Mary Boleyn was the main protagonist and narrator of The Other Boleyn Girl.
She is the youngest child of Sir Thomas and Lady Elizabeth Boleyn, as well as the younger sister of George and Anne Boleyn. As a young girl, she made an advantageous marriage to William Carey, a rising courtier, though due to her family's ambitions and manipulations, she became the mistress of King Henry VIII, and had two children (who may have been fathered by either William or Henry). However, during Mary's second pregnancy, Henry's attention drifts to her older sister, Anne, and his pursuit of Anne intensified the rivalry between the sisters.
Forgotten by the King and later widowed by the sweating sickness, Mary eventually realised her truest desires as well as what really mattered, and - though it scandalised the court - married her family servant, William Stafford, for love. Through this, Mary survived the court while George and Anne failed, and left to live a happy life in the countryside with her husband and children.
In the 2003 film adaptation, Mary was portrayed by Natascha McElhone, while in the 2008 film, she was portrayed by Scarlett Johansson.
The Other Boleyn Girl[]
The Other Boleyn Girl is written from the point of view of Mary and as such involves her in almost all of the events of the story.
The story begins in spring 1521 when Mary is thirteen years old. She, her husband of one year William Carey , her family and the court are present to witness the execution of Henry Stafford. To Mary, executing the duke is inconceivable and she expectantly awaits the king’s pardon. She is deeply shocked when she realises that there is to be no pardon. After the execution, Mary is shaken and confides in her mother her feelings. Elizabeth quickly chastises her daughter and cautions her that there can be no room for mistakes at court.
In Spring 1522, Mary faces the return of her sister Anne . Mary is unhappy at the prospect of Anne's return as Anne has always been her rival but also that she loves her sister. mary plans to greet Anne as a graceful and mature young lady but disolves into girlish squeals and embraces when reuinted with her sister.
The Boleyn Inheritance[]
Mary Boleyn makes two brief appearances in the novel. In her first appearance. she reluctantly allows her daughter Catherine to be brought to court to join the Queen's household. When she is approached by Jane Boleyn, Mary warns her to stay away from her daughter and states, in no uncertain terms, her dislike of Jane and court life.
Mary returns later in the novel to bring her daughter home. Sensing the danger of Katherine Howard's downfall and reminded that Catherine had been with her sister Anne before her execution, Mary brings Catherine home. After the events of The Other Boleyn Girl Mary is completely disillusioned and embittered with anything relating to court life and does not care to hide her disdain after the deaths of her siblings.
The Other Boleyn Girl (2003)[]
Mary is portrayed very differently in the movie than in the novel. In the movie she is portrayed as much more relgious, moral and ashamed of her actions.
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. The king moves closer to Mary whispers something into her ear before taking his leave. 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 Marys 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. After the meeting she speaks with William asking why he did nothing to stop her family before walking away from him, unstatisfied with his anwser.
Later that night, Anne helps a tearful Mary prepare for her night with the king. After she is bathed and dressed, Mary is escourted by George to the king's chambers. Despite her deep resorvations and personal shame, Mary sleeps with the king. The next day, Mary goes looking for Anne who in turn confesses that she is in love with Henry Percy . Mary scolds Anne and tell her that the relationship is impossible. Mary meets again with her husband and pleads with him for them to leave court. William tells her that he cannot leave court and that the King will grow bored with her eventually. Mary sleeps with the king again and they talk of her relationship between her husband and the king's desire to give her pleasure. The next day as Mary walks in the gardens when she is joined by George. George tells her that no one is judging her but Mary insists that God is judging her before taking her leave.
Mary discovers Anne and Henry Percy in bed together and tells the rest of her family. The family call a meeting to talk about Anne's betrothel before renouncing it 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 choose to gave them Mary. His reason for this is while he thinks Mary is the kinder and the fairer of the two sisters he thinks that she is un-able to make a better match. Elizabeth disagrees by saying that Thomas underestimates Mary.
