A topic we will be discussing the quarter is the manner in which we approach, analyze and interpret pieces of literature. How might we view The Other Boleyn Girl as historians? Does it have any historical merit? How might it compare to a primary "document" such as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales?
Due by Friday Evening 9/3
75 comments:
The Other Boleyn Girl shows a more serious and emotional look at life in the middle ages than The Canterbury Tales did. The Canterbury Tales seemed to be more of a comedy, while The Other Boleyn Girl seemed to only deal with a dreary politically driven court life. As a historically inclined person you can see some historical merit it The Other Boleyn Girl. Thing such as King Henry’s affairs, his reformation of the Catholic Church in England, and the political reform that came with all of this change. Despite the well developed scene of this historical fiction the primary source accounts in The Canterbury Tales shows the many feelings and thoughts of a person that lived in this era allowing a greater understanding of the thoughts and feelings someone of that time felt rather than guessing as The Other Boleyn Girl did. I feel that The Other Boleyn Girl loses merit as a historical work because it tries too hard to fill in the blanks and tell a story rather than give a completely accurate to the time account like that of The Canterbury Tales.
The Other Boleyn Girl is written from a more modern perspective. This is the main difference between it and the Canterbury Tales as far as insight. The Other Boleyn Girl’s narrow scope of history focuses mostly on the life of Henry and the Boleyns. This leaves out many aspects of medieval life that The Canterbury Tales are able to capture. However The Canterbury Tales are older and therefore lacking many details that we know today that the writer was unable to know. From a historical standpoint both books are to a degree accurate. The Other Boleyn Girl’s depiction Henry Tudor and his deeds are accurate because he actually fought with the church and executed his wife Anne Boleyn. Details of life at court and the life of nobles were also accurate. The Other Boleyn Girl also gave a great overview of the life of a women in the middle ages. Just like The Other Boleyn girl’s characters Anne and Mary women were used as pawns to gain land and position their own preferences very really mattered. However some details in The Other Boleyn girl are most likely fiction such as the thoughts and dreams of the character Mary.
The Canterbury Tales as a primary document makes it more reliable if you want a detailed view into the minds and thoughts of everyday medieval people. However it was written as a poem and the author wrote the story mainly to please his readers. This books levity is its downfall from a historical standpoint. Overall both books give insight in to the medieval age but from different perspectives. The Boleyn Girl gives a more modern perspective of English court and the life of king Henry well The Canterbury tales gives actual insight into common beliefs and practices of the middle ages.
The Other Boleyn Girl is written in a more current way. It is more written for people to understand it than for people to learn from it. Yes, one can see the inner workings of a medieval royal court, but it seems to lean more towards entertainment then information. Although the information is accurate in terms of Henry’s fight against the Church of England, his affairs, and the other social aspects of the court, it leaves out major points of the things other than adultery in court. It also correctly shows how marriage can move one up in society, or down. The novel also accurately describes the superiority of males over females. The author made this very evident throughout the novel through much of the dialogue and actions of the Boleyn family. But it is still true that the author added in some details to create a more dramatic and interesting read, which has somewhat of a negative impact on the historical merit of The Other Boleyn Girl.
On the other hand, The Canterbury Tales encompasses many of the people from a European court, ranging from a knight to a servant to a nun. This automatically gives you a more accurate and well rounded view of the court. Because it was written in the time period, it can definitely be assumed that it has more historical merit. Chaucer experienced or heard about the things he wrote so he was able to more accurately describe them. But it is also easy to assume that he also included things for the overall effect of the story.
So, the main thing that affects the historical merit and separates the two novels is when they were written. As historians we would definitely have to take this into account when deciding which one is more accurate and trustworthy.
The Other Boleyn Girl has very limited historical value but historical value is still present. The story is from Mary’s point of view and has much more to deal with the life of the royalty because Mary never lived as a peasant. The deeds of Henry are also accurate because he actually did sever connections with the church. The Other Boleyn girl also gives us a good idea of how women were treated as toys so to speak by the royalty. Anne’s attempts to keep Henry’s attention merely magnify the casual disregard that Henry had for fulfilling the vows of marriage and how he treated women. Both girls were not only treated as pieces of meat by Henry but by their own family as well. As soon as Mary started to loose favor with the king her family forced her to allow Anne, who was new and interesting to Henry, to marry the king. All of these factors are consistent with my previous knowledge of medieval lifestyle.
The Other Boleyn Girl can never be treated on the same level of accuracy as the Canterbury Tales simply because the Canterbury Tales were written during the time period where The Other Boleyn Girl was written fairly recently. The information from The Other Boleyn Girl is limited to what the author was able to research where Geoffrey Chaucer had life experience to draw from and most likely more documents. The Canterbury Tales also manage to cover a wider spectrum of lifestyles during the time period which makes it a much more useful source than The Other Boleyn Girl. The information in The Canterbury Tales are more relative to the majority of people during the time period than The Other Boleyn Girl and is far more reliable.
I think that The Other Boleyn Girl and The Canterbury Tales are both books with historical content that are accurate in their own ways. The Other Boleyn Girl is a fictionalized documentary of the events between Mary Boleyn and her connections to her family affairs with King Henry VIII. Where as The Canterbury Tales is a primary document written in its era. From a historian approach OBG has some elements, which describe court life in the 16th century and some factual events. For example it shows how important it was to a king to have a son and what a king is willing to do to get new queen to bear him sons. It also shows how women were used as chess pieces for their family to inherit power and money from other families through marriage. (e.g. a family will try to marry off their daughter to a richer family to inherit money through their daughter's marriage). The few historical events shown in the book are the reformation of the Church of England and the execution of Anne Boleyn. Those are probably the most prominent themes in the book that have historical merit. Other than that most of the story is fibbed and is fill in the blank such as all of the dialogue and the feelings of the characters during the events. The Canterbury Tales, as stated before, are written in its era so the characters may be fictional but the sentiments are probably more accurate since Chaucer was most probably encountering those kinds of people in his life back in the day. Also The Canterbury tales show stories about what goes on in the lives of a knight, nun, farmer, merchant, guildsman, etc. Though the downfall of The Canterbury Tales is that it was written to entertain; not planning to be uncovered centuries later to be used as a record of medieval life. So we may be giving The Canterbury tales too much historical credit because of it being written in its time frame. In conclusion OBG, though researched, shows a fictionalized documentary of court life and the affairs of King Henry VIII. The Canterbury Tales show first hand knowledge of people of different classes and professions when it was written (14th-15th centuries). Though it was written to entertain its audiences. Both books have their credibility and their doubts and both were written most importantly to entertain. In the end it’s all about which story you liked most.
When comparing The Other Boleyn Girl and The Canterbury Tales, it is important to take note of the time period that each of the novels were written in. The Canterbury Tales, being a primary document, allow more insight into the lives of its characters that The Other Boleyn Girl could never have allowed. However, The Other Boleyn Girl has its merits, as it shows a certain time period of the reign of Henry VII, and its writing style and details of the characters shows a more modern approach to the lives of the England nobility. While some of the details in this book are most certainly true, many of the details had to of been exaggerated or made up in order to appeal to Philippa Gregory's readers, which hurts its historical significance. It does show the turbulence and amount of adultery that happened during this time period, as Henry cheats with both Mary Boleyn and Anne, all the time having to get his marriage with Katherine (the Queen of England) dissolved.
The Other Boleyn Girl was also mainly focused on the lives of nobles and the Boleyn family, which can be a narrow scope. The Canterbury Tales had more than 20 perspectives of life in Europe at the turn of the 14th century (as this was when it was written). Though the tales they told were mainly out of pleasure and of wanting to please the other travelers, but they are still written using the perspective of an author that was alive during this time period. This is where The Other Boleyn Girl loses some credibility, and the fact that it was written in the 21st century certainly does not help. The amount of research that Gregory must have undertaken in order to complete this novel is apparent however, as her writing flows naturally and the characters feel real, and most importantly, like they belong in that time period. Overall The Other Boleyn is an entertaining look at English history during Henry's reign, and one that feels factual. While this was the author's intention, one cannot help but wonder how much liberties that she undertook when writing this novel, so the validity of the book suffers due to that fact.
The Other Boleyn Girl needs to be view how it is written from a modern perspective. It is a novel written in the 21st century about the 16th century. It is historical fiction so it could be view with some historical merit. Philippa Gregory did not simply make this story up off a whim, most of this history actually happen, but there has been added detail, description and some embellishments. The Boleyns and their family were real and King Henry was an actually King, so the book is written in a historical perspective, some people mind refuse to credit it as a source to learn from because it is written about 500 years after this history happened and it is written as a novel.
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is a much more reputable source because it was in fact written when the history was taken place and was written about the lives of townspeople (even though the characters are fake). Not only is Canterbury Tales different from the Other Boleyn girl in the fact that it is a primary source document, it also shows a different aspect of medieval life. The Tales focuses on the common people of the era who live a more simple life, whereas OBG focuses on the lavish lifestyle of the King and his court.
The Other Boleyn Girl clearly contains, to a degree, an accurate depiction of medieval England. During the story, the author thoroughly insights readers about the life of people in court. While the exact events such as Anne’s pregnancies and Mary’s trips to Hever may have been manifested, common actions such as the all-too-frequent curtsy, the lavish lifestyle, and daily life seem to hold truth. The traditions, such as the large feasts, the winter festivities, and jousting clearly are historically correct. Apart from the colloquial daily happenings, other parts of The Other Boleyn Girl have truths too, such as the relationships between the King and the Pope, which was one of intense disagreement. Society in the novel somewhat is precise; girls were wed at a young age to older men, usually to raise family status and wealth. It is clear, however, that some parts of the novel are fictional, such as the names of servants and other minor figures. The exact actions of every character cannot be completely verified, due to the lack of resources that are available. As a generality, I believe it is safe to say that The Other Boleyn Girl correctly shows the basic elements of medieval England, but should not be a source to be called upon to survey specific characters, such as Anne Boleyn.
On the other hand, The Canterbury Tales was written directly for the masses of high-middle age Englishmen. On the other hand, just like today’s poems and stories, the storyline is usually fictional as well. In “The Knight,” I have high confidence that the battle did not actually exist. As a primary source, however, The Canterbury Tales shows the interests of the people in medieval times. Because of this, I believe that The Canterbury Tales tells about the lifestyles of citizens of medieval England not only through the poems themselves, but also assists historians to analyze the people (High-middle age Englishmen) who actually read the poems for entertainment.
Historians may view the other Boleyn girl as a book that helps people get the basic picture of the Boleyn’s. The story does have some accurate facts such as that Henry the second did marry Anne Boleyn. Than later have her be beheaded. That Henry was unable to bear a son with Katherine. Anne took the spot of Katherine. A basic fact was that Henry went against the church. There are some facts that we can determine to be true. Such as that the letters that Anne and Henry Percy wrote back fourth were actually the real letters they wrote to each other. From the book we can’t gather what feelings George truly had for his wife. The book is historical fiction. It is evident the story is historical. Some of the emotions and dialogues that happen are not necessarily historically accurate. The Canterbury tales is different because you a get more accurate insight to other characters. Each character is able to tell their story. Whereas the Other Boleyn Girl Mary just tells the story. The time period The Canterbury Tales was written was the same time period that it was in the book. It is clear and easy to tell how two different writing styles and approaches help us gather a different approach of the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The Other Boleyn Girl and The Canterbury Tales are two insightful pieces that signify the lifestyle of the Middle Ages. Both are historical and fictional, yet offer a perspective in to the daily lives of those who dwelled in this time period. The Other Boleyn Girl is a novel written by Philippa Gregory, who studied and collected factual knowledge from primary documents to comprise a book that revolved around the real, but eluded lives of Mary and Anne Boleyn, two sisters who are rivals to each other and compete to please King Henry the eighth. This novel does hold some historical value in showing the manner in which people ate, dressed, and lived their lives not just in the royal court, but also in the towns such as Hever. The novel addressed the way the people behaved and what was expected as well. The Other Boleyn Girl allowed the reader to grasp not only the scope of lifestyle, but also the way women were viewed. The reader could understand the frustration of Mary Boleyn as a female and how she struggled to rise against her family. When comparing this piece to Chaucer’s Canterbury tales, The Other Boleyn Girl can be viewed as a realistic story, while the other is a poetic piece written with the intention to entertain. However, unlike The Other Boleyn Girl, The Canterbury Tales demonstrate the language and the literary style that was used back then and also what kind of stories people found entertaining. The Canterbury Tales brought forth a primary perspective which allowed it to become a historical document that has simply become a representation for that specific time period.
