I Am Such a Crybaby

Anybody who knows me knows that I love the history of Tudor England. It seems that the English love this period of their history as well because Masterpiece Theatre keeps making movies that focus on the Tudors. The movie about the life of Elizabeth 1 was excellent. Now they've moved on to Henry VIII. Last night Jeremy worked late so it was the perfect opportunity to finish watching the first installment of this movie. It, too, was excellent. Helena Bonham-Carter played a very sympathetic Anne Boleyn. She was simply stunning! I never felt too much sympathy for Anne Boleyn. After all she did work very hard to get Henry to divorce his wife, Katherine of Aragon, and disown his daughter by Katherine, Mary. This movie makes me think twice. It portrays Anne as a woman who had no choice but to give in to the king's wishes. It almost makes her actions toward the king seem vindictive--and rightfully so. He denied her petition to marry a man that she truly loved and wanted to spend her life with. I think the thing that makes Anne's story so devastating for me is that I have the benefit of knowing what comes next. I know that her's was just the beginning of a string of marriages for Henry--almost all of which would end in tragedy for the woman. When Anne died I was weeping. Tears were rolling down my face, my nose was dripping and I couldn't speak. She died with such honor and valor--she certainly didn't deserve to have the entire country turn it's back on her. But mostly I cried for the Princess Elizabeth. There was a scene where some servants bring Elizabeth to her mother, just as she is about to be let to the execution ground. It is so tender and sweet and the girl who played Elizabeth had just the right childish voice to tug at my heartstrings and cause a torrent of tears. Why do they do this to pregnant women? It's not right, I tell you! The rest of my night was ruined. I was completely depressed. This was compounded by the fact that I couldn't help but be a little annoyed with Jeremy as well. He would not stop asking me questions about what was happening. When will he learn that when I'm crying over a movie I just want to be left alone?