The Changing Faces of Anne Boleyn: An Analysis of Contemporary Historical Fiction by Philippa Gregory, Hilary Mantel, and Alison Weir

Abstract

[eng] This article focuses on twenty-first-century literary representations of Anne Boleyn. In an insightful 2007 study, Miriam Elizabeth Burstein argues that the sheer number of novels written on Anne Boleyn is itself testimony about the fact that a definitive account of her life has not yet been written. However, such representations have not been exempt from criticism, as they may be seen as reincarnations of “the bitch,” the central figure in Harlequin novels, as claimed by Burstein, and, equally frequently since the 1930s, “the witch,” as posited by Roland Hui. In light of the above, this article analyzes the literary afterlives of Anne Boleyn penned by three bestselling authors in postmillennial British literature: Philippa Gregory (The Other Boleyn Girl), Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, and The Mirror and the Light), and Alison Weir (Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession), with the aim of considering the extent to which these recent revisions of her story conform to the long-established patterns identified by Burstein and Hui: Do these narratives reaffirm the Anne the bitch/witch pattern or suggest any other interpretation? And which role—if any—do they grant Anne in that foundational time that was the Tudor period?