The Other Boleyn Girl gives a limited insight into the Middle Ages historically because it focuses only on King Henry’s court and the Boleyns. Many historical things also happened like King Henry VI affairs, his divorcing his Spanish Queen, how he formed of Church of England to do that, or his order of execution of Anne, the importance of having a male heir, and the war with Spain. The characters’ lives and story illustrate very well the society during that time. Things such as how marriages were only made to bring in wealth or help social uprising, how being a knight did not necessarily means being wealthy like Mary’s second husband. Or the style of life in court with troubadour poetry, celebrations, and lady’s in waiting. Through Mary’s life as a pawn to her family it was very clear how males were considered superior to females. However Phillipa Gregory wrote a story, not a history book, and many of the details of emotion and dialogue are imaginative. This decreases it historical accuracy and merit.
It cannot really compare to the historical merit of a primary document like Canterbury Tales. This is because the author was in the same time period, so can more accurately depict the life and events of the time. Also Chaucer has people from all different classes and their thoughts in this book, so it has a much wider point of view. Gregory is extrapolating this story from information she found from other books. For this reason the Other Boleyn Girl can be classified as historical fiction with realistic elements of society during the Middle Ages.
The Other Boleyn Girl is classified as a work of historical fiction, and when reading it is important to remember that it is not fact. Although large amounts of research may have gone into a historical fiction novel, the author has a free license to craft the story in any way they want. Most writers of historical fiction get creative when they are developing their characters and Phillipa Gregory is no exception. The Other Boleyn Girl is a wonderful depiction of courtier life, with the rivalries, daily activities, and general customs of a court all colorfully and accurately displayed. Gregory however lost historical merit when she filled her court with characters and described their deepest desires and thoughts. King Henry’s Courtiers undoubtedly competed for his affections, but all of the specifics in Gregory’s novel, like Mary’s tempting acts, the relationship shared between the three Boleyns, and Anne’s exhaustion can only be imagined.
When compared to a primary document from the period, I feel that a work of historical fiction pales. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer was written about the sixteenth century by a sixteenth century man. Chaucer’s book may have been written just for entertainment and his character’s may be inaccurate representations of the people of the period, but his authorship alone makes the masses overlook that. Because Chaucer was part of the time period, I feel his novel will always have more historical merit whether it is deserving or not, simply because it was written so long ago.
While OBG contains a competent reflection of its intended time period, it is undoubtedly second to the Canterbury Tales in terms of historical merit. The author of OBG, Phillipa Gregory, seems to understand much of the time period that she writes of. Between the setting, character actions and decisions, and timeline, the story appears compatible with modern understanding of the sixteenth century. Events such as Henry’s argument and eventual divorce with the church and overbearing sexuality are confirmed events in history. However, as with any historical fiction in which the author invents dialogue and presents characters, such as the historically overlooked Mary Boleyn, in a new light, Gregory would have necessarily made personal interpretations or extrapolations. Gregory had to supply details necessary to her audience’s comprehension that she was unlikely able to confirm historically. OBG was written to entertain a modern audience, and is therefore presented to appeal to such.
The Canterbury Tales, while also works of fiction, were written during the time period that they are set in. Although Geoffrey Chaucer invented his characters and dialogues, as did Gregory (or, in her case, re-created characters), his inventions would have no choice but to be compatible with his time period. This alone gives the Canterbury Tales tremendous advantage over OBG. There is, however, a possibility that this could count against it; Chaucer may have made his characters deliberately different from their real-life archetypes to make his stories special and unique, as can occasionally be seen in modern characters contrasting with most of today’s people. However, it is probable that this is not the case, or if it is, would only be to a minor extent, as such super abilities or nontraditional characters are largely a modern phenomenon. Additionally, the Canterbury Tales give a broader overview of life during the time, as it compiles tales from all classes of life as opposed to the homogenously noble characters of OBG. The Canterbury Tales, while similarly a work of fiction written to entertain, must be considered more historically reliable than OBG.
Phillipa Gregory intended to write The Other Boleyn Girl as historical fiction. The novel may be classified into this genre by writers, but historians may differ. While the events in the book are purely fictional, the characters are real. The novel gives historians an inside look of society in the sixteenth century. Culture is represented in a modern tone that readers in this day and age can understand. When all the facts are read and understood, Gregory is the one who can truly give historians an image of European society and culture. Readers can see the pressures of courting and the rivalry between families. The importance of establishing an heir, the role of religion in everyday lives, and the severe consequences of crimes give readers recognition of what aristocratic society was like in the sixteenth century. For this, The Other Boleyn Girl deserves historical merit. Now others may disagree with this because the novel is not a primary document. Well, when compared with one, such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, it is clear that The Other Boleyn Girl should be the one with more historical merit. When thinking of the origin of the Canterbury Tales, not much is known. People do not know the order in which Chaucer intended to tell the anecdotes within his novel, therefore they do not know the ending. Without Chaucer’s ending, we can never know the pressures or leisure’s of a man 600 years ago; an ending truly describes its author. With history, we need to know about the author and what happened in real life, not a story he made up. The Other Boleyn Girl has an ending with which historians can understand how much power a king truly has, Chaucer’s book will never allow people of history to come to strong conclusions like this. Comparing another feature of the two books, is the style of language they used, Chaucer wrote in extended metaphors all the time, while The Other Boleyn Girl got to the point. There is no doubt that scholars of literature can benefit from The Canterbury Tales, but with history, we cannot give it merit based solely on the fact that it was written so long ago.
As historians, we would view The Other Boleyn Girl in order to get a glimpse of what life was like in the Middles Ages of Europe. Although there are some historically accurate events that take place throughout the novel, the plot is mostly written in modern vernacular and revolves around the relationships between Mary, her sister, and Henry. With this said, it does contain some historical merit. For example, it portrays the role of superiority men had over women during that time. This is shown when Mary and Anne are forced to do whatever their family tells them to do, regardless of what they want. Their sole purpose in life is to help the Boleyn family achieve a higher status. It also shows life in the courts and how everything always revolves around the king. Finally, it involves the king’s affairs with the Catholic Church and with the papacy, especially with the issue of annulling Henry’s first marriage.
In contrast, The Canterbury Tales is written in an older, more poetic dialect. It gives insight to how people in the Middle Ages talked, behaved, and even thought. Also, it involved situations that commonly took place in that time period, such as the fight to the death for the love of a woman. These were the type of situations that took place among all people, including knights, nobles, and peasants, rather than just the royal court. Finally, because Chaucer wrote from the perspective of actually being in the Middle Ages of Europe rather than just placing himself in the position of a character, as Gregory did with OBG, The Canterbury Tales ultimately has more historical merit as a ‘primary document’.
The historical accuracy in The Other Boleyn Girl can definitely be questioned. Some of the romances and the drama are clearly based on the author’s creativity and imagination. However, it does give an in depth look at the Kingdom of England at that time. We can learn a lot about that culture and their way of life through the author’s attention for detail. We can also take away the knowledge of England’s politics and rivalries with France. And maybe most importantly we learn about the unique religious issues unique to that time, and the eventual split of the Catholic Church. This book also reveals the harsh truths of sexism, and highlights how women were purely considered property, and had no value to their families if not stepping stones to a higher society. One thing to take into consideration though is the time period it was written in, in comparison to the time period the book was set in. This major gap greatly challenges the validity.
The focal point that leads us to believe that The Canterbury Tales is a credible source is it was written in the actual time period it takes place in. Chaucer lived and understood the time period he wrote about. He used his own encounters with social rankings to accurately describe what life was like. The thing that is unique about Canterbury Tales is that enters life of the lower ranked people of society. So instead of dramatizing the rich and wealthy he could be more truthful when talking about the common people. The Other Boleyn girl does have a lot of historical accuracy, but Gregory can never fully embody the time period, while Chaucer can simply pull upon his life experiences.
The historical accuracy in The Other Boleyn Girl can definitely be questioned. Some of the romances and the drama are clearly based on the author’s creativity and imagination. However, it does give an in depth look at the Kingdom of England at that time. We can learn a lot about that culture and their way of life through the author’s attention for detail. We can also take away the knowledge of England’s politics and rivalries with France. And maybe most importantly we learn about the unique religious issues unique to that time, and the eventual split of the Catholic Church. This book also reveals the harsh truths of sexism, and highlights how women were purely considered property, and had no value to their families if not stepping stones to a higher society. One thing to take into consideration though is the time period it was written in, in comparison to the time period the book was set in. This major gap greatly challenges the validity.
The focal point that leads us to believe that The Canterbury Tales is a credible source is it was written in the actual time period it takes place in. Chaucer lived and understood the time period he wrote about. He used his own encounters with social rankings to accurately describe what life was like. The thing that is unique about Canterbury Tales is that enters life of the lower ranked people of society. So instead of dramatizing the rich and wealthy he could be more truthful when talking about the common people. The Other Boleyn girl does have a lot of historical accuracy, but Gregory can never fully embody the time period, while Chaucer can simply pull upon his life experiences.
While The Other Boleyn Girl does have historical merit, a lot of it seems to be obscured by the thoughts and feelings of the characters which had to be created by Philipa Gregory. It seems to have an accurate description of how the court was conducted, but it does not necessarily capture the way the characters felt about all of the events. The fact that Mary Boleyn is the narrator rather than Anne Boleyn makes it even more ambiguous, because so little is known about Mary in the first place. On top of that, Gregory had to construct the various relationships between the characters with little information about their personal lives. The book provides a description of various court functions of the time, and how wealthy families used marriage not out of love but to solidify the family’s position financially and politically.
The Canterbury Tales provides a less accurate depiction of the lives of people in general in the Middle Ages, but is slightly more accurate concerning the individual. While Gregory had to imagine how her characters would act, Geoffrey Chaucer was able to write about the characters from experience with actual personalities of the time period. Because Chaucer’s book was written as entertainment, it contains less factual information about the characters’ lives and focuses more on creating a caricature of each character’s personality. In this way, where Gregory could not accurately depict her characters’ thoughts and feelings, Chaucer did, albeit a little embellished. Also, where Chaucer did not show how his characters might operate in society, Gregory did.
As a piece of historical fiction and literature meant to hold a reader's attention, OBG obviously had some information gaps to be filled. As a historian, this book has little merit in comparison to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales because, although Philipa Gregory did extensive research on the topic, she only knows as much about Mary, Anne, and Henry the VIII's court as historians do and is not a primary source. In Mary's case historians know little to nothing, not even if she is the older or younger Boleyn sister and Gregory had to make up a back story. I do feel like OBG did represent Henry the eighth's court life with seriousness and accuracy as well as the trials of George and Anne Boleyn, in comparison to the Canterbury Tales where I feel like the stories written by Chaucer seemed more for entertainment, as I imagine the trip from Southwark to Canterbury's cathedral was a long one. Overall, the Canterbury Tales have the advantage of being a primary source but reading the Knight's Tale I didn't feel like it represented seriously the average life of a knight but rather seemed like a romantic troubadour poem. OBG is much more serious and Gregory has worked to give an accurate and valuable representation of life in the 1500's, but being from the eyes of Mary Boleyn gives the story its fictional aspect.
