The Other Boleyn Girl

Author Philippa Gregory establishes several important elements in these early chapters. First is the fact that the royal court is a dangerous place, where one’s life is subject to the whim of the monarch. The opening scene of the beheading of the Duke of Buckinghamshire, where innocent Mary expects a pardon, foreshadows the scene of Anne’s execution that closes the novel, creating a grim symmetry. This scene also fits within a larger interest the novel takes in spectacle and its power to sway emotion. The public execution is a matter of entertainment for watchers, but it is also a vehicle by which the king delivers a political lesson: He will not be opposed. This implacability and commitment to his own will, Gregory highlights, drives the determination it takes for Henry to later exert his control over the country’s religion and politics. The seeds of tyranny are sown in this first chapter when the king puts aside personal affection for the need to punish. In doing so, Gregory introduces the theme of The Cost of Conflicting Loyalties.

The power of spectacle and show surfaces in the other court entertainments, like the masque Mary participates in where she arouses the king’s sexual interest, and the joust where the Duke of Suffolk’s fall from his horse presages Henry’s fall at a later tournament. The intersection between public and private realms comes under investigation through the ways that the lives of the monarchs are relentlessly on display. Attendants and servants who form the court surround the royals at all times; as much as this is a position of power and luxury, this public life is also an unending inquisition. Katherine’s hair shirt symbolizes how her high status comes at a cost, and the curiosity about her menstruation shows how her body is a source of public interest. As the supposed treason by Buckinghamshire demonstrates, the king’s concern over having a son is of paramount importance; the need for a legitimate heir drives every decision Henry makes. His pursuit of a queen who can produce a prince makes the private issue of the king’s affection a matter of public concern. Thus, his efforts show how women are lawns in the larger game men are playing.

Gregory highlights that, to some extent, all the female characters are replaceable with one another. In emphasizing the triangulation between Anne, Mary, and Katherine, the narrative establishes the theme of Support and Rivalry Among Women. Mary’s manipulation by her family—especially her uncle, who feels authorized to dictate Mary’s sexual partners, public behavior, and physical living space—supports Mary’s observation that men in this culture regard women as little more than property. Crucially, Mary at this point identifies with how her family defines her, as a daughter of the Boleyn and Howard lineage. Mary feels affection for the king and even falls in love with him, bringing out further tension between the public and the private. Specifically, she understands she is to turn the king’s sexual interest in her into rewards and favors for her ambitious relatives.

The contrasts between Mary and Anne provide thematic tension and interrogate how women are perceived and what they are allowed in this historical world. Gregory establishes the sisters with the contrast of light and dark and their symbolic associations with good and evil. Mary is fair and soft and adores the natural rhythms of life in the countryside, which associates her with fertility, health, growth, and nurture. Anne, in direct contrast, is sophisticated, sharp, and thrives on the culture of the court, which will become represented as a barren, artificial, and corrupt place. Katherine, as their older mentor and the current queen, undergoes the fall from Henry’s favor that later Mary and Anne will experience. Katherine reaching menopause precipitates a crisis of succession that moves the plot forward and deploys the thematic rivalry between the sisters. Mary, in these early days, enjoys being the favorite, but she is also reluctant to hurt the queen. This creates a further distinction between her character and Anne’s.

Gregory also introduces the theme of The Price of Personal Ambition in this section. Further playing out the opposition between light and dark, Mary’s compliance with her family’s commands runs directly opposite to Anne’s ambitions and calculations. Anne aims high when she arranges her betrothal to Henry Percy, which is as legally binding as a marriage because it is witnessed. In her wish to decide her future, Anne defies the customary expectations put upon women. She also shows that she shares an ambitious and ruthless streak with Henry. Their selfishness and ambition will show Anne and Henry as increasingly suited to one another. However, just as Henry’s tyranny is hinted at, Anne’s rebelliousness is likewise hinted as the cause of her fall, further illustrating this theme.