. Anne then confesses about her romance with Henry Percy although Mary states that any romance between them is impossible. Despite Mary's warning, Anne and Henry become betrothed in secret and are discovered in bed together by Mary. Mary tells the rest of the family and a family meeting is called. Anne tearfully tries to defend her marriage but her family renounce the betrothal and banish Anne to Hever Castle.
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)[]
The movie starts with Thomas and Elizabeth Boleyn strolling through the woodlands around Hever castle with their three young children. Thomas tells Elizabeth that the Carey family asked for Anne to be married to their son William but instead he chose gave them Mary. Thomas' reason for this is that he believes that Anne could "do much better than a merchant's son".
The movie moves forwards to the day of Mary's wedding to William Carey. Anne and George decide to visit Mary as she dresses for her wedding. Anne is happy for her younger sister even though claims to be eclipsed by her. After the wedding there are wedding celebrations with a feast and dancing where Anne catches the eye of Henry Percy. George teases Anne that she is only interested in him because of his titles and wealth to which Anne playfully replies "I simply like his face". George also points out that Percy is engaged but that doesn't trouble Anne. Later that night Anne helps Mary prepare for her wedding night. Anne thinks she has failed as an older sister because she can't give Mary any advice about sex or marriage because she is unmarried although Mary tries to reassure her. After leaving Mary for the night, Anne is summoned to meet with her father and her uncle Thomas Howard. They offer her the chance to be mistress to King Henry VIII. Initially she is appalled but she quickly agrees when she sees the benefits of being a royal mistress.The next day, the sisters spend time together and gossip. Mary tells Anne about her wedding night and William's bad habits to which Anne laughs and Anne tells Mary about her mission to charm the king during his stay at Hever castle. When the king does arrive at Hever, Anne is introduced to him and is sat besides him at the dinner table where they make small talk under Thomas Howard's intense observation. That night Anne's father tells her how well she has done and that she must do well during the hunt the next day. Anne takes his advice very seriously. The next day the guests and courtiers go for a hunt and Anne leads the hunt eager to please the king. During the hunt the king falls from his horse and was injured much to Anne's dismay. Because of the King's injury, Anne is scolded by her family and Mary is used to seduce the king instead.
The Spanish Princess ( TV Series)[]
In the first season, Catherine meets little girls Anne and Mary Boleyn. When asked where Harry was, Anne lies to Catherine.
In the second season, she then appears to be Catherine ‘s lady in waiting up u the last episode. She is seen by Catherine at the lake. Anne is seen meeting Henry wearing a robe. She then strips in front of Henry. Henry tries to touch her, only for her to rebuff him. Catherine aims her crossbow at them, but then decides not to shoot.
Personality[]
In the beginning, Anne was portrayed as an arrogant, but elegant and graceful young woman who loved her siblings dearly, though her relationship with Mary was occasionally strained due to the friendly rivalry between them. She delighted in all things French, and was described by Mary to be "a courtier beyond all others", for her remarkable powers of observation and flirtation enabled her to quickly turn a situation to her advantage, as well as to manipulate her targets into being compliant with her wishes. In fact, when Mary became the King's mistress, Anne was responsible for helping her to preserve his affections, though she made no secret of her jealousy and resentment over her older sister becoming the center of the court.
However, after her failed marriage to Henry Percy, Anne's nature took a turn for the worse: after she herself became the King's mistress when Mary lost favour, Anne became so consumed by greed and ambition that she was willing to go to any lengths to become the Queen of England. Her selfishness caused her already tumultuous relationship with Mary to deteriorate rapidly, and her ruthless determined desire for power and wealth brought about either the death or disgrace of numerous personages who were held in high esteem by all in England. Her flirtatious behaviour also became such that even her own brother, George, commented that she should learn not to be so sensual, especially in public.
In the midst of all this, Mary - as Anne's constant companion - was still able to see that her younger sister was increasingly unhappy: behind closed doors, Mary could see the toll taken on Anne's physical and mental well-being, and despite her apparent lack of concern for those whom she had hurt to achieve her goals or the opinions of others, an instance with their brother made Mary realize that Anne was, deep down, ashamed of the woman she had grown to be - "a woman who had learned to throw everything, even her mortal soul, into the battle to become Queen".
