Discussion: The Juxaposition of Anne and Jane

"Ask many people their opinions and they will say that Jane was the only wife Henry VIII really loved. I personally disagree wholeheartedly with this! It may have suited him to believe this but only because she gave him his longed for male heir! I actually think that, going off how long he courted her, Anne Boleyn was his 'true love'. Yes it ended horrifically but doesn't the old saying go that the flip side of love is hate??
My opinions are based on historical information, rather than the drama series. Although I love the series it is obviously made for entertainment purposes. I have long since been intrigued by the tudors, especially Anne Boleyn.
I think what attracted Jane to Henry was the fact that she was so different to Anne. If you will pardonn the expression I think Jane was a bit of a wet lettuce compared to Anne! She was no more a saint than Anne - she played exactly the same cards by withdrawing her favours until she was married."

"Anne Boleyn - who was ahead of her time!!! Just my opinion!"

"By ahead of her times I mean she had the nerve to express opinions on important things, in a time when women were not expected to. Likewise, she was a very educated and intelligent woman, again rare for her time (Jane was not and this is documented before you shout at me!!). I like to think that one of the reasons that Elizabeth I was such a successful and wise monarch was that she had inherited some of these traits from her mother. I am not calling Jane names for the 'playing the same cards' thing, merely pointing it out. In that way I gues you could say she and Anne were as bad as each other, but they were pawns in a much bigger picture and the person holding all the cards, whoever played them, was Henry! "

"Oh that scene had me so sad!! And the scene where Katherine was dieng and writting her letter to Henry. That was the last eppie I seen.Do you know another scene I hated,when Henry was visiting Elizabeth and didnt bother to see Mary and when you saw her looking down at him. Also the scene where Mary was singing to the baby Elizabeth and trying to comfort her only to get given out to!! I am dreading seeing Annes and the others executions. Although she isnt my favourite Queen I still think it was terrible what happened to her. Poor Mark Smeaton, I feel really bad for him too. I also belive Catherine Parr would have influenced Elizabeth. Elizabeth wouldnt really have known much about her mother for her to influence her since none was allowed to talk about Anne after her execution, and also mosy of her belongings were ruined."

"I know when Elizabeth started to cry again I was like give her back to her!!! Poor Mary I wouldnt say she was treated very well there. I really LOVED the scene where Katherine saw Mary in her dream,I had the tissues out for that one. It made me so happy that she believed she had seen Mary even if it was just a dream."

"Yip thats where I am, I am dieng to see the last two episodes but at the same time I will be very sad to see the series finnish. Poor Mark Smeaton, what a BRUTAL way to die. It's so sad to think he really was tortured like that. Those scenes will really bother me because out of all of them I think he had by far the worst death, and for nothing."