The Other Boleyn Girl is written as a way to not only entertain, but also teach the reader a little bit about life in middle ages. It is written with modern language and Philippa Gregory tries to evoke the reader’s attention with the use of suspense and her strong word choice. The Other Boleyn Girl also mainly focuses on the life of King Henry the 8th and the families that lived in the court, like the Boleyns. I believe that this story did have some historical merit because Gregory researched the actual events that took place and added her interpretations to some of the events that transpired. But, her story cannot be taken as a piece of history because many of the events that occurred were added into the novel for literary affect, and are not completely accurate. The Canterbury Tales however were written in the middle ages and tell more comical stories about the lives of peasants and knights during that time period. This novel is much more historically accurate than The Other Boleyn Girl because it was written during the time period it portrays, and Geoffrey Chaucer used his knowledge of the world around him to create a book of stories that were comical and can help us learn what life was really like in that era. Chaucer’s novel may not be as entertaining as The Other Boleyn Girl because it was written in middle English and is hard to understand, but it is definitely a better piece of historical literature and is a reliable source for information on the time period.
The Other Boleyn Girl contains information about life in the Middle Ages, primarily the life as a courtier in the English court, which makes it valuable in the eyes of historians. Some of these aspects of life include the manipulation of marriage for overall family benefit (alliances, wealth, power), the heavy celebrating and leisure of the English court, and the country's occupation with warfare and religion, with instances such as King Henry's war on France and then later Spain and his reform of the church to suit his needs and thus bestow upon him more power. These aspects were typical of countries during the time period, so therefore Gregory's extensive research gives this historical merit, although she does lose credit because of the uncertainty of Mary Boleyn's actual life. But in comparison to the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer's work gives more information, since it is a primary source. He does this by providing a broader scope of medieval life by focusing more on the common people rather than the King and his court. Even though it is incomplete, it does accurately portray the kind of society that people lived in. Devotion to religion (the pilgrimage to cathedral), occupation with warfare (the knight's background and his tale), and the kind of crude humor that people shared in for entertainment (shown in the miller's tale) are some of the aspects of their society that are portrayed in this work. The work itself provides information because it is representative of the rise of vernacular literature in Europe. Therefore, Chaucer's work is invaluable to a historian's understanding of the medieval world.
-Justin
An author’s main goal is to write something that will be enjoyable and entertaining to the reader. From a historical view point, this is something that can greatly hinder the historical merit of a piece of literature. Both Gregory and Chaucer included additional things in their pieces of writing besides straight fact and true stories to improve the overall effect of the story. However, both The Other Boleyn Girl and The Canterbury Tales contain some historically accurate information about Europe during the Middle Ages.
The Other Boleyn Girl is a modern perspective on the 16th century, often causing it to be denounced as a not historically accurate piece of literature. But The Other Boleyn Girl can give the reader a quick insight on the lives of English nobility and the royal court. Although one might say the historical content present in The Other Boleyn Girl is over shadowed by the highly fictionalized lives of the Boleyn girls, it is not. The fictional interaction and dialogue between characters only provides a foundation for the historical content. Medieval society is well portrayed: girls where forced to wed at an early age and these young woman were used by their families to whatever degree to necessary to have the family rise in wealth and society. This can be seen by the forced sexual relations Mary and Anne had with King Henry, in hope of marriage. And in addition, how women were even abused and neglected in marriage. This can be seen with Queen Katherine because she failed to produce King Henry a son heir; therefore he had their marriage annulled. Lastly, men were superior to women. This is evident in the fictional but historically based conversations of the Boleyn family. Historical traditions such as feasts, festivals, and jousting were all honored traditions in the Middle Ages. Besides the daily life in the royal court, King Henry VII’s reformation of the Church of England, execution of Anne Boleyn, affairs, and his disagreements with the pope are all clearly portrayed accurately. Therefore, through The Other Boleyn Girl, we can get an insight on the medieval royal court. However, the other tends to lean towards entertainment than fact, hurting the historical merit of it. And in my personal opinion, Gregory focused too much on adultery and not enough on other influential occurrences in the castle. So this novel has historical merit to an extent.
The Canterbury Tales is a primary document written in this time era by someone who lived and experienced this history. The era The Canterbury Tales was written already gives it a clear advantage in the amount of historical merit compared to The Other Boleyn Girl. Rather than focusing only on the royal court, Chaucer’s tales include a detailed view into the lives of the common medieval people. This makes The Canterbury Tales more well rounded and historical merit. It can be assumed that since Chaucer wrote this during the era of medieval times, that he experienced first hand or heard about the things he wrote about. Thus, making it more historically accurate. However, because he wrote this book to entertain his readers, it can be assumed that added additional things to improve the story. Overall, both books contain a certain degree of historical merit. I believe that The Canterbury Tales contains slightly more historical merit than the Other Boleyn Girl because of the time era each book was written in. Both books are able to give a historical insight of the society of medieval times.
An author’s main goal is to write something that will be enjoyable and entertaining to the reader. From a historical view point, this is something that can greatly hinder the historical merit of a piece of literature. Both Gregory and Chaucer included additional things in their pieces of writing besides straight fact and true stories to improve the overall effect of the story. However, both The Other Boleyn Girl and The Canterbury Tales contain some historically accurate information about Europe during the Middle Ages.
The Other Boleyn Girl is a modern perspective on the 16th century, often causing it to be denounced as a not historically accurate piece of literature. But The Other Boleyn Girl can give the reader a quick insight on the lives of English nobility and the royal court. Although one might say the historical content present in The Other Boleyn Girl is over shadowed by the highly fictionalized lives of the Boleyn girls, it is not. The fictional interaction and dialogue between characters only provides a foundation for the historical content. Medieval society is well portrayed: girls where forced to wed at an early age and these young woman were used by their families to whatever degree to necessary to have the family rise in wealth and society. This can be seen by the forced sexual relations Mary and Anne had with King Henry, in hope of marriage. And in addition, how women were even abused and neglected in marriage. This can be seen with Queen Katherine because she failed to produce King Henry a son heir; therefore he had their marriage annulled. Lastly, men were superior to women. This is evident in the fictional but historically based conversations of the Boleyn family. Historical traditions such as feasts, festivals, and jousting were all honored traditions in the Middle Ages. Besides the daily life in the royal court, King Henry VII’s reformation of the Church of England, execution of Anne Boleyn, affairs, and his disagreements with the pope are all clearly portrayed accurately. Therefore, through The Other Boleyn Girl, we can get an insight on the medieval royal court. However, the other tends to lean towards entertainment than fact, hurting the historical merit of it. And in my personal opinion, Gregory focused too much on adultery and not enough on other influential occurrences in the castle. So this novel has historical merit to an extent.
The Canterbury Tales is a primary document written in this time era by someone who lived and experienced this history. The era The Canterbury Tales was written already gives it a clear advantage in the amount of historical merit compared to The Other Boleyn Girl. Rather than focusing only on the royal court, Chaucer’s tales include a detailed view into the lives of the common medieval people. This makes The Canterbury Tales more well rounded and historical merit. It can be assumed that since Chaucer wrote this during the era of medieval times, that he experienced first hand or heard about the things he wrote about. Thus, making it more historically accurate. However, because he wrote this book to entertain his readers, it can be assumed that added additional things to improve the story. Overall, both books contain a certain degree of historical merit. I believe that The Canterbury Tales contains slightly more historical merit than the Other Boleyn Girl because of the time era each book was written in. Both books are able to give a historical insight of the society of medieval times.
The Other Boleyn Girl is a current novel while The Canterbury Tales was written during Medieval Europe. In terms of historical accuracy The Other Boleyn Girl has been criticized. The novel focuses Mary Boleyn and the affairs of the royal court. Very little is know about Mary Boleyn and her relationship with the King and her family so Gregory was able to create the character as her own. In this way the book is not historically accurate because this personality and life of Mary Boleyn most likely came from the author’s imagination. However, the book is not completely lost on historical events and people. Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn were real people in medieval Europe and Henry is know for his multiple affairs with different women. Also, the book portrays family life of the time period. Anne and Mary’s family married their daughters to men who would help improve the status and wealth of the family, and in that way, the book is accurate.
The Canterbury Tales is not a current story like The Other Boleyn Girl. It was written during medieval Europe and gives the readers and idea of how people thought during that time. I believe that it has more historical merit than The Other Boleyn Girl because it was written during the time and descried how people thought, how they felt, and the stories that they told. Therefore, The Canterbury Tales would be a wiser decision if someone was looking to learn about medieval Europe.
The Other Boleyn Girl, in my opinion, should not be viewed as fully historically accurate. As historians, we should take anything and everything said in this book with a grain (or a bag) of salt. This book is indeed historical fiction, and on that account, at least a good part of it is accurate, such as the background information and important figures of the time. In these areas of information I would daresay that the Other Boleyn Girl has a fair amount of historical accuracy. Also it's portrayal of the English Court at the time seems to be fitting and realistic, and probably also has historical merit as well. However, the individual events that happen to the main characters probably will have significantly less historical merit. The story of Mary Boleyn was undoubtedly dramatacized to make the story more interesting for a reader. The purpose of historical fiction is, yes to inform, but more primarily to entertain like any other genre of fiction. Therefore Gregory probably altered some facts around to make the story more interesting. Compared to the Canterbury Tales I would say that they have similar historical merit. On the one hand, The Other Boleyn Girl's author, Philippa Gregory did research into the time period and probably tried to make an accurate picture of England at that time. However, because we did not live in that time period we cannot say with absolute certainty how things were. Chaucer on the other hand, knew with absolute certainty how things were in Medieval England because he lived in it. However, the purpose of Canterbury Tales was pure entertainment, and therefore Chaucer probably was not looking to be meticulously accurate about everything. On the whole, I would think that the historical merit of the two are about equal. If the primary document had been a more non-fictional piece, the historical accuracy of that primary source would have possessed much higher historical merit.
From the perspective of a historian, Canterbury Tales is the clear choice when looking for historical merit due to it being a primary source. Written during the 14th century by a man, Chaucer, who most likely encountered many people like those of whom he wrote about, is more capable of providing a more accurate description of what those people were like. He also describes a wide range of people (nun, knight, cook, etc.) who come from all different ranks of society. However, the purpose of Canterbury Tales was not to inform people of medieval society but rather to entertain, which is where it loses some historic credibility. The characters are fictional and the fact that the story is a collection of tales does not aid in giving the historian a direct description of the events of that period and what daily life in the shoes of each entailed. However, it is possible to interpret what was of importance to the people of that time period through what they individually spoke of and what references they made.
The Other Boleyn Girl has its major downfalls in that it was written during the 21st century and that its historical references were based on the research of others as well as because it was written with the purpose of entertainment. No doubt Gregory did do much research, it is still questionable as to how much she stayed true to historical fact and as to how credible her sources were. Gregory did, however, succeed in depicting many aspects of life from the time period. She portrayed how women were viewed as inferior to men through much dialect and the ways in which Anne and Mary were manipulated to improve the family rank, another important aspect of medieval life. It showed how marriage was a means of upward mobility much of the time, and also how girls married young to older men. Customs such as feasts, masquerades, group hunts, and jousts were also depicted. It is also shown how miscarriages, incest, and infidelity were held with high contempt. The most important events that the Other Boleyn Girl includes are the reformation of the catholic church and the affairs of King Henry VII. Though, the novel focuses mostly upon the court and Boleyn family and speaks little to none of the life of a commoner. In all, it is safe to say that as a historian I would not have too much confidence in the accuracy of either Canterbury Tales or the Other Boleyn Girl mainly because their intention was for a pleasurable read, not education, although they do provide a basic knowledge of life and social customs of the period.
