History Literature / TheOtherBoleynGirl

* OriginalPositionFallacy: Anne seems to have assumed that she would be able to maintain her role as the triumphant queen once she replaced Catherine of Aragon in Henry's affections. In truth, as soon as she ascends the throne, practically every noble family in England makes note that it can be done and starts trying it themselves. Since Anne's tactics to keep the king's attention involved [[ForbiddenFruit being flirtatious while limiting actual physical contact to the minimum]], she finds it difficult to maintain his interest [[WantingIsBetterThanHaving once he has her]] and various ladies proceed to copy her approach of playing hard to get -- especially as Anne ''also'' made the age-old error of believing the man who'd kept several mistresses throughout his first marriage would remain faithful to her, and is enraged when Henry starts getting up to his old tricks with the ladies of her chamber.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Of the historical Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary.%%invoked
* AndAnotherThing: Uncle Howard to Mary at the end of a family meeting.

''The Other Boleyn Girl'' is a HistoricalFiction novel written by British author Creator/PhilippaGregory, ''very'' loosely based on the life of 16th-century aristocrat Mary Boleyn. Reviews were mixed; some reviewers said it was a brilliantly claustrophobic look at palace life in Tudor England, while others have consistently pointed out the lack of historical accuracy.[[note]]In Philippa Gregory's defence, when she was writing the book in 2000, Eric Ives' biography that revealed Anne was the younger sibling had ''not'' been released, so the birth order of Anne and Mary was unknown, hence the "change" in birth order of Anne and Mary.[[/note]] Even so, it has enjoyed phenomenal success and popularity since its publication in 2002, and launched a [[FollowTheLeader new wave of Tudor-centric historical romances.]]

The book was adapted into two movies: One released in 2003, starring Creator/NataschaMcElhone as Mary, Jodhi May as Anne and Creator/JaredHarris as Henry VII and [[Film/TheOtherBoleynGirl the other in 2008]], starring Creator/ScarlettJohansson, Creator/NataliePortman, and Creator/EricBana.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Anne realises this as the story progresses; she becomes queen, but she doesn't enjoy it for long, if at all. The common people despise her even before she marries Henry. From the moment she gives birth to Elizabeth rather than the son everyone was expecting, she's under ''enormous'' pressure from all sides to produce a male heir, and she suffers several miscarriages. Other noble families constantly seek to supplant her with their own daughters, now that they've seen how relatively easy it is to unseat a queen. And once she and Henry have license to be physically intimate on a regular basis, he gradually loses interest in her and eventually grows to resent and then hate her. But, as Mary bluntly tells her: "You chose to be queen. I warned you it wouldn't bring you joy."

* OriginalPositionFallacy: Anne seems to have assumed that she would be able to maintain her role as the triumphant queen once she replaced Catherine of Aragon in Henry's affections. In truth, as soon as she ascends the throne, every noble family in England makes note that it can be done and starts trying it themselves. Since Anne’s tactics to keep the king’s attention involved [[ForbiddenFruit being flirtatious while limiting actual physical contact to the minimum]], she finds it difficult to maintain his interest [[WantingIsBetterThanHaving once he has her]] and various ladies proceed to copy her approach of playing hard to get -- especially as Anne ''also'' made the age-old error of believing the man who'd kept several mistresses throughout his first marriage would remain faithful to her, and is enraged when Henry starts getting up to his old tricks with the ladies of her chamber.

* OriginalPositionFallacy: Anne seems to have assumed that she would be able to maintain her role as the triumphant queen once she replaced Catherine of Aragon in Henry's affections. In truth, as soon as she ascends the throne, every noble family in England makes note that it can be done and starts trying it themselves. Since Anne’s tactics to keep the king’s attention involved [[ForbiddenFruit being flirtatious while limiting actual physical contact to the minimum]], she finds it difficult to maintain his interest [[WantingIsBetterThanHaving once he has her]] and various ladies proceed to copy her approach of playing hard to get -- especially as Anne ''also'' made the age-old error of believing the man who'd cheated on his first wife for years with multiple women would remain faithful to her, and is enraged when Henry starts getting up to his old tricks with the ladies of her chamber.

* HiddenDepths: Jane Seymour is her family's pawn to try and usurp Anne's position as queen, but she does seem to legitimately care for Catherine of Aragon; when the news comes that Catherine has died, Jane defies Anne's whim to go and pray for her, and she's the only member of the court to mourn the former queen (even Mary, who loved Catherine, doesn't dare go against her family) despite the fact that at this point, there's nothing she could gain from this show of piety.

** Anne. Although the real Anne Boleyn was no doubt ambitious, she also did a lot of good in her life, such as supporting many charities, sheltering Protestants fleeing from other countries, promoting artistic endeavours, and showing an unusually keen interest in her daughter's upbringing. Furthermore, most historians now agree that she was almost certainly innocent of the crimes she was accused of, including incest with her brother. Anne also gets a Historical Coward Upgrade; the real Anne faced her execution with boldness, dignity, and faith, while Gregory's Anne is a snivelling, hysterical basket case.
** Gregory almost seems to have a personal grudge against Jane Parker. The sequel, ''Literature/TheBoleynInheritance'' takes this up to eleven.

* LawOfInverseFertility: Mary has two healthy children who were fathered by Henry and later has another daughter with her second husband, with relatively straightforward and easy pregnancies throughout, but because of her elder daughter and son's illegitimacy they can't inherit the throne. Meanwhile, both Catherine of Aragon and Anne suffer multiple miscarriages and stillbirths, and each only have one surviving legitimate daughter. And of course it's ''unthinkable'' that the issue might lie with Henry; at one point George, frantic for Anne's sake, says that it's ''Henry'' who can't sire a healthy child, but he's quickly told to shut up by Uncle Howard.
* LonelyAtTheTop: As Anne is unable to secure her position with a son, she grows ever more isolated and lonely at court. Rubbing salt into the wound is knowing that Mary is happily married while living in relative poverty, while Anne is queen of one of the greatest courts in Europe but frightened, alone and unhappy.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Anne suffers immensely from this as the story goes on. She becomes queen, but she doesn't enjoy it for long, if at all. The common people despise her even before she marries Henry. From the moment she gives birth to Elizabeth rather than the son everyone was expecting, she's under ''enormous'' pressure from all sides to produce a male heir, and she suffers several miscarriages. Other noble families constantly seek to supplant her with their own daughters, now that they've seen how relatively easy it is to unseat a queen. And once she and Henry have license to be physically intimate on a regular basis, he gradually loses interest in her and eventually grows to resent and then hate her. But, as Mary bluntly tells her: "You chose to be queen. I warned you it wouldn't bring you joy."

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Anne pretty much personifies this as the story goes on. She becomes queen, but she doesn't enjoy it for long; from the moment she gives birth to Elizabeth rather than the son everyone was expecting, she's under enormous pressure from all sides to produce a male heir, and she suffers several miscarriages. The common people despise her; other noble families constantly seek to supplant her with their own daughters, now that they've seen how relatively easy it is to unseat a queen; and once she and Henry have license to be physically intimate on a regular basis, he gradually loses interest in her and eventually grows to resent and then hate her. But, as Mary bluntly tells her: "You chose to be queen. I warned you it wouldn't bring you joy."