One constant feature of Anne would be her bad temper, which she struggled to keep in check: she could fly into a terrible rage over any perceived slight, and in her anger, she would be utterly rude and disrespectful to anyone, even the King, which only worsened her unpopularity and made the contrast between her and Queen Catherine of Aragon all the more disadvantageous in her favour. In fact, her temper was most possibly one of the main reasons why the King eventually fell out of love with her, especially after she failed numerous times to give him a strong healthy son, and Anne only realized this too late.
Besides this, Anne was also easily inclined to be vain and jealous - she took special pleasure in constantly reminding Mary that she was the wittier, more beautiful, and more prosperous sister. Mary also observed that Anne "could always be comforted by the sight of her beauty", and she took pride in her razor-sharp intelligence, but was still envious of those who were born to better privileges and had a better education than she had, such as the Princess Mary (Henry's and Catherine's only surviving child). Before Henry forcefully sent Catherine away, Anne never missed an opportunity of humiliating her, and delighted in flaunting her youth, beauty, and exotic tastes of French fashion to the aging Queen. In fact, even after Catherine was deposed and forced to live in poverty and hardship, Anne still regarded her as one of her deadliest enemies, and made the Princess Mary wait on Princess Elizabeth as a lady-in-waiting. It was also this very jealousy that caused her to banish her sister Mary from court when she learned of her secret marriage to William Stafford, for she was heartbroken that her older sister managed to marry for love, while she was alone and increasingly unhappy.
However, Anne was not an entirely unfeeling character. Though her relationship with Mary was always strained by their unfavourable, inescapable circumstances, and there was always a sense of "the other must be bested" between them. It was also an indisputable and unchangeable fact that Anne viewed Mary as one of the only two true friends she had, and would always need her emotionally. George never lost her love and favour as well, despite his increasing lapse into bad behaviour after she became Queen, and Mary once observed that Anne truly cared about what their brother felt. Though she was, most understandably, disappointed when Elizabeth turned out to be a daughter instead of the longed-for son, Anne still grew to love her. She also occasionally expressed feelings of frustration and loneliness throughout her campaign to become Queen - suggesting she may have secretly regretted her actions and longed to have an ordinary husband she married for love.
Appearance[]
In the Tudor series, Anne was described to be an exotically beautiful and infinitely sensuous woman: a wealth of glossy black hair that was "as dark and glossy as a racehorse's mane", a perfectly pale complexion, an hourglass figure comprising of full breasts and slim waist, and a face "as lovely as if it was carved from ice" - a long nose, brown eyes, and a knowing, seductive half-smile. Due to her taste for French fashions, she was always dressed in a truly stylish but virile manner that set off her beauty to full advantage, and knew how to carry herself as if she was "the greatest Queen that had ever been born".
As a noble courtesan and later queen, Anne wears various outfits: In the Château Ver as Perseverance, she wears a green dress with a headdress and a golden mask (In the real-life Château Ver the dress was white and instead of a headdress she wore a Venetian hat) During the first meeting at the London mansion of her uncle the Duke of Norfolk, Mary notices that she is wearing "The string of pearls on her French headdress gleamed like the bright eyes of conspirators."
On a ride with the king, Anne wore her head, covered with the neatest of French hunting hats, adorned with an exquisite feather.
Anne also owns a red cape trimmed with swan down and an elegant little equestrian hat, which she lends to Mary.
When she goes to the shipyard for the second time, Anne wears one of Mary's old dresses but orders it to be shortened and reformed following French fashion, and she had her style. She wore it with a matching French hat, made from fabric taken from the cutout of her skirt.
On the day of festivities that Cardinal Wolsey organized to inaugurate May, along with the other ladies of the court, she dresses in white.
At a dance in the evening, Anne was wearing a dark blue dress, a new dress, with a matching headdress. She wore her usual gold “B” pearl choker, as if she wanted to highlight her single status.
When the king begins to court her, she gives him two new dresses with matching headdresses, at least one of which was completely beaded.
For the mask in honor of the French envoys, Anne wears a tight corset of the same fabric as her golden dress. She pushed back her French headdress so that her dark hair showed and she straightened the gold "B" she always wore hanging around her neck.
Anne gave the king a jewel with an engraving of a maiden on a storm-hit ship.
In Richmond, Anne was queen in everything but title. She had new rooms next to the king's, ladies in waiting, a dozen new dresses, jewelry, a pair of steeds to go riding with the king, she sat next to him when the councilors discussed the affairs of the country with him.
On a barge trip, Anne has her headdress removed from her face, her pale complexion flushed with pleasure, her dark green dress tight around her breasts and her slender waist.
