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The history of the portrayal of women in literature
Depiction of women in literature
The history of the portrayal of women in literature
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“Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived”(Anderson 257), a rhyme commonly used to describe King Henry VIII six wives. Anne of Cleves, often referred to as “the ugly one”, was King Henry VIII fourth wife. The marriage was never consummated, making it the shortest of King Henry VIII marriages. Despite the short lived marriage, Anne of Cleves is arguably the most successful wife of King Henry VIII because of her impressive character and close relationship with the people. Unfortunately, her impact on society was fleeting, but her ability to remain a role model is not. Anne of Cleves was born on September 22, 1515 in Dusseldorf, Germany. She was born into a family of nobility, wealth, and power. Her father, Johann II, was Duke of …show more content…
She was a strong woman who held herself with dignity, but more importantly she was gracious and kind. While her legacy will live on as the “ugly wife”, she was much more than that. She was still able to attend royal events and her home became a place where many important people from all across the kingdom could come and stay. She opened up an orphanage on her property to help the children. She even managed to befriend Henry’s new wife, Catherine Howard. Despite hurt feelings, she made it known that they were on good terms by dancing with Catherine shortly after she was crowned queen (Borman). Anne was also beloved by Henry’s youngest daughter Elizabeth. The bond most likely formed due to their similar religious beliefs and rejection from King Henry. Anne’s strongest bond, however, was with Henry’s oldest daughter Mary. Mary was known to be ruthless towards reformers, yet not towards Anne (Boreman). Anne of Cleves warm and gentle nature was able to win Mary Tudor over. She handled all her relationships in such a way that makes her a role model for woman, showing how to be independent, gracious, and
The divorce case angered many people. Catherine of Aragon was a pious and popular Queen who was depicted as a devout Catholic and loyal wife. During the divorce Henry was not only faced with Papal opposition but also staunch resistance... ... middle of paper ... ... Such opposition was also given further momentum by individuals such as More, Fisher and Barton who created effective propaganda for the Queen’s cause.
Anne Frank was born in 1929 just at the beginning of turmoil in German society. At the beginning of her life, Frank’s family was a relatively normal German-Jewish family living just outside of Frankfurt. Her father, Otto Frank, was a business owner and her sister, Margot Frank, was three years older than her. They moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1933 because of the threat to their lives because of their Jewish Heritage.
In the beginning of their relationship, it is quite that Henry VIII was deeply infatuated with Anne, as she remained something unattainable in his eyes. The evidence of their love story remains as the letters Henry wrote to Anne prior to their marriage were left undamaged in the attempt to erase Anne from history. In his letter to her in 1528, Henry is not shy about calling Anne his sweetheart and discussing his desire to be with her as he begins to see the flaws in his marriage to Catherine of Aragon (N. Key & R. Bucholz (Eds.), 2009). He was hopeful for a new marriage, and a male heir, that would ensure his family’s claim to the throne. In part, it is this stage of hist...
Warnicke, Retha. "Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII." History Review 53 (2005): 51+. World History Collection. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.
Queen Isabella was born on April 22, 1451 in Madrigal, Old Castile. Her mother was Isabella of Portugal and her dad was John the II of Castile. Her mom and dad were King and Queen of Castile. She had two brothers, Alfonzo and Henry (“Isabella of Castile” par13).
She witnessed her first hardship when she had been only three years old. Her father, King Henry VIII, had ongoing suspicions about her mother’s strange behaviors, for he had suspected his second wife, Anne, to be performing the dishonorable act of adultery with more than five men of the palace’s chambers, one of the suspects being her own brother, stirring out a crime of incest and linking it to Anne. He then ordered the execution of Anne on the false charges of adultery which then stripped Princess Elizabeth of her title and left her going by Lady Elizabeth instead. Since Elizabeth had been declared illegitimate, many believed that she would never obtain the title queen. Fortunately for her, fate had it differently planned it out, and she grew to be the famous Virgin Queen of England.
Anne (alias Agnes) Hathaway was born in 1556 to parents Richard and Joan and was certainly raised with her brothers and sisters at Hewlands Farm Shottery. Her Father was a Farmer and he was to remarry when Joan Hathaway died.
Mary Tudor of England, Born on February 18, 1516, was always a precious lady.(Gairdner) According to the article “Queen Mary”: “Mary wanted to restore the catholic faith, and reunite England with Rome.” Queen Mary I was quite successful, she managed to rearrange “the royal household, and it was thought right to give Mary an establishment of her own along with a council on the borders of Whales, for the better government of the Marches.”(Gairdner) In real life Queen Mary was in fact a very kind hearted and happy lady, who in fact loved music, dancing, and gossiping with her court and followers. She often dressed in brightly colored cloths and very expensive jewelry.(Eamon) According to Amy Pollick’s article “Dispelling Myths about Queen”, “Mary did lay a solid governmental foundation.” Mary had a good head on her shoulders. She planned to further the peace and prosperity in England. (Pollick) Some of what caused her to “rebel from her father” was him depriving her of her faith, security, and happiness as a child. (Pearsall) In the book “Kings and Queens” it is stated that Mary married King Philip of Spain, but they had no children. (Pearsall) “He lived in England for only a year before returning to spain.” After that Mary began to bring back the old religion and faith of her time. Although the persecutions may have been exaggerated (Gull). From the same so...