The movie moves forwards to the day of Mary's wedding to William Carey. While Mary is preparing for her wedding she is visted By Anne and George. She promises that even though she is to be married, she will still be as close to her siblings. After the wedding, they have a celebration with feasting and dancing. Even though the marriage is arranged both Mary and William seem fond of each other which makes Mary happy and hopeful for the future. Later that night Anne helps Mary prepare for her wedding night. Mary admits she is a little frieghtened but she is comforted by her sister. Anne walks with her to her husband's bedchambers and the sister's embrace before Mary joins her husband inside where they consumate their marriage.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. Anne also 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 the king while Mary is completely over looked. The next day the guests and courtiers go for a hunt and Anne leads the hunt eager to please the king. Norfolk, Elizabeth, Mary and thomas wait anxiously at Hever while the hunt goes on longer than expected. They soon are horrorfied to discover that the king has been injured during the hunt. Seeing an oppertunity, Norfolk summonds Mary to tend to the king's injuries.
Personality[]
Mary is almost the exact opposite of her sister, Anne. Mary is not very ambitious and has little understanding of politics or court intrigues. She is initially a rather meek and submissive girl, doing whatever her family tells her and having little self-esteem. Mary is something of a hopeless romantic, quickly falling in love with the king. She is also somewhat competitive, longing to outshine her sister and delighting in being regarded as the most beautiful and favored of the Boleyn girls. She is resentful when Anne steals Henry away from her, more so because Anne always takes everything she has gained than any real affection for Henry. Mary becomes a more worldly and mature woman as the novel progresses. She finally learns to stand up for herself, gaining the courage and confidence to break away from the confines of court life and follow her own dreams and desires for once. As a result, Mary ends up being the happiest and most emotionally fulfilled out of all the Boleyn siblings, realizing that love, security and being true to oneself are ultimately more important than wealth or power. Mary loves her children dearly and cannot bear to be parted from them. She is a very loving, maternal and compassionate woman, even as a girl.
Appearance[]
In The Other Boleyn Girl, Mary was described to be the only woman who could rival her sister, Anne, in beauty, though their looks were polar opposites: tumbling golden-brown hair, bright grey eyes, and a long rosy face with a long nose. During her temporary exile from court and learning to be a farmer's wife, Mary's hands grew "dry and hard", and her face "coloured" with the weather, but when she returned to court upon Anne's command, the other women of the court all noted how she had grown even more beautiful.
As a noble courtesan Mary wears several outfits: In the Château Ver as Kindness, she wears a green dress with a headdress and a gold mask (In the real-life Château Ver the dress was white and instead of a headdress she wore a Venetian hat).
A blue dress, the hood of the same color, blonde hair pulled back from the face and a smile that trembled on my lips as I felt the king's desire.
At the fair at Fearson House, she was dressed in green, with the dress she had worn on Shrove Tuesday when the king singled her out from everyone. Her color highlighted the golden glow of her hair and the shine of her eyes. Her favor is a white silk scarf with fringes, the green glow of the silk-embroidered monogram: “MB,” which she gives to the king.
When she goes to the field to see the plowing of the land, she shows off the clean tassels on her leather boots, the inlays on the chair, the richness of the dress and the gold brooch on the hat.
On her first night with the king, Mary wears her hair loose over her shoulders, looking like a virgin on her wedding day. Ana unties the laces at the back until the whales of the "V"-shaped corselet loosen a little. She stretches it at the height of her waist so that it is lower and more provocative. The next morning, the king put her own cloak over her shoulders to protect her from the morning cold.
After her first night with the king, following Anne's advice, she wears a cream dress to mass, so as not to look like a whore.
When in a hunt, her hat flies off, the king names her queen of the hunt, following Anne's advice, half of the court began to braid garlands of honeysuckle, with its sweet evocative perfume, which they placed on her tousled hair, golden and brown like a crown.