Due to the stress of maintaining the king's interest without consummating the relationship and the delay in obtaining an annulment from Rome, she became increasingly pale. The lines under her eyes became darker and darker and she began using powder to hide the dark circles. Every time she Mary tied her bra looser while she lost weight, and then she had to stuff padding in her dress so that she would show off her plump breasts, like they used to be.
At the end of the masquerade night, she was still as white as her silver dress, not even her dancing had flushed her complexion.
King Henry gives her magnificent pearls strung on a gold chain. She puts them on that night at dinner to thank him personally.
After arguing over why Queen Catherine continued to sew her shirts, Henry gave her rubies.
When Anne wins a target shooting game she gets a small headdress in the shape of a golden crown. She took off her headdress with a gesture of self-confidence, her dark hair, which fell in a cascade of thick shiny ringlets, and the king placed her crown on her head.
When the king moves his court without informing Catherine of Aragon, Anne wears a riding hat and a luxurious red velvet dress with a long train that Mary is afraid to step on.
At Christmas, the king gave her a room full of the most luxurious fabrics for her dresses.
Due to the discontent of the town, to go to eat with her brothers at a bar in town, she put on an unusually dark dress, her riding cap tilted over her face, and she hid her choker with the gold "B" to be discreet.
In her visiting room, she in Windsor Castle, she surrounded by tailors, haberdashers and seamstresses. Anne orders dresses made of sumptuous fabrics such as silk, velvet, and gold fabric.
Upon being named Marchioness of Pembroke, Anne wore a red velvet dress trimmed with the soft white fur of an ermine. Her hair, black and shiny like the mane of a racehorse, was loose on her shoulders like that of a girl on her wedding day (In real life she also wore so much jewelry that you could barely see the ring of the neckline of her bodice) . The king tied the official garment around her shoulders and placed a gold diadem on her head.
On the night she sleeps with the king after being named marchioness, Anne chooses to wear the dress she wore at the ball and the tiara to meet her like a queen.
Together with her ladies-in-waiting, they slipped out of the castle dressed in capes over their magnificent dresses and hoods over their headdresses. Gathered in the antechamber, they removed their cloaks and helped each other put on the golden dominoes, masks, and golden headdresses. Anne in particular looked opulent and wild, her dark eyes shining behind the slits of the gold falcon-head mask and her hair falling over her shoulders beneath the golden veil of her headdress.
The king bought her a black satin robe trimmed with fur to receive the guests who went to her bedroom.
Upon being proclaimed queen, Anne almost staggered under the weight of the official costume, the diamonds and jewels in her hair, in the train and border of the dress, her throat and arms (In real life the dress she wore when she was proclaimed queen was golden and it was during a mass but the book does not mention the color of the dress or the exact moment in which she was publicly proclaimed queen).
On her way to her coronation, Anne was wearing a wonderful dress of gold and silver and a fur cape draped over her shoulders. According to her sister Mary, "she didn't look like my sister, she didn't look like a mortal woman."
Going to London, Mary helped her put on a white dress, with a white coat and an ermine cloak. She wore her hair loose over her shoulders, with a gold veil and a gold tiara.
At her coronation, Anne was dressed in crimson velvet trimmed with the whitest, softest ermine fur, a purple cloak, and an unfriendly face.
Anne, on the first day of her reign, was lavishly dressed in a dark dress, a jeweled headdress, and a long string of pearls double-stranded around her neck. She still wore the gold “B,” and held a gold-leafed missal.
When a midwife goes to attend to her secretly, instead of a simple mask she wears a golden bird mask, which she had worn in France to dance with the king. Anne, gasping with pain, lay prostrate on a narrow bed in the flickering, dim light of the candles, with her voluminous belly bound by the sheet, and, above her, a resplendent golden falcon mask, with a large gold beak of hawk and angry eyebrows. It was like a scene from some hideous morality painting, with Anne's face an allegory of greed and vanity, and her dark eyes twinkling through the holes in her golden head at the head of the bed, while, below, her eyes white and defenseless thighs opened on a blood stain on the sheets.
Anne has a dark cape trimmed with real ermine.