The Other Boleyn Girl is historically accurate in showing court behavior and family dynamics. However, the book is not historically correct in presenting specific events and people. As historians we can immediately see several major flaws in The Other Boleyn Girl. Such as the birth order of the Boleyn children. The author, Philippa Gregory, depicts George as being the eldest but historically Mary was the elder sister and the eldest of the children. Another flaw in Gregory’s novel is the sexual experience of Mary Boleyn. When she first begins her relationship with King Henry VIII, she is viewed as being sexually inexperienced. This is seen when Mary goes to her sister, Anne, for help in courting the king. On the other hand, history claims that Mary had had an affair with the French King Francis I and other men before she became a mistress to Henry VIII. She was apparently forced out of the French court because of her lecheries. Although Gregory’s book can be seen as historically inaccurate by historians, we cannot criticize her for this. As an author and a writer of fiction, Gregory writes her novels with the primary goal to entertain her audience; though she does try to be as historically accurate as possible. While she does have some historical inaccuracies, Gregory successfully shows some key elements of the English Court during that time period. Throughout the book, a reader can see that having a male heir is the most important legacy as a king. Gregory shows that Henry VIII will do whatever needs to be done to have a male heir. Such as going against the Roman Catholic Church, one of the major powers of Europe. The Other Boleyn Girl provides a reader with the understanding of the political tensions of an English Court of that time.
The Other Boleyn Girl is not as historically accurate as The Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales has more historical merit than The Other Boleyn Girl because it was written during the same time period as the tales; which in turn enables Chaucer to capture the tone of the 14th century. Chaucer has the advantage of experience when writing a historically correct story. He includes in his tales the ideals of his time period to create a more authentic 14th century style. Although The Canterbury Tales were written during the 14th century, the tales within the story are probably fictional. Many of his tales consists of brash humor and irony. Chaucer intended for his tales to be a form of entertainment rather than a historically accurate portrayal of the 14th century life. Neither book can be described as being totally accurate; each has accuracy of its own. In a comparison of The Canterbury Tales and The Other Boleyn Girl, The Canterbury Tales is more authentic.
Philippa Gregory intended for The Other Boleyn Girl to be, for the most part, historically accurate. The book was meant to be enjoyed as historical fiction, but it can also be viewed as a good way to learn the basic daily activities of the English Court during the sixteenth century. Despite the fact that it is not purely factual, it is a good depiction of the court. Some of the more specific facts, such as the life of Mary Boleyn, we do not know much about. Gregory does not show her as what historians do know. In the book she is shown as demure and innocent but in reality she was a girl who got kicked out of the French Court for scandalous behavior. Also, the plot revolves around Mary, who was not an important figure during the time of King Henry’s rule. Even though the story line is purely fictional the book is a good source for people to learn the general inner workings of the Court. Though there are some discrepancies from the actual history, The Other Boleyn Girl has historical merit if one wanted to discover specifically how the Tudor Court functioned during that time period. As historians, we can view it as an easy way to learn the basic history from a secondary source.
Though Gregory’s work is a good document for reference, it is fictional, and generally primary sources are better to look at to find historical information. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales were actually written during the time period they describe. This allows them to have more accuracy than The Other Boleyn Girl, and encompass more of the actual society as opposed to just the royal court. Even though this is true, some of the stories, like The Knight’s Tale, tell us little about the time period and were written for entertainment. That tale is a tale of love and politics intended to entertain the readers of the time period in which it was written, not to inform them about the history. The tales are good to look at for the style of the writing Chaucer developed, the stories told during that time period, and the basic life of the time, but The Other Boleyn Girl would be better to look at for courtly information and specific facts. Both have merit as sources, but The Canterbury Tales are all legitimate stories of the time, and Gregory’s work is secondary and written in modern times.
Philippa Gregory intended for The Other Boleyn Girl to be, for the most part, historically accurate. The book was meant to be enjoyed as historical fiction, but it can also be viewed as a good way to learn the basic daily activities of the English Court during the sixteenth century. Despite the fact that it is not purely factual, it is a good depiction of the court. Some of the more specific facts, such as the life of Mary Boleyn, we do not know much about. Gregory does not show her as what historians do know. In the book she is shown as demure and innocent but in reality she was a girl who got kicked out of the French Court for scandalous behavior. Also, the plot revolves around Mary, who was not an important figure during the time of King Henry’s rule. Even though the story line is purely fictional the book is a good source for people to learn the general inner workings of the Court. Though there are some discrepancies from the actual history, The Other Boleyn Girl has historical merit if one wanted to discover specifically how the Tudor Court functioned during that time period. As historians, we can view it as an easy way to learn the basic history from a secondary source.
Though Gregory’s work is a good document for reference, it is fictional, and generally primary sources are better to look at to find historical information. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales were actually written during the time period they describe. This allows them to have more accuracy than The Other Boleyn Girl, and encompass more of the actual society as opposed to just the royal court. Even though this is true, some of the stories, like The Knight’s Tale, tell us little about the time period and were written for entertainment. That tale is a tale of love and politics intended to entertain the readers of the time period in which it was written, not to inform them about the history. The tales are good to look at for the style of the writing Chaucer developed, the stories told during that time period, and the basic life of the time, but The Other Boleyn Girl would be better to look at for courtly information and specific facts. Both have merit as sources, but The Canterbury Tales are all legitimate stories of the time, and Gregory’s work is secondary and written in modern times.
As historians, The Other Boleyn Girl provides some information of merit. As the novel primarily focuses on Henry VIII’s affair with Mary Boleyn and marriage to Anne Boleyn, there are factual details about his separation from the Roman Catholic Church and divorce from Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn. The Other Boleyn Girl also includes information about society, such as the attitude towards women and the loyalty to monarchy (displayed by the commoners’ defense of Catherine of Aragon), and court life. However, there are historians who disagree with some of Philippa Gregory’s portrayals. For example, some claim that Anne was the middle child, with Mary as the oldest and George as the youngest. In addition, the charges of witchcraft, adultery, incest, and treason seemed to have basis in the novel, while many historians maintain that they were false accusations.
Furthermore, The Other Boleyn Girl is Mary’s story, and it was mostly about love and power, not history. Not only do historians know very little about Mary, but the information they do have contradicts her character in The Other Boleyn Girl. Therefore, the novel is narrated by someone out of Philippa Gregory’s imagination, and it is debatable whether or not women of that time period actually shared Mary’s perspectives, ideas, and morals.
On the other hand, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales were written in the time period that they describe. That gives it more historical merit, because Chaucer was familiar with his topic. Even if The Canterbury Tales were meant to be humorous or sardonic, the writing still reveals information about history, from the characters’ descriptions to the word choices that Chaucer made. The stories also display the thoughts and feelings of different groups of people during fourteenth century. Chaucer did not have to make up personalities like Gregory did in The Other Boleyn Girl; he could have simply talked to a friar or a miller for inspiration while developing his characters.
Overall, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is more likely to have historical merit than Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl.
Both books like The Other Boleyn Girl and primary sources such as The Canterbury Tales can help us understand the time period, but in different ways. It is not true that the Other Boleyn Girl has no historical merit. The author did a lot of research on the time period. Major events and important figures are probably portrayed somewhat accurately. The information is arranged into a narrative style piece, and this can help some people to visualize and connect to the happenings of the time period. However, the book also has many limitations because it is a fictional work. The emphasis on this book is not on history. The author’s goal is to create a setting, characters, and a conflict that will appeal to readers as an enjoyable book to read, rather than an informative one. As such, it is likely that many facts were changed, omitted, or added to enrich the story and create a more entertaining work. The historical information that is found in this book is not very reliable, because the reader cannot tell which of the facts are real and which facts are the author’s embellishments. The Canterbury Tales is a different type of work. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote it just as a fictional work, but it contains important information about the people of the time period. Many of the themes that the author includes must have been relevant and important to the people. Even though some of the stories have nothing to do with Medieval Europe, the ideas included in the writing are an accurate record of thoughts and feelings. In his work, Geoffrey Chaucer was able to express his ideas, the ideas of a person from Medieval Times, free of embellishments that a modern writer might add. The Canterbury Tales might not help a person who is looking for specific facts about the time period, but it can help a historian understand the thoughts of the people during the time. Books like The Other Boleyn Girl may include many facts, but a modern writer cannot understand and accurately express the feelings of the time period as well as an author who lived during the Medieval Times could.
Both The Other Boleyn Girl and The Canterbury Tales have historical merit,
although The Canterbury Tales gives a better insight into life during the High Middle Ages.
While The Other Boleyn Girl was written in the 21st century, Phillipa Gregory did research
historical information about the time period while writing the book. Most of the personalities and
events are historically accurate. King Henry VIII did have many wives and mistresses. The conflict
between Henry and the Pope was accurate. The book also accurately described the social and political
situation of the time period. For example, many aristocrats during the time period lived lavish
lifestyles. Increasing a family's influence was the primary reason Thomas Boleyn
pushed Anne and Mary to become King Henry VIII's mistress. Female obedience to males was the
accepted treatment of females in the High Middle Ages. The importance of a male heir to the
stability of a dynasty was the main cause of King Henry VIII's obsession with having a son.
Overall, The Other Boleyn Girl has historical merit, but it is also important to note
that the main purpose of the book is entertainment. As an author, Phillipa Gregory sometimes
gave the characters characteristics that are not historically accurate. This is mostly because
the lives of some characters are not well documented, so the author invented details to fill
these gaps.
Unlike The Other Boleyn Girl, The Canterbury Tales was written by an author living
during the time period he was describing. Although not entirely objective,
The Canterbury Tales gives a detailed description of life during the High Middle Ages.
It depicts Christianity as a belief most Europeans shared by following the story of numerous
travelers on their journey to see the body of the archbishop of Canterbury. The Knight's Tale
shows the values of knights, such as protecting the weak. It also shows that knights often
participated in tournaments. The Canterbury Tales described life in the 14th century
from the perspective of people of different social classes. Some details were exaggerated such as
the knights seeing Greek Gods, but overall it is an accurate representation of life in the High
Middle Ages.
The Other Boleyn Girl was written with the sole purpose of entertaining readers. Some may say the same about The Canterbury Tales...and I am not saying that is not true. What makes these two pieces of literature different is that The Canterbury Tales, while fiction, would be considered a primary source because it was written in the time period and in the vernacular of the time period. Because of the fact that The Other Boleyn Girl was written in the present day,it is not considered a primary source, and is not proven to be a completely accurate portrayal of Mary Boleyn's life or of the English court under King Henry the eighth. Therefore it does not possess much in the way of historical merit, seeing as though, historically, we do not know much about Mary Boleyn, and much of the detail contained in the novel may not be historically accurate.When speaking of The Canterbury Tales, one can say with certainty that it has historical merit as a piece of literature from the actual time period in question. The Canterbury Tales is still a fiction text, but it teaches us about what type of fiction people were reading back then, and what influences the author, Chaucer, might have had.
The Other Boleyn Girl, though a work of historical fiction, has little historical merit. Being fiction, the purpose of this novel is for entertainment, and Philippa Gregory deviates from the facts throughout the book in order to create more interest for the reader. Furthermore, it was published in 2002; therefore it cannot be viewed as a primary document for the time period in which it describes.
Gregory constructs a story in which Mary Boleyn is a heroin, and evokes sympathy from the readers for what her family forces her to do to advance in society. However, factual accounts of Mary Boleyn tell of her affairs in the French court before the one she was forced to have with King Henry VIII. There are several other instances in the book where Gregory alters the facts in order to persuade the audience to prefer one character to another, or to simply maintain interest with the cast.