Abstract Anne Hutchinson was derided for rhetorical purposes. She was accused of breaking the 5th amendment in the Puritan’s colony which she was banished from the colony. During trial, she said that God spoke to her. John Winthrop didn’t like her theological conclusions, and that’s why he banished her. Religion professor Stephen Prathero says “Anne Hutchinson is the future of religious tolerance.
She is an example of an unmarried woman, though she’s perfectly happy with it. In line 15, an ‘old hag’ is mentioned and we learn that after her sisters’ marriage, Mary was left at Longbourn with Mrs. Bennet. Another situation whereby a young, unmarriable woman is left with an ‘old hag’ is that of Anne de Bourgh, heir and sole companion of Lady Catherine, her mother. Later, in line 33, the maiden ‘was keener than a TV quizmaster’.... ...
Queen Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn, had a pretty rough time. After “marrying” Queen Elizabeth’s father, Henry VII, she became the queen. Soon after she became pregnant, everyone was preparing for the little prince, Prince Edward, but whenever Anne Boleyn’s due date came she had a little girl, Princess Elizabeth. After many failed attempts at conceiving, the king became angry and started to think of a way to end their marriage. With the help of a few of Anne’s enemies at court, King Henry started an investigation. Anne was eventually arrested on the charges of adultery, incest, and plotting to murder the king. With limited evidence, she was found guilty and sentenced to death by beheading. On May 19th, Anne was privately executed.
Though it is not said, Lord Henry obviously shows no concern for his wife. Essentially he sees his marriage to his wife as a responsibility, expectation, and obligation. He admits to having no desire to be married but likes the advantage of it that he is able to live a secret life that does not require obligation or expectations, especially from society. Society tells Lord Henry that he has to attend to his wife every once in awhile as if it was a chore being married to her. Not only that, but to continue to leave another life as long as you show forth your real masculine qualities by taking care of responsibilities such as family and domestic life. In his secret life he can go against the confinements of society and push the boundaries of gender role by acting as if he did not have a family he needs to care for. If it were not for the portrait of Dorian Gray, the topic of secrecy and obligations would not have come up. This is how Lord Henry is able to push past the gender role expectations he is confined
Annelies Marie Frank was born on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Because of their Jewish faith, Anne Frank and her family fled Nazi Germany for the Netherlands in 1933 to avoid persecution. After Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1942, the family spent two years living in a small hidden room in Amsterdam in order to elude capture by Nazi occupation forces. They were discovered in 1944 and arrested. Anne was sent to a concentration camp, where she died the following year. Her famous diary of the two years she spent in hiding was later found in the room where she and her family had lived. Anne’s father, Otto, had taken the family to Amsterdam, where he had established a small food products business. When Germany invaded The Netherlands in 1940, the Franks once again became subject to escalating anti-Semitic persecution. In 1941 Anne was required to transfer from a public school to a Jewish school. Secretly, Otto Frank prepared a hiding place by sealing off several rooms at the rear of his Amsterdam office building. A swinging bookcase hid the rooms Frank concealed.
He was a human that had emotions, he experienced grief with the multiple miscarriages and deaths of his sons and the betrayals of his wife’s, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard. Also the death of Jane Seymour, the only wife to give him a male heir, brought him into a depression. These events changed Henry’s perspective of his own self, that he was without a legal heir, his health was horrendous and he was being betrayed by those closest to him. Lipscomb describes the transformation of Henry from the popular prince to the tyrant king know today. As shown, “the last decade of his reign, Henry VIII had begun to act as a tyrant. The glittering, brilliant monarch of the accession, toppled into old age by betrayal, aggravated into irascibility and suspicion as a result of ill health and corrupted by absolute power, had become a despot”. Henry is not thought of as the good Christian, but Lipscomb writes throughout this book that Henry was very serious about his religious affiliations. Lipscomb portrays Henry VIII as, “a man of strong feeling but little emotional intelligence, willful and obstinate but also fiery and charismatic, intelligent but blinkered, attempting to rule and preserve his honor against his profound sense of duty and heavy responsibility to fulfil his divinely ordained role”. In other words he was an emotional mess that did not know what to do with his feelings, so he bottled them up and south to seek
Elizabeth was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. She was born on 7 September 1533 at Greenwich Palace. Her birth was possibly the greatest disappointment of her father's life. He had wanted a son and heir to succeed him as he already had a daughter, Mary, by his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. He had not divorced Katherine, and changed the religion of the country in the process, to have only another daughter. Elizabeth's early life was consequently troubled. Her mother failed to provide the King with a son and was executed on false charges of incest and adultery on 19 May 1536. Her marriage to the King was declared null and void, and Elizabeth, like her half-sister, Mary, was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the line of succession. The next eight years of her life saw a quick succession of stepmothers. There was Jane Seymour who died giving birth to the King's longed for son, Edward; Anne of Cleves who was divorced; Catherine Howard who was beheaded; and finally Catherine Parr. For generations, historians have debated whether the constant bride changing of her father was responsible for Elizabeth's apparent refusal to marry. It is certainly possible that the tragic fates of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard impressed upon her a certain fear of marriage, but there may have been other reasons for the Queen's single state, such as a fear of childbirth, which claimed the lives of a significant number of women in this period. Even if the Queen had no personal reservations about marriage, there were political problems with almost every contender for her hand. Religion was a major divisive issue, and there was also the problem of whether Elizabeth would have to relinquish any of her royal powers to a husband in an age when the political sphere was exclusively male.