The morning after her second miscarriage, Anne had all of her most luxurious dresses spread out to choose which one she would wear that day and what she would wear when the court left on a summer trip. They dressed her and she tied herself firmly so that her breasts emerged tightly in two tantalizing curves of flesh through the neckline of her dress. Her lustrous black hair was visible in her headdress, her long fingers were covered in rings, she wore her favorite pearl choker, with the "B" for Boleyn at her throat. The swirl of her spin made the sumptuous silk of her dress flutter around her and the diamonds sparkled in the vivid light.
During the court's summer trip, Anne wore a shimmering gold and white dress.
Upon learning of the death of Catherine of Aragon, Anne and Henry dressed in yellow, the happiest and sunniest color for the banquet they held for the news. Anne also wears a yellow headdress to match her dress.
Called a "whore" in comparison to Jane Seymour by King Henry himself, Anne chose a silver and white dress, as if reaffirming her purity even when the court had heard the accusation that she used harlot tricks. Her corset was embroidered with pearls and diamonds and the edge of the silver fabric of the skirt was stitched with silver thread. When she put the headdress over her black hair she had all the appearance of a queen, the snow queen, a queen of unspeakable beauty.
After recovering from her third miscarriage, Anne arrives in Greenwich, dressed in a scarlet riding suit and a matching hat, pushed back, adorned with an elongated plume sporting a large ruby brooch.
Determined not to appear intimidated by Jane Seymour, Anne emerged from her in a luxurious green velvet dress, with emerald earrings, diamonds sparkling on her green headdress, and the gold "B" on the pearl choker around her neck. .
At the ice-skate dance, Anne wore the scarlet riding hat with the long plume, and a lock of hair tickled her cheek. She looked radiant, undeniably beautiful. And whalebone skates.
At the afternoon joust on May Day, Anne was dressed in silver and white with a white maypole, like a carefree girl in spring.
When she is taken to the Tower of London for accusations of adultery, Anne was still dressed in the blue dress she had worn to attend the tennis (In real life, although she was arrested during a tennis game, the queen changed her clothes To go to the Tower of London, she chose to wear a splendid crimson velvet dress with a golden kirtle)
At her trial for adultery, Anne entered with the gold "B" at her throat, her headdress pushed back to show her shiny black hair, her dark dress highlighting her shiny skin. she. (At her real-life trial, Anne Boleyn wore “a black velvet dress over a scarlet damask petticoat and a small cap with a black and white feather.”)
At Anne's execution, she wore a black dress and a dark cape. She lifted her French headdress, her hair was tied back with a net. She knelt before her in her black dress and bold crimson shirt, blindfolded, face pale. (In real life, when Anne Boleyn was executed, she looked immaculate in her fur-lined black damask dress, her ermine-trimmed mantle, and her gabled English hood. She also wore a crimson kirtle.)
Anne uses soap and rose water essence for her skin, lavender for her clothes.
Relationships[]
Mary Boleyn:
"I was born to be your rival. And you mine. We're sisters, aren't we?"
Anne has a complicated relationship with her sister. Anne does appear to love Mary and is even kind to her on a number of occasions, but she is also jealous of her and regards as her rival. Anne says that as Mary's sister, she was "born to be her rival". Anne can be quite cruel to Mary, belittling her and trying to upstage her, and using her to further their family's ambitions with little thought for her feelings or desires. Their relationship becomes strained when Anne tries, and succeeds, in stealing King Henry away from her. Things become worse still when Anne takes away Mary's son. Anne is furious with Mary when she learns that she has married William Stafford without her permission, slapping her, calling her a whore and banishing her. She even threatens to tell Mary's son that she is dead and forbid her from ever seeing him, knowing how much Mary loves her children. In spite of this, Anne does have some affection for Mary. She eventually allows her to return to court and insists that she "needs" Mary's help and support. Mary describes Anne as being her "dark mirror" - even though they are complete opposites and do not always see eye to eye, they still need each other.
Historical Figure[]
Anne Boleyn was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and Lady Elizabeth Boleyn.
Quotes[]
"Every woman has to have something which singles her out, which catches the eyes, which makes her the center of attention. I am going to be French.”
"One Boleyn girl or the other. We might either of us be Queen of England and yet we'll always be nothing to our family."
Trivia[]
- In the novels, Anne pointedly plays upon her French tastes to distinguish herself from the other ladies at court. She adopts a French accent when it suited her, and always wore French fashions. Neither of the film adaptations featured a French accent, but The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) did portray Anne wearing French fashions.
- In the novels, Anne is a year older than Mary, but four years younger than George
Gallery[]
Anne Boleyn portrayed by Natalie Portman in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) film