The only historical values of The Other Boleyn Girl are the general descriptions of life at court; the feasting, recreational activities, and religious reform in England. However, the focus of this book is on the emotional experiences of a young woman. Though The Canterbury Tales are a work of fiction, with the aim to entertain, they can be viewed as a historical document of the time period, versus The Other Boleyn Girl, because they were written during that time. The Canterbury Tales are primary documents because they indicate the style of literature and story-telling that was popular in that era. The Other Boleyn Girl is only indicative of the type of literature that is entertaining in current times.
Although The Other Boleyn girl has historical elements, it hardly has any historical merit. Philippa Gregory’s main purpose of this book was entertainment. However, dirty living conditions, disease, and politics aren’t always the most exciting of topics. The story is based in fact, but not entirely accurate. In order to appease her audience (mostly female readers), Philippa Gregory had to embellish the story by coloring it with untruths. In addition a historian analyzing this book, one must examine the books audience. The book needs to be relatable to the reader. To accomplish this, the author included unrealistic dialect and accounts of characters’ lives. Overall, as a historian and as a reader I view this book with distain. At the minimum this book at least can spark an interest in history, but cannot be considered entirely accurate.
In comparison to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the Other Boleyn Girl is not even in the same league. The Canterbury Tales was a primary source. Although the book included many was fictional, it tells us much about the time period. For example, the whole book is written in old English and teaches us a lot about the dialect of that time. In addition, the group is on their way to Canterbury, to see Christian relics at which they can pray. This was a common practice at this time. Meanwhile, The Other Boleyn Girl is not only fiction, but also all the historical knowledge is second hand. Even though The Other Boleyn Girl is about a similar period in history as the Canterbury Tales, the former is worthless compared to the latter from a historical stand point
The Other Boleyn Girl and Canterbury Tales, though both stories were set in the Middle Ages, had many differences. The Other Boleyn Girl, written by Philippa Gregory, told the story of the reign of King Henry VIII through the eyes of Mary Boleyn, a figure in history that we do not know much about. Hence, many of the actions that took place were made purely from the imagination. The Other Boleyn Girl, though it does portray palace life and other broad details accurately, is a fictional piece of work with many historical inaccuracies. For example, Mary Boleyn, historians believe, was the older of the two Boleyn sisters. Still, despite the historical inaccuracies, Gregory does do a good job depicting one of the most infamous scandals in a modern way, and successfully grabs the attention of her readers. However, despite the popularity of the book, The Other Boleyn Girl should not be used by historians as a reference due to its many inaccuracies.
The Canterbury Tales, written in the 1200s by Geoffrey Chauncer, provides a more holistic view of life in the Middle Ages in England. Because the book was written during the Middle Ages in vernacular English, it has become a primary source for historians. Although the Canterbury Tales was just an accumalation of stories, it did provide the reader much information about the views and perspectives of different people living during that time period, such as the knight, the nun, and many others. Throughout the book, Chaucer, through his tales, successfully satirized priests, chivalry, and reverized the hard workers. Canterbury Tales not only outlined life in the Middle Ages, but also outlined the deficiencies of the Middle Ages. It was an accurate account of the time period, as well as a fun read. Chaucer, through his ingenious work, has enlightened modern day people with his work.
When looking at The Other Boleyn Girl for historical merit, issues arise concerning Philippa Gregory’s use of artistic license. While the book contains a framework of indisputable historic events, such as Henry VIII’s battle with the Vatican, and presents an effective depiction of the intricacies of medieval court life and the lives of women, it is still classified as a work of historical fiction, and has to be regarded as one. The emotions of characters and much of their everyday lives cannot be known from surviving historical documents. Gregory had to interpolate these attributes into the story to fill plot gaps and create an interesting read. When studying history, these personalities may not be anything like their real-life counterparts. Despite demonstrating some of the workings of medieval life, The Other Boleyn Girl is a piece of historical fiction that cannot be trusted for historical merit and accuracy beyond those facts already verified by other sources.
In comparison, primary documents such as The Canterbury Tales can be highly valued for their depictions of various aspects of medieval life; while the tales written by Chaucer are not true accounts, they are undoubtedly based in the customs of the time period. For example, The Knight’s Tale reveals the period’s reinvigorated interest in Greek mythology. In writing about the many different travelers, Chaucer describes many different classes in medieval society, and makes commentary upon them. From the poem, the daily lives of people, such as the Parson, can be analyzed. A religious man who walks among the poor and strives to lead them by example, the Parson is a great example of a Franciscan mendicant friar, a new order of priests which developed in the century before the Canterbury Tales were written, and who were very well known throughout Europe. For these reasons, primary documents like The Canterbury Tales are very useful in looking at everyday medieval life (in all economic classes) and their traditions, and are of considerably higher historical merit than modern accounts of medieval life, such as The Other Boleyn Girl.
The Other Boleyn Girl can be viewed as more for amusement than for historical accuracy. This is due to the fact that this book was written recently and the author therefore had very little knowledge about what specifically went on in the court of King Henry VIII. There are many aspects that are meant to intrigue the reader throughout, instead of being based on fact, but are only in the book to move the plot forward. These include the possible relationship between Anne and her brother with the outcome of a deformed baby, and the secretive infidelity of George with Francis Weston. The author also had no idea what Mary’s thoughts and ideas were, so she created a fictional work. Although mainly for enjoyment, this book does have true parts including Mary taking over the throne of Catherine of Aragon. Another true fact was that the King had an affair with Jane Seymour because Anne was not able to give him a son, leading to Ann’s death and the disgrace of her family.
The Canterbury Tales has a lot more historical merit than The Other Boleyn Girl because it was written at the time when it took place. The Other Boleyn Girl was written more than 500 years after the rule of Anne Boleyn. Geoffrey Chaucer actually lived around the types of characters in his books, so he was able to give a legitimate representation of them. The Other Boleyn Girl, although having some accuracy, is not a primary “document” like The Canterbury Tales.
Were I a historian I would not consider The Other Boleyn Girl a good historical source. Firstly The Other Boleyn Girl was not written in that time period. Also not very much is known about Mary Boleyn and because Philippa Gregory went very in depth with Mary’s character so the probability is astronomical that so fabrications will occur. Also the main purpose of the novel The Other Boleyn Girl was to make money by attraction an audience, not to be historically accurate. To sum up, while The Other Boleyn Girl is a more interesting read, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is a more accurate portrayal of the time.
“The Other Boleyn Girl” is a very interesting piece of literature as it is a story of the 16th century, written in the 21st century. As historians, we might not consider the dates given in the book as accurate but the story is true because King Henry VIII actually did have an intense disagreement with the church and Pope. He divorced his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and also executed his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Moreover, it gives us an accurate description of medieval life in England. The society presented in the book is accurate because behind the lavish lifestyle of the Tudor court there was deep poverty and inequality. We cannot be confident about the actions of the characters, as many reliable sources are not available since the story took place about 500 years ago. The other thing we might question as historians are the individual feelings and thoughts of the characters. Those might be made up by the author, Phillipa Gregory because how can she be sure of what the people thought and felt back then? Their thoughts and feelings written in the book could only be true if this piece of literature was written in the 16th century. Some historians might also question the credibility of the book because it is written from Mary Boleyn’s perspective. Although Mary has been mentioned in some of Anne Boleyn’s biographies, we do not know much about her.
On the other hand, Geoffrey Chaucer’s book, “The Canterbury Tales” are a much more reliable and reputable source. The Canterbury Tales was written at the end of 14th century which was a turbulent time in Europe and all the events were taking place such as the Great Schism and the peasants’ revolts. The author wrote about townspeople’s lives which help historians today to analyze the lifestyle of people back then. The description given about the medieval age is more credible then “The Other Boleyn Girl” as the story was written in the period it took place. “The Canterbury Tales” focused more on the low-rank class people of society while “The Other Boleyn Girl” solely focused on the life of King Henry VIII. However, both books were an amazing experience and have a lot of interesting information. “The Other Boleyn Girl” may have some historical merit as Gregory put in a lot of time to research the facts and is consistent with history as he was writing it but the book itself loses credibility to “The Canterbury Tales” which was written when history was taking place, making it a more reliable source.
Although the Canterbury Tales is a primary document, no one knows for sure if the Tales were an accurate representation of the time period. I gathered that the Canterbury Tales were on the comic side and I believe they were probably intended to be used for entertainment as opposed to a historical tale when Chaucer wrote/came up with them. However, the Boleyn girl was written as modern author’s representation of the time period and although much research went into the novel it is still largely a hypothesis as to what the life of Mary Boleyn in King Henry’s court. Despite the fact that The Other Boleyn Girl is an author’s rendition of the life of Mary, we know that Henry did in fact have many affairs, and that he spent a lot of time hunting and reforming the church. In this sense this novel does have historical merit but the actual events from the story are the author’s attempt to recreate true past from historical facts.
The Other Boleyn Girl compares to the Canterbury Tales because they both are historical in the sense that they talk about events from this time period. The Canterbury Tales are collections of stories to entertain readers so the Tales are focused more on the lives of the general population of the time period and are accurate in doing so. However, The Other Boleyn Girl is specifically focused on the king’s court and is an author’s representation.
The Other Boleyn Girl depicts life at court during the 16th century through Mary Boleyn as a fictional character. Although the story recalls true events from the reign of King Henry VIII, (annulling his marriage with the Spanish Queen, falling in love with Anne Boleyn, and the struggle to produce a male heir) the artificial thoughts and emotions used to tell the story causes the publication to lose historical merit. The fictional side of the novel is able to describe the struggle of women in society and family advancements through marriage in the royal courts, but the narration is completely imaginary. Lastly, the book was authored centuries after the time period of the story (16th century) so the author has no concrete idea as to what society was truly like in the royal courts, only an educated guess. The fact that the story was written to be a fictional entertaining novel and not a primary source leads it to lose merit as a historical document. On the contrary, The Canterbury Tales, a primary document, has more historical merit mainly because the author lived in the time period. Geoffrey Chaucer depicts his take on all the social classes of the 16th century which he lived in. The fact that he wrote these tales during the 16th century will forever make his publication gain more historical merit. Although both novels were written mainly for entertainment purposes, the fact that The Canterbury Tales is a primary document makes it more reliable than the The Other Boleyn Girl, a historical fiction novel. Therefore The Canterbury Tales will alway have more historical merit when comparing these two works.
The Other Boleyn Girl is not a very historically important book, especially for historians. It was written In modern times with many inaccuracies and can be compared with any other fictional book that is “based on a true story”. In reality, there are very few situations where a contemporary piece of work will keep true to the original facts, let alone provide additional insight, especially when the events in question occurred over 500 years ago and the book was written now. The Other Boleyn Girl is not an exception to this. For historians, modern fictional documents loosely based on historical facts have little importance.
On the other hand, The Canterbury Tales is much more useful. It is a more revealing work, in addition to being a primary source document. It explored social and religious events of the time from personal points of view. Additionally, Chaucer directly compared the differences between the social classes by deliberately changing the diction of the different characters as they explain their stories. There are a variety of cues in the Tales which have historical merit and which correlate with other historical findings. Comparatively, The Other Boleyn Girl almost deliberately avoids such historical insights by including false facts such as the incorrect birth order of the Boleyn sisters and the baseless portrayal of George Boleyn as an incestuous homosexual.
Gregory's claim that the book is completely true to the facts should be testament enough of the irrelevancy of the work to historians. It could be treated as a fictional account of historical events for entertainment purposes only while The Canterbury Tales is historically important since it described society in a historical time from that time, even though it was also a fictional work.