She accompanies the king to the shipyard, she wears a red dress and Anne lends him her red cape trimmed with swan down and her elegant little equestrian hat to wear.
The king gives her her gold bracelet that she wears around her wrist, a pair of diamond earrings, and three new dresses, one of them woven in gold.
When she goes to the shipyard again, she is wearing a new yellow velvet riding suit that she had sewn from a piece of cloth the king had given her.
On the day of festivities that Cardinal Wolsey organized to inaugurate May, along with the other ladies of the court, she dresses in white. Mary sticks the rose that the king gives her into her headdress.
Upon hearing of her first pregnancy, King Henry bought her a thick fur cloak.
For her first night with the king after giving birth to her second child, Anne ties her to her dress and puts her in scarlet high-heeled shoes.
For the mask in honor of the French envoys, Mary wears a tight corset of the same fabric as her golden dress.
When William Carey tries to claim his right as her husband, she was wearing a linen petticoat.
William Carey gave her a small gold bracelet.
At a masquerade, Mary plays the role of a star that descended from the western sky and blessed the Earth with peace.
At Christmas, the king gave her a beautiful blouse with a black embroidered collar.
Because she can't afford me new dresses because of her widows, Anne gives her her red velvet dress and the other one with a silver petticoat. But she demands that if she remakes it she be in fashion, and not in the Spanish style.
When Anne is named Marchioness of Pembroke, Mary wears her best clothes at the ceremony.
In the evening Enrique and Francisco dined privately at Staple Hall. Mary and Anne's other ladies-in-waiting 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.
Mary tried on Anne's black satin robe, sure she wouldn't show up, and George swore it suited her just fine.
After a hard journey to meet William Stafford, her lover takes her corset, skirt, and underwear to wash and insisted that she put on his shirt and a pair of his pants, which he knotted around her waist, with the legs rolled up like a sailor on deck.
Upon marrying William Stafford she wears the same clothes she traveled in now washed and clean.
After her secret wedding, Mary returns to court and goes to Anne's chambers in a clean light green dress.
During her time as a lover, the king also gave her a pair of embroidered gloves and a pearl necklace.
Relationships[]
The relationship between Mary and Anne is one of sibling rivalry and love. Although both try to outbost each other and Anne treats Mary very badly, they still have a very strong bond.
In the book: Mary is seen, at first, as a naive young, beautiful girl while Anne is more ambitious, more wittier and inteligent. When Mary catches the eye of the king, she at first feels good at finally beating her sister and at having the king and her family attention, although she feels some scrupules due to breaking her vows to her husband. She gives birth two children fathered by Henry, Henry and Catherine Carey, but when Anne steals the king atention from Mary, she rubes that in Mary face and adopts Mary son with king Henry, Henry Carey, as her ward . When Mary marries sir William Stafford and becomes pregnant with his child, Anne, having recently miscarried and because of William Stafford being low born, banishes Mary from court and denies her permission to see her son but later admits her back to court stating that she needs her and cannot live in court without her support. When Anne is imprisoned, she takes her niece Catherine, Mary's daughter, as her lady, despite Mary objections, and while Anne is in the tower, Anne goes to see her to ask her to release Catherine and to see how shes doing and witnesses Anne execution.
In the film: The relationship between the sisters is much better in the 2003 and 2008 film that in the book. Although there still animosity between the sisters in some moments, they, in the end, are still loyal to each other. In the beggining of the film, when Mary warns her family of the wedding between Henry Percy and Anne, Anne is exiled to France and blames Mary for this. When Mary becomes pregnant, Anne returns to court to keep the king entertained and to prevent him from seeking company in other woman and she utilises this opportunity to seduce the king and steal him from Mary, but when Mary returns to court, in the 2008 film, to help her sister when the king received a letter from Mary Talbot, Heny Percy wife, that declares that her husband consumated his betrothal to Anne, Mary is summoned to court so that the king can hear her testimony , she lies and says that the betrothal was not consummated. Later, when Anne comes to see her, Mary tells Anne that she wishes this to serve as an apology and to putting the past behind them. Mary continues to be loyal to Anne even when Anne, after having a miscarriage, is charged and sent to the tower, Mary comes back to court to plead with the king for her sisters life and goes to visit Anne in the tower, telling that everything is going to be fine and that she will be spared, although in the end she is not.
