Author Topic: Which of Henry VIII's wives...  (Read 44971 times)

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nerdycool

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Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« on: August 09, 2005, 03:04:51 AM »
Which of Henry VIII's wives would you have least wanted to be?

I saw this question in the most suprising place... a chic-lit book, and I thought it was very interesting. I'm not sure of my answer just yet, but I was curious to what everyone else would think. BTW, the book is Larger Than Life by Adele Parks... a brilliant book, though I'm not all the way through it yet.

The answers given in the book were Catherine Parr and Anne Boleyn. Catherine because "...she had to treat this gouty feet for years, which is definitely my idea of h*ll on earth." Anne not because she was beheaded, but because "She didn't even have the dignity of being the first and she was followed by the one he loved the most."

cantacuzene

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2005, 04:36:24 AM »
Oh! You want not be beheaded. Not only interesting, fascinating.

Offline Prince_Lieven

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2005, 06:01:25 AM »
Being Catherine of Aragon wouldn't have been much fun . . . but at least you would have had 24 years of happiness before the worst hit you. Catherine Parr was married three times to men older than herself and had to wait until the last died before marrying her sweetheart, who then attempted to cheat on her with her stepdaughter . . . But I'd have to say Katherine Howard, for the simple reason that though Anne Boleyn has her supporters, few people feel sorry for poor Katherine.
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Offline Kimberly

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2005, 07:15:59 AM »
Difficult one really, Anne Boleyn because her life was nothing if not exciting. But safely, I think Anne of Cleves. She seems to have really come out of herself and enjoyed to the full the advantages of being Henry's sister. She got on well with Henry's kids and she was divorced from Mr. Blobby, no loss there then.
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Offline Prince_Lieven

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2005, 08:54:19 AM »
Quote
Difficult one really, Anne Boleyn because her life was nothing if not exciting. But safely, I think Anne of Cleves. She seems to have really come out of herself and enjoyed to the full the advantages of being Henry's sister. She got on well with Henry's kids and she was divorced from Mr. Blobby, no loss there then.


Kim! The question was which of the wives would you have least wanted to be! Another senior citizen moment!
"How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?"
-Sherlock Holmes

"Men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget."

Offline Tsarfan

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2005, 10:13:16 AM »
Anne Boleyn gets my vote.

As some earlier posts mentioned, Henry's pursuit of her bordered on what, in modern terms, we would call sexual harassment.  I think Anne was pressured into a relationship she felt was unsafe to refuse.  And I think much of her subsequent demanding and self-aggrandizing behavior was anchored in her conviction that, if she was going to have to accept the importunities of a man she did not love, she at least had a right to get something from the bargain.

And what a foul bargain it turned out to be, after all.  Her survival came to depend on something over which she had no control -- having a male child.  And the cost she paid for failing was to go to her death, knowing her brother was suffering the same fate under the same false calumny of incest, and probably assuming her daughter had little chance of ultimately surviving.


Offline Kimberly

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2005, 11:19:10 AM »
Quote

Kim! The question was which of the wives would you have least wanted to be! Another senior citizen moment!

Sorry, I am multi-tasking FAR TOO MUCH today ;) Well, thats who I would LIKE to be. Least like to be,mmmmm Katherine Howard and also Jane Seymour.( thought she was a bit "wet"IMHO) Regards Kim.
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nerdycool

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2005, 02:11:22 PM »
When I think about it, I wouldn't have wanted to be any of the wives after Anne Boleyn. Knowing that your new husband can have you exectued just because you didn't please him in some form would be very nerve-wracking. I can also safely say I wouldn't want to be Anne Boleyn. Not for how her life went, but for the fact that forever after her death, the world generally sees Anne as a villain. I'd rather be famous in history rather than infamous.

emeraldeyes1969

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2005, 03:11:48 PM »
I would definitely not want to be Katherine of Aragon.  Her first husband died, then she had so many miscarriages/stillbirths, the betrayal of the divorce, and the indignity of being treated so badly afterward.  At least Anne Boleyn's troubles were over relatively quickly...but Katherine suffered for so many years...after being so loyal to Henry and being such a good regent when he was absent from England.  It's just so awful...
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by emeraldeyes1969 »

ilyala

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #9 on: August 10, 2005, 12:27:52 PM »
i wouldn't want to be katherine howard. she was the silliest of all and i hate silly people :P

Offline Kimberly

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #10 on: August 10, 2005, 03:06:16 PM »
Yes but she was only a kid.
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ilyala

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #11 on: August 10, 2005, 03:20:10 PM »
that's just an excuse. being a kid yes means you're not as responsible as a fully grown adult, but she was less than irresponsible.

she had her own cousin's example and anne didn't even cheat! any intelligent human being would have realized she was playing with fire

Offline Prince_Lieven

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #12 on: August 10, 2005, 03:23:14 PM »
She was silly but she had no education . . . hardly her fault.
"How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?"
-Sherlock Holmes

"Men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget."

ilyala

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #13 on: August 10, 2005, 03:24:59 PM »
true again

but that doesn't make me admire her more :)

Offline Kimberly

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Re: Which of Henry VIII's wives...
« Reply #14 on: August 10, 2005, 04:25:41 PM »
I don't admire her either but she had a dreadfully loose upbringing didn't she and its easy to make excuses for her.
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