The Other Boleyn Girl was written from a modern perspective. It is told from the perspective of Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn. While much is known about Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII, very little is known about Mary. Events in The Other Boleyn Girl are not always historically accurate. However, the novel accurately portray life in King Henry's court. Families rising to power and falling out of favor, women used as pawns to further their family's ambitions, all of this is historical fact. The Other Boleyn Girl was written as a fictional story, not as a historical document.
At first, one might think that The Canterbury Tales would have much more historical merit that The Other Boleyn Girl, but, like The Other Boleyn Girl, it was not intended to be a historical document. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales to entertain people, not to describe life in the middle ages. The Canterbury Tales have historical merit because they were written in the middle ages. What they do not do is show what life was like in that time period. Chaucer did include descriptions of characters from all walks of life, and this does give The Canterbury Tales more historical merit.
The Canterbury Tales have more historical merit than The Other Boleyn Girl simply because it is a primary source. That is not to say that The Other Boleyn does not have any historical merit. It does show an accurate picture of life in England in the 1500s. However, it is historical fiction, the key word being fiction. Overall, The Other Boleyn Girl is historically innaccurate and Philippa Gregory took many creative liberties when writing this novel. Both of these pieces of literature have some historical merit, though Chaucer's Canterbury Tales should be considered a more accurate and reliable source than The Other Boleyn Girl.
The Other Boleyn Girl does has both historical merit and a degree of inaccuracy. This novel was, first and foremost, a work of fiction; therefore, the behavior of many of the characters is not necessarily historically correct. For example, Mary Boleyn is portrayed in the novel as being the virtuous daughter who was pulled into the turmoil of the Tudor court. In reality, little information exists on Mary Boleyn, and what is known suggests that she had affairs with multiple members of the French court, a persona quite contrary to that displayed in the novel. This novel was written some 500 years after the fact, and thus it is difficult to research the individual personalities of those historical figures involved; most likely, their individual personalities were a result of Philippa Gregory's imagination. However, there is a degree of accuracy within the novel. Gregory did extensive research into the customs of the Tudor court, and as a result could probably simulate the environment of the time well. For example, the practice of marrying for political alliances was a common practice during that time period, so the ambition of the Howard and Seymour families was certainly plausible. Also, the need for a male to ascend the throne after the death of the father was standard at the time, so King Henry's desperation to have a son is realistic. Historical evidence has shown that competition between clans and families for political power was a staple of society at the time, and even today; many of the events within The Other Boleyn Girl coincide with history, i.e. the formation of the Church of England, Henry's six wives (three depicted here), and so on. If any etiquette books had been written at the time, it is possible that Gregory, having researched them, would be able to reconstruct the manners, customs, and habits of the gentry at that time. Overall, many of the events and more physical components of the novel are verifiable, but the of the knowledge nature of individual characters is shaky.
The Canterbury Tales is probably a more accurate depiction of life during that period. The author, Geoffrey Chaucer, lived during he time of his novel, so immediately the behavior of the individual characters is more verifiable than Gregory's depiction. Granted, Chaucer probably did not know the exact nature of how those characters behaved, but his depiction is still more feasible than Gregory's, due to the time of writing. Behavior of the characters, however, probably was similar to that of Gregory's. Although Chaucer did actually live at the time, his epic dealt mostly with those of the lower classes; millers, friars, merchants, etc., and not those with extreme political influence, such as Kings, Queens, dukes, Popes, etc. In this case, it is difficult to compare the two works, for they dealt with two different worlds. Still, based upon recorded history and documents of the time, Gregory probably made a fairly accurate representation of her time period; Chaucer, however, was still more accurate in his depiction, for having lived at the time, but it is important to note the different settings. Also, Chaucer's work was a poetic epic, and as a result, he was more liable to embellish certain character, exaggerate, heroicize, and thus apply poetic techniques to improve the quality of his poem. Gregory, writing a novel, though certain to use he imagination on many points, was not bound by poetic style to use these techniques. Thus, The Canterbury Tales, though definitely more accurate due to their proximity to the time period, did have its limitations.
The Other Boleyn Girl contains some view into life during the Middle Ages, such as the superiority men had over women and the young age in which women married. The book also contains accurate historical events in the story, such as King Henry taking control of the Church of England or the execution of Anna Boleyn. This gives the book some historical merit as it allows the reader to get an idea what life what like during the period and some events that occurred. Still, the book is historical fiction written to entertain. Therefore the author, Gregory, was able to inject whatever details she wished into the story, such as the dialogue and thoughts of the characters. This hurts the historical merit of the book, and when compared to The Canterbury Tales, of lesser significance.
The Canterbury Tales, unlike the Other Boleyn Girl, is a primary source written during the Middle Ages. Therefore its written in the language used during the time, Middle English. The thoughts and dialogue of the characters are also accurate to the time period. This gives it much more historical merit than the Other Boleyn Girl, which is written in a modern perspective. Also the book describes the lives of several members of society during the time period, such as a Knight, a Cook, and a Friar. This gives the reader an insight on what these members of society lived like during the time period. Although written for entertainment, the Canterbury Tales is still written during the actual time period it depicts, giving it more historical merit than the modernly written, the Other Boleyn Girl.
Both The Other Boleyn Girl and the Canterbury tales could be seen as works with historical merit. However, I believe that the Other Boleyn Girl has much less historical merit than the Canterbury Tales. The Other Boleyn Girl was not written in the time period in which it was set and could have made up many events that did not in fact actually happen. It draws its own conclusions in many events and mixes many facts with large amounts of fiction. It was a book not written for historical merit, instead it was written to interest its readers. Nevertheless, the Other Boleyn Girl does paint a very vivid picture of the court and the life at court for the readers which could help them gain a greater understanding of the time period. The Other Boleyn Girl does have a small amount of historical merit but it was written to entertain its readers and could create many fictional events which is why I believe it does not have much historical merit.
The Canterbury Tales, on the other hand, does have much more historical merit. The book itself was written in the time period in which it is set which I believe gives it much more historical merit. Because it is from the time period in which it was set, it is much more accurate because the author received a firsthand account on the events of the story. While the Other Boleyn girl was written without the use of firsthand accounts on the actions and could have created many fictional events, the Canterbury Tales could be viewed as much more truthful about the events that took place in the book. Both books do have historical merit; however I believe that the Canterbury Tales has much more historical merit than the Other Boleyn Girl.
Jacob Jones
The Other Boleyn was a first hand view in the life of a lady in waiting and her family's struggle to get their position in the court improved. The Canterbury Tales tells the tales of many different people in many different social classes while they are on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. As historians The Other Boleyn Girl would be viewed as historically correct in some cases and some examples of the story being correct is when the King chooses Mary as his courtesan, when he kills his wife Anne, basically taking over the church, and killing people so he can control the government even more, also the events of the court are true because they do play tennis and they do joust.. These truths are examples of how this story has historical merit and how some parts of the story will be true. Also this represents how much of this story is fictional and is made to entertain the reader which doesn't give the story much historical merit. The Canterbury Tales however is a totally different story because it is written in the time of the middle ages so Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a book that was in his perspective and most of the story will be true and not fictional. As well as being written in the 14th century The Canterbury Tales shows how The Other Boleyn is mostly written out of fiction and not fact, while The Canterbury Tales is being told by a person who lived in the middle ages and has a first hand account about how life in that era was. Overall both stories had some historical merit and both books were both entertaining.
Both The Other Boleyn Girl and the Canterbury tales could be seen as works with historical merit. However, I believe that the Other Boleyn Girl has much less historical merit than the Canterbury Tales. The Other Boleyn Girl was not written in the time period in which it was set and could have made up many events that did not in fact actually happen. It draws its own conclusions in many events and mixes many facts with large amounts of fiction. It was a book not written for historical merit, instead it was written to interest its readers. Nevertheless, the Other Boleyn Girl does paint a very vivid picture of the court and the life at court for the readers which could help them gain a greater understanding of the time period. The Other Boleyn Girl does have a small amount of historical merit but it was written to entertain its readers and could create many fictional events which is why I believe it does not have much historical merit.
The Canterbury Tales, on the other hand, does have much more historical merit. The book itself was written in the time period in which it is set which I believe gives it much more historical merit. Because it is from the time period in which it was set, it is much more accurate because the author received a firsthand account on the events of the story. While the Other Boleyn girl was written without the use of firsthand accounts on the actions and could have created many fictional events, the Canterbury Tales could be viewed as much more truthful about the events that took place in the book. Both books do have historical merit; however I believe that the Canterbury Tales has much more historical merit than the Other Boleyn Girl.
As historians, one might depict The Other Boleyn Girl to have historical literary merit, for the novel was based off of real historical figures during the Renaissance. Several aspects to the plot line followed the actual King Henry VIII during his reign including his affairs with the English church, and relationships within his courts. Although the characters depicted in the story were historically accurate, Philippa Gregory gave each character a distinctive personality in order to thicken the storyline. In my opinion, I do not believe that The Other Boleyn Girl is of historical merit for the personalities and conversational dialogue are fictional and the novel was written thousands of years after the depicted events.
Subsequently, the Canterbury Tales written by Chaucer is a legitimate primary source of the Renaissance. Although the tales of the several pilgrims are of fiction, the tales were written in the actual time period, depicting real stories that were told. The pilgrims ranged from levels of knighthood to those of priests and serfs, therefore accurately depicting the levels in the royal courts. All in all, The Other Boleyn Girl is not of historical merit, whereas the Canterbury Tales is a much more agreeable primary source.
The Other Boleyn Girl is a slightly modernized depiction of the Royal family and other wealthy families’ life at court. Although this book has been slightly modified to help keep readers interested, it is still an accurate depiction of the life at court during the 16th century. Some of the basic occurrences in this book are accurate such as the family affairs, where the families’ goal is to use the daughters to help the whole family rise in the courts social totem pole. Also some of the smaller details such as rivalries between the women at court are accurate as well. I acknowledge some parts of the book are not completely accurate but these parts are not ones that have much significance, for example non important characters names and other small details. Despite minor details not being historically accurate the rest of the book is a very accurate depiction of what went on in court back then, and more specifically what went on in court when King Henry VIII was ruling England. As a historian you may look at The Other Boleyn Girl as an accurate source with historical merit. The Other Boleyn Girl I believe should be received as a reliable source of historical information but cannot be as reliable as the primary document The Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales is written as a more fictional book but it is accurate for the time period due to the fact it was written then. As fiction authors do today Chaucer depicted people’s lives during the time period in a fictional manner. Despite the fact that both The Other Boleyn Girl and the Canterbury Tales have fictional elements they both have historical merit but because the Canterbury Tales is a primary source it should be looked as slightly more reliable than The Other Boleyn Girl.
The Other Boleyn Girl is a fairly accurate portrayal of the events surrounding King Henry, and the Boleyn family, but it is not completely true. The main problem with The Other Boleyn Girls, is that it was written from a more modern perspective. Seeing as Philippa Gregory published her book in the early 2000’s, nothing about the book would have presented new ideas to historians. Everything that Gregory researched in order to write the book would have been known, effectively making it useless for historians. It does portray a social society where women were treated as tools for monetary and political gain, which is generally accepted as fact. Much of the book, though, seems more for entertainment, such as when Gregory makes up the feelings and thoughts of the characters, details that nobody knows. She also fills in the gaps where history is lacking, putting a personal twist on the story. It is largely a historical fiction piece, making its historical merit questionable at best.
The Canterbury Tales, although being a primary source, is not without flaws. It is clearly more historically accurate to the time period than Gregory’s, The Other Boleyn Girl, but everything about the characters could not be true for the general population. In a time without long distance communication and difficult travel, the information brought up by Geoffrey Chaucer in his novel was most likely local experiences and rumors. The intent of Chaucer’s book was unmistakably for entertainment purposes. It did, though, give insight into the role in everyday life of many different people of many different social classes, a valuable resource for historians. When compared to The Other Boleyn Girls, The Canterbury Tales is a far more valuable and accurate description of the life of the general population in the High Middle Ages.