Historical Figure[]
Mary Boleyn was one of three surviving Boleyn children and sister to Queen consort Anne Boleyn . There are no records of when the children were born however many speculate Mary to be the eldest of the Boleyn sisters.
Mary’s birth place and date are unknown however she spent most of her childhood at Hever castle in Kent. She was given a good education and was skilled in many desirable pursuits such as dance, archery, riding and embroidery. At age fifteen, Mary’s father found her a position as a lady-in-waiting to the Princess Mary in Paris. Mary was one of the few English ladies to remain with Princess Mary during her short marriage.
Mary Boleyn
Despite Princess Mary returning to England, Mary Boleyn stayed at the French court due to her father being the English ambassador to France. During her time in France, Mary was reputed to have had several affairs and may have been the mistress of the French king Francis I. What is certain is that Mary had a reputation at the French court for promiscuity.
She returned to England in 1519, where she was appointed a maid of honor to Catherine of Aragon and was married to William Carey . At some point, most likely 1521, Mary began an affair with Henry VIII . The affair was never publically flaunted and Mary recieved little of the attention, influence and rewards that Henry’s other mistresses had enjoyed. Mary had a daughter, Catherine Cary, in 1524 and her second child Henry Cary in 1526. It is debated whether Henry fathered either or both children although they were said to resemble Henry. Despite the resemblance, both children were never recognized by Henry. The affair was never publically flaunted and Mary recieved little of the attention, influence and rewards that Henry’s other mistresses had enjoyed. Mary had a daughter, Catherine Cary, in 1524 and her second child Henry Cary in 1526. It is debated whether Henry fathered either or both children although they were said to resemble Henry. Despite the resemblance, both children were never recognized by Henry. The affair lasted a couple of years, however Mary was quickly forgotten when Henry turned his sights onto Mary’s sister Anne.
Anne profited much more from the attention of the King than Mary ever did and arranged assistance for Mary when she was widowed in 1528. Mary was given a widow’s pension and Henry Cary became Anne’s ward and received a good education. Anne also gave Mary a place as one of her ladies-in-waiting when she became queen in 1533. Mary was at court only a brief time before she provoked scandal and banishment. Mary had secretly married William Stafford (a man of much lower rank) and became pregnant. When she no longer could conceal the pregnancy, Mary was berated by her family and sent from court in disgrace.
Mary and William’s marriage was considered a love match and this was confirmed when Mary claimed to have said “I had rather beg my bread with him than to be the greatest queen in Christendom”. Her financial situation was dire and she had to petition Thomas Cromwell for assistance or to intercede with her family. Anne was the only one to aid Mary and gifted her with a golden cup and money. This was the only reform of reconciliation between the sisters as they never met again. For the rest of Mary’s life, it seems as though Mary did not communicate with her family and lived quietly with her husband and children in Essex. It is also likely that she did not see her siblings or her parents again before their deaths. She inherited some land after the deaths of her parents. The king sold Hever castle but granted Mary some of the proceeds, perhaps out of pity or perhaps out of some lingering affection towards her. She died in 1543 of unknown causes.
Quotes[]
Thomas Boleyn: "{about Mary} I think she's the kinder of the two, quite possibly the fairer. To get ahead in this world, you need more than fair looks and a kind heart."
Trivia[]
- The Other Boleyn Girl revived interest in Mary Boleyn, who was previously overshadowed by her much more famous sister.
- The Other Boleyn Girl was a much more flattering representation of Mary than was otherwise portrayed.