The Other Boleyn Girl was created with the intent to entertain readers; Taking historical events and elaborating them into a creative story line. Aside from its historical references, there is no way of telling the accuracy of the book. To say The Other Boleyn Girl, in detail, has any historical merit would thus be slightly inaccurate. Its accuracy is seen in the overall idea of the novel. Disregarding the amount of research Phillipa Gregory did, not much is known about Mary Boleyn’s life or the English court system during the reign of King Henry the eighth. The novel was written in the present day as oppose to the 16th century. The Canterbury Tales however, was written in that time period and would be considered a primary source. This book, although fiction, taught us a lot about the typical person for that time period. What one might be interested in reading back then and what influenced Chaucer while writing this.
While both the Other Boleyn Girl and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are both works of fiction, The Other Boleyn Girl is a modern historical fiction novel, while the Canterbury Tales is a primary source written about common people during the time period.
The Other Boleyn Girl is historically accurate in pertaining to King Henry’s battle with the Roman Catholic Church and the eventually split, but is otherwise more of a romance story. The book gives an accurate description of the treatment of women in medieval court society and how families used them as stepping stones for more power and wealth. To make it more a novel that could be successful today, Philippa Gregory had to add things and changes what happened in King Henry’s court so that she could craft her story the way she wanted to. By changing characters, places and events, Philippa Gregory has significantly decreases the Other Boleyn Girls historical Merit.
The Canterbury Tales, on the other hand, is a primary source document from the 14th century. Geoffrey Chaucer has his characters, such as the Knight, tell stories that reflect their beliefs, beliefs clearly prevalent at the time. The Knights Tale is a story about Love and Honor among warriors, displayed much like chivalry, the code of honor Knights had taken upon themselves to follow. Being about everyday people such as a priest, a miller, a nun and other common men and women, Chaucer’s work is more about the normal people, giving us an accurate view about life, not overdramatized like in the Other Boleyn Girls. As a primary source, we would already consider the Canterbury Tales more historically accurate by reflecting the time period as the author, who lived it, saw and by being based around the common man.
With The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory does a good job in conveying historically accurate content in a fun and entertaining manner for today's modern readers. Although there are some parts that may not seem credible, the major picture of the life of the English court and the story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn make the book have a good amount of historical merit. Because of the lack of information on some important aspects of the story, such as Mary Boleyn, some parts had to have come from Gregory's own mind in order for the story to flow. Aside from that, The Other Boleyn Girl has merit as a historical work for it's use of culture and life in the English court, such as the role of women, it's duties to the king, and the famous affair between Anne Boleyn and King Henry.
The Canterbury Tales is an even more accurate novel due to the fact that it is a primary source of the age. Although it was written only for the purpose of entertainment it show's the many types and classes of people, the thoughts about the church during the time period, and their sense of humor back in those ages. In a sense, both novels are similar in the fact that both were written for the means of entertainment, but they also both contain accurate information about medieval England.
The Other Boleyn Girl was written in a modern voice, but is describing a historic family. The sister Mary in the book doesn't have much information historically, but the book describes many of her actions that may not have been true. Even when the historic events are correct, it is embelished to make the story more interesting and to add layers to the book. The overall mood is a look at the life of the middle ages in an more realistic way, depitcting the life of the proverse and royal. So, to sum up The Other Boleyn Girl, the events have some historical accurarcy, but the author use of his artistic license capitalizes on the dismal circumstances surrounding medieval life. Thus, should be loosely interpretted.
A primary resource paper like "The Canterbury Tales" has much more historical merit than a fictional book such as The Other Boleyn Girl. The stories may have a comedic demeanor to them, and was written by ideas from that time period, thus having a better look into medieval times. Though, some of the tales may not have truly occured, you can still assume life was somewhat similar to actual life during that time.
The Other Boleyn Girl was written in the 21st century by Phillipa Gregory. Gregory did much research to make the story relatively historically correct. This can be seen through accurate portrayal of some relatively undisputed facts of the history at that time. King Henry VIII did have many wives. He also did separate the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Also Anne Boleyn was certainly married to Henry VIII under the Church of England. Those three facts are undisputed by historians and were certainly portrayed correctly in The Other Boleyn Girl. Although one must consider Gregory’s true purpose of writing this novel. She wrote this novel as a piece of historical fiction. Her purpose was not to make people use her book as history teaching material, but rather as leisure reading. She sought to make a story not a textbook. Many things were inaccurate. For example, based on many historical text it was proven that Mary Boleyn was actually the elder sister and the eldest of the family, rather than in the book in which she is the youngest. It was also proven that Mary Boleyn was already the mistress of the French King Francis I at the time. Also based on other historical texts, the affair shamed the family rather than bringing fame to the Boleyn family. Gregory did not have enough information make a story about every detail in the life of Mary Boleyn; therefore much of the story was filled in with Gregory’s story (Writers’ License).
Compared to The Canterbury Tales, The Other Boleyn Girl is much less accurate. OBG was a 21st century novel, while The Canterbury Tales was a 14th century book by Gregory Chaucer in Middle English. Although The Canterbury Tales have been transcribed many times, it still retains the same relative meanings as some of the earliest manuscripts (the ones that haven’t been lost). It shows a more accurate portrayal of medieval society at the time. Although, he wrote his novel for the purpose of entertaining, he had more accurate information because he lived and learned in the time period he wrote about. There are some truths and some fabrications, the task is only to figure out what is true and is wrong. OBG is mostly fabricated for entertainment purposes.
Comparing The Other Boleyn Girl with Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the book with the most historical merit is the Canterbury Tales. While Philippa Gregory wrote The Other Boleyn Girl from a very modern perspective, The Canterbury Tales was written by a man of its time, around the sixteenth century. It gives an insight of how people of this time period behaved. Although the purpose of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales may have been to entertain, and he may have some inaccurate representation of the characters, the fact that he lived through the time period and wrote a book based on his experience and observations of the time period is a strong argument toward its historical accuracy. Thus, The Canterbury Tales is considered a primary “document”, ultimately providing more historical merit.
The Other Boleyn Girl, on the other hand, was written from the perspective of Mary Boleyn, who is mentioned very little in history. The book was filled with fabricated emotions and thoughts, the invented dialogues of the characters, and the relationship between the three Boleyns, which we know little about. However, the book does contain some historical merit. Gregory correctly portrayed the lavish courtly lives of the sixteenth century, when families competed for the favor of the king, and used women as their way of gaining power in the royal court. The things she wrote about Henry VI, his affairs, how he divorced the Spanish Queen and fought with the Church of England, and his order to execute Anne Boleyn were in historically accurate. Although it seems like Gregory understands the sixteenth century very well, the book is considered historical fiction, a secondary resource into the sixteenth century, which contains little historical merit, compared the Canterbury Tales.
Comparing The Other Boleyn Girl with Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the book with the most historical merit is the Canterbury Tales. While Philippa Gregory wrote The Other Boleyn Girl from a very modern perspective, The Canterbury Tales was written by a man of its time, around the sixteenth century. It gives an insight of how people of this time period behaved. Although the purpose of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales may have been to entertain, and he may have some inaccurate representation of the characters, the fact that he lived through the time period and wrote a book based on his experience and observations of the time period is a strong argument toward its historical accuracy. Thus, The Canterbury Tales is considered a primary “document”, ultimately providing more historical merit.
The Other Boleyn Girl, on the other hand, was written from the perspective of Mary Boleyn, who is mentioned very little in history. The book was filled with fabricated emotions and thoughts, the invented dialogues of the characters, and the relationship between the three Boleyns, which we know little about. However, the book does contain some historical merit. Gregory correctly portrayed the lavish courtly lives of the sixteenth century, when families competed for the favor of the king, and used women as their way of gaining power in the royal court. The things she wrote about Henry VI, his affairs, how he divorced the Spanish Queen and fought with the Church of England, and his order to execute Anne Boleyn were in historically accurate. Although it seems like Gregory understands the sixteenth century very well, the book is considered historical fiction, a secondary resource into the sixteenth century, which contains little historical merit, compared the Canterbury Tales.
Since I am not an expert historian and I have not previously studied European history in depth before, I am not able to say for sure if the Other Boleyn Girl is historically accurate. In my point of view however, just by reading it, I think that it is only loosely based on some historical characters and written to make it a much more interesting novel for today’s readers. I don’t really believe all of this scandal, drama, and intense rivalry between the two sisters could have possibly existed to such an extent. However, since I am not familiar with the customs back then, I could be wrong. The characters that this story was based on, however, were real and did exist in history. These same characters encountered the same problems real people in history have encountered and the timing of the book is historically accurate. I think that a historian would most likely view this as a book that gives the beginner a general and more interesting view of what 15th century life in medieval Europe would have been like but would not be a text that one would reference for someone who wanted accurate accounts of history. A book like the “Canterbury Tales,” however could provide a useful resource to the more avid historian.
“The Canterbury Tales” as a primary source document definitely has more historical merit. It is written by Gregory Chaucer about the different classes of people who go on a pilgrimage back in the 14th century. All of the ideas the that he had talked about should be accurate since it was written from someone actually from that era, not someone who has done research and writes something based on their whims. But I feel that although this book would be useful to historians to study ideas and the writing style of the middle ages, it doesn’t (from what I have read) talk about the society nor show how people are constantly vying and lying their way to the top (ex: the Howards sucking up to the king). So I think that both books each have their own uses in providing historical context. By reading the “Other Boleyn Girl,” we get a more in depth idea of the real way nobles of the time period lived (sending children away when they are young and living lives of deceit) while “the Canterbury Tales” is a legit relic from that time period (translated of course) that shows the stereotypes and problems of 14th century European life.
The Other Boleyn Girl is an important historical perspective to what life was like during the 16th century. While this is not a first person account of life the book is based on research or the times. The book allows the reader to experience life in the 1500s rather than just reading a description of life. The Other Boleyn Girl also describes nearly all levels of life. This gives the reader more information on all of the different social classes during the time. Because the book is based on fact and is such a great learning tool as is described above it does hold historical merit.
The Canterbury Tales are people during the time period describing fantasy. These tales are the best type of first person documents because they are a straight path into the thoughts of people during the time frame. The Other Boleyn Girl describes facts at the time while the Canterbury Tales give insight to what people at that time were thinking through their stories making the Canterbury Tales more historically important.
Overall, both are very useful from an historical perspective but because the Canterbury Tales were first person they are more historically accurate at describing the thoughts of people of the era and therefore more valuable.
The Other Boleyn Girl did have some historical value, but not much. Most of the story is Gregory's input, but the story line as far as marriages and Anne's beheading were factual; along with other portions. Another problem with the historical value of The Other Boleyn Girl is the fact it was written in modern times. The Canterbury Tales on the other hand were written in the Middle Ages and therefore have a much greater concept as to how people thought. Chaucer wrote his novel on experience, well Gregory wrote The Other Boleyn Girl based on some truth and some filler. Gregory picked a character to tell the story off of that was not well known so she could incorporate her own thoughts as well as follow the basic story line of Henry and Anne's romance. The Canterbury Tales would also have been more usual as a primary source because it goes into the lives and thoughts of many different people, while The Other Boleyn Girl keeps a pretty narrow sight on England's court.
The Other Boleyn Girl depicts historically the average life of a courtier during the Renaissance era. The common activities and behaviors are accurately followed in Mary's life, and it also incorporates the importance of the church for all people. Though the timeline and some events followed may not have been authentic, the general story was presented with authenticity.
This novel is definitely more of a fictional piece than The Canterbury Tales. The language used is much more modern, and because it was created centuries after the time period of subject Philippa Gregory could not write with complete confidence as a first-hand source. Chaucer, on the other hand, lived and breathed what he was writing about, which can let us consider TCT a primary source.
I believe TOBG does have literary merit, as it was written with accurate depictions of the lives many courtiers would have carried out including Mary and Anne Boleyn, but it does not have the same advantages Chaucer had in living during the time period and experienceing everything he described.
The Other Boleyn Girl does have some historical merit in that it described and detailed the lives that people of nobility would have lived in the 16th century. That being said, it is written in a modern voice about people and society 5 centuries ago. The significant time period between the actual events and the writing of the book means that a lot of facts could have been changed and distorted over time. The Other Boleyn Girl also provided insight on the life of Mary Boleyn, who historians know little about, contrary to Anne Boleyn. Also, The Other Boleyn Girl was written primarily for ammusement, and because of that certain facts could have been altered in order to create a more entertaining and gripping plot.
The Canterbury tales, on the other hand, has far more historical merit because it is a primary document. Chaucer was alive and was able to see and hear the society and time period he was trying to write about. Because the document is unaltered and straight from the source, little information can be altered in transition from the writer and the historian. Although the Canterbury Tales had a slightly comedic oversight to them, they were the comedic oversight of the author, which makes it a far more credible source.
In conclusion, both The Other Boleyn Girl and The Canterbury Tales have some historical merit to them, the Canterbury Tales has more merit than The Other Boleyn Girl because it was written by an author describing the time period that he himself was living in.
When considering the historical accuracy of any piece of literature today, certain allowances are taken as granted. History is dynamic, thus our interpretations of it are limited based on the knowledge currently available and the ways in which it is pieced together. The first step in reviewing the Other Boleyn Girl from the viewpoint of a historian is to address this limitation. Certain discrepancies cannot be resolved simply because the information to do so is not available today.
One of the key examples of this limitation is the way in which Gregory portrayed the characters of the Other Boleyn Girl. Deriving a person’s behavioral disposition from records unearthed and interpreted centuries after their death is a loose science at best. Much of a story’s impact on the reader depends on the actions and emotions of its characters. Without historical accounts to offer information, Gregory could not craft an exact story. Most of the interactions within the story were created under the umbrella of artistic license. For example, it is widely accepted that Anne Boleyn was intelligent and charming. Whether she was as ruthlessly ambitious as she is written is another question entirely, one that brings historical accuracy into doubt.
Creating the story of Mary Boleyn is particularly difficult when historical accuracy is a concern. She is called the ‘other’ Boleyn girl because, when compared against the vibrant history of Anne Boleyn, hardly anything was known or recorded about her. Her marital statuses and spouses were accurate, as well as the true parentage of her son Henry. Her personality, on the other hand, is an unknown. Many records have her sleeping with half the French court and the French king himself before being thrown out, a stark contrast to the innocent pawn she plays in Gregory’s novel. The Other Boleyn Girl does offer an excellent window into the court of Henry VIII for the casually interested reader. For historians, it is at best a loose interpretation of loosely interpreted historical sources, and cannot be relied on for an accurate view of the time.
The Canterbury Tales, on the other hand, were written during the time period, and as such are not based on mere accounts of history. Despite this apparent infallibility, they have their own problems as a piece of historical evidence. The first and most obvious is translation. Written originally in Middle English, the language used in the writings is virtually foreign to modern readers. Each re-telling and translation adds another layer of change to the original dialect and meaning. Much like a game of Telephone, the modern interpretation has diverged from the original meaning.
As Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales to be read for entertainment, not a lesson in current events, some of his interpretations of society at his time may or may not have been accurate. Compared to the Other Boleyn Girl as a snapshot of English life, the Tales are invaluable. But compared again to official records, they loose some of their credibility. Much in the same way watching Saturday Night Live on TV will not give us an accurate representation of current politics, reading Chaucer’s works may not provide an accurate view of English society.
Overall, when compared to the Other Boleyn Girl, the Canterbury Tales are a much more accurate representation of history simply by virtue of their creation. However, both contain important elements of truth and fiction that help and lead astray our attempts to see into the past.
When considering the historical accuracy of any piece of literature today, certain allowances are taken as granted. History is dynamic, thus our interpretations of it are limited based on the knowledge currently available and the ways in which it is pieced together. The first step in reviewing the Other Boleyn Girl from the viewpoint of a historian is to address this limitation. Certain discrepancies cannot be resolved simply because the information to do so is not available today.
One of the key examples of this limitation is the way in which Gregory portrayed the characters of the Other Boleyn Girl. Deriving a person’s behavioral disposition from records unearthed and interpreted centuries after their death is a loose science at best. Much of a story’s impact on the reader depends on the actions and emotions of its characters. Without historical accounts to offer information, Gregory could not craft an exact story. Most of the interactions within the story were created under the umbrella of artistic license. For example, it is widely accepted that Anne Boleyn was intelligent and charming. Whether she was as ruthlessly ambitious as she is written is another question entirely, one that brings historical accuracy into doubt.
Creating the story of Mary Boleyn is particularly difficult when historical accuracy is a concern. She is called the ‘other’ Boleyn girl because, when compared against the vibrant history of Anne Boleyn, hardly anything was known or recorded about her. Her marital statuses and spouses were accurate, as well as the true parentage of her son Henry. Her personality, on the other hand, is an unknown. Many records have her sleeping with half the French court and the French king himself before being thrown out, a stark contrast to the innocent pawn she plays in Gregory’s novel. The Other Boleyn Girl does offer an excellent window into the court of Henry VIII for the casually interested reader. For historians, it is at best a loose interpretation of loosely interpreted historical sources, and cannot be relied on for an accurate view of the time.
The Canterbury Tales, on the other hand, were written during the time period, and as such are not based on mere accounts of history. Despite this apparent infallibility, they have their own problems as a piece of historical evidence. The first and most obvious is translation. Written originally in Middle English, the language used in the writings is virtually foreign to modern readers. Each re-telling and translation adds another layer of change to the original dialect and meaning. Much like a game of Telephone, the modern interpretation has diverged from the original meaning.
As Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales to be read for entertainment, not a lesson in current events, some of his interpretations of society at his time may or may not have been accurate. Compared to the Other Boleyn Girl as a snapshot of English life, the Tales are invaluable. But compared again to official records, they loose some of their credibility. Much in the same way watching Saturday Night Live on TV will not give us an accurate representation of current politics, reading Chaucer’s works may not provide an accurate view of English society.
Overall, when compared to the Other Boleyn Girl, the Canterbury Tales are a much more accurate representation of history simply by virtue of their creation. However, both contain important elements of truth and fiction that help and lead astray our attempts to see into the past.
Creating the story of Mary Boleyn is particularly difficult when historical accuracy is a concern. She is called the ‘other’ Boleyn girl because, when compared against the vibrant history of Anne Boleyn, hardly anything was known or recorded about her. Her marital statuses and spouses were accurate, as well as the true parentage of her son Henry. Her personality, on the other hand, is an unknown. Many records have her sleeping with half the French court and the French king himself before being thrown out, a stark contrast to the innocent pawn she plays in Gregory’s novel. The Other Boleyn Girl does offer an excellent window into the court of Henry VIII for the casually interested reader. For historians, it is at best a loose interpretation of loosely interpreted historical sources, and cannot be relied on for an accurate view of the time.
The Canterbury Tales, on the other hand, were written during the time period, and as such are not based on mere accounts of history. Despite this apparent infallibility, they have their own problems as a piece of historical evidence. The first and most obvious is translation. Written originally in Middle English, the language used in the writings is virtually foreign to modern readers. Each re-telling and translation adds another layer of change to the original dialect and meaning. Much like a game of Telephone, the modern interpretation has diverged from the original meaning.
As Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales to be read for entertainment, not a lesson in current events, some of his interpretations of society at his time may or may not have been accurate. Compared to the Other Boleyn Girl as a snapshot of English life, the Tales are invaluable. But compared again to official records, they loose some of their credibility. Much in the same way watching Saturday Night Live on TV will not give us an accurate representation of current politics, reading Chaucer’s works may not provide an accurate view of English society.
Overall, when compared to the Other Boleyn Girl, the Canterbury Tales are a much more accurate representation of history simply by virtue of their creation. However, both contain important elements of truth and fiction that help and lead astray our attempts to see into the past.
When considering the historical accuracy of any piece of literature today, certain allowances are taken as granted. History is dynamic, thus our interpretations of it are limited based on the knowledge currently available and the ways in which it is pieced together. The first step in reviewing the Other Boleyn Girl from the viewpoint of a historian is to address this limitation. Certain discrepancies cannot be resolved simply because the information to do so is not available today.
One of the key examples of this limitation is the way in which Gregory portrayed the characters of the Other Boleyn Girl. Deriving a person’s behavioral disposition from records unearthed and interpreted centuries after their death is a loose science at best. Much of a story’s impact on the reader depends on the actions and emotions of its characters. Without historical accounts to offer information, Gregory could not craft an exact story. Most of the interactions within the story were created under the umbrella of artistic license. For example, it is widely accepted that Anne Boleyn was intelligent and charming. Whether she was as ruthlessly ambitious as she is written is another question entirely, one that brings historical accuracy into doubt.
The Canterbury Tales, while a primary source document, can be viewed with a similar degree of historical merit as The Other Boleyn Girl. Chaucer’s tales are a testament to the times in the sense that the work was scribed in middle English, opposed to Latin, but not because of the historical accuracy of the book. That being said, the stories do provide a veritable account to what the lifestyles of peasants, fighters, merchants, and many others in the 14th and 15th centuries. In contrast, The Other Boleyn girl was written in the 21st century, and derives all of its facts in addition to its perception of the time from Phillipa Gregory’s research. Facts remain facts, and thus the book retains a fairly good degree of historically accurate information. The depiction of King Henry VIII’s reign, different aspects of rural life, and the workings of English courts all agree with the consensus on the time period. Also, the book serves well to show gender relations and power struggles of the era.
What draws away from this historical validity is the fact that Gregory’s book is historical fiction, which invokes her right of a creative license to change what is necessary to change, and alter whomever it is convenient to do so. For example, Mary Boleyn’s life is, in my opinion, highly romanticized for the purpose of creating a more interesting and exciting book. While not a bad thing, this reduces the frankness of what is presented. On the other side, The Canterbury Tales was written to entertain, and not with the intention of being a time capsule. Rightfully so, its stories are understandably embellished for the sake of enjoyment, and are not always entirely correct. In conclusion, I think both books provide a good degree of historical merit, supported by their respective illustrations of the time period being described, but also contain a significant amount of the author’s mind, which skews the historical merit.
The Other Boleyn Girl has its major downfalls in that it was written during the 21st century and that its historical references were based on the research of others as well as because it was written with the purpose of entertainment. No doubt Gregory did do much research, it is still questionable as to how much she stayed true to historical fact and as to how credible her sources were. Gregory did, however, succeed in depicting many aspects of life from the time period. She portrayed how women were viewed as inferior to men through much dialect and the ways in which Anne and Mary were manipulated to improve the family rank, another important aspect of medieval life. It showed how marriage was a means of upward mobility much of the time, and also how girls married young to older men. Customs such as feasts, masquerades, group hunts, and jousts were also depicted. It is also shown how miscarriages, incest, and infidelity were held with high contempt. The most important events that the Other Boleyn Girl includes are the reformation of the catholic church and the affairs of King Henry VII. Though, the novel focuses mostly upon the court and Boleyn family and speaks little to none of the life of a commoner. In all, it is safe to say that as a historian I would not have too much confidence in the accuracy of either Canterbury Tales or the Other Boleyn Girl mainly because their intention was for a pleasurable read, not education, although they do provide a basic knowledge of life and social customs of the period.
That's it. Anything else is LATE!
Post a Comment