For all you AP World and regular world history class participants, this article is for you: Which one of Henry the VIII’s wives had it the worst?
Now for a quick history lesson: What did Henry VIII do? Created turmoil in England, that’s for sure. He broke off from the Roman Catholic church, and had parliament pass a law that gave him the title of supreme head of the church. This was all because the pope would not annul his marriage with his wife, Catherine of Aragon. So much effort just for a divorce! I mean, can you even imagine being just one of six wives?
The show SIX at the Lena Horne Theatre, on 47th Street perfectly details just that. Now, Before I go on, I will list their names from left to right, 1509 to 1543, according to the photo and also order:
- Khaila Wilcoxon as Catherine of Aragon (Divorced) (yellow)
- Storm Lever as Anne Boleyn (Beheaded) (green)
- Jasmine Forseberg as Jane Seymour (died) (grey)
- Olivia Donalson as Anna of Cleves (Divorced) (Red)
- Didi Romero as Katherine Howard (Beheaded) (Pink)
- Gabriela Carrillo as Catherine Parr (Survived) (Blue)
Catherine of Aragon (1509): Throughout her song, “No way,” we learn that she was married to Henry first, and the longest. Through her whole marriage, she had several miscarriages and stillborn births. After all of those years of her not producing an heir, she was divorced after Henry named himself supreme head of the church.. Her song was very bitter and angry, but also very strong–she believed in her worth as a loyal wife. While they were married, Henry was not the most loyal partner (mischief with other women). In my personal opinion she was my favorite actor out of all of the Queens because her actress was so strong and self-assured. She really portrayed Catherine of Aragon’s story well, and I felt very strongly towards her story.
Anne Boleyn (1533): Her song, “Don’t lose your head” is sung by one of Henry’s most well known wives of, yeah, the beheaded one. Anne Boleyn was a bit frivolous with her relationships (you know what I mean), Which ultimately got her beheaded. Fun fact, Henry cheated on Catherine of Aragon with Anne Boleyn while they were still married. Her lyrics “sorry not sorry,” describe how Anne knew exactly what she was doing, and you can gather that she was really going for the crown. From then on, we could see constant bickering between Anne and Catherine, due to their unique circumstances. Long story short, after giving Henry a female heir–Henry got bored. He charged her with adultery, and off with her head.
Jane Seymour (1536): The wife acclaimed to be Henry’s favorite. Her performance during “Heart of Stone” was astounding. The way they set up her song was very smart, because she came after two women who both were bitter towards Henry’s selfish nature. Contrasting to the upbeat or strong electronic tunes from before, Jane Seymour’s song had a quiet piano, and an overall slow song. You could feel through the lyrics that she truly loved him, but she died in childbirth of their son Prince Edward. Her song talks about being the stone of the relationship and being strong for both of them. She knew that Henry was not the best person, but she believed that they could have raised a son. Her song talks about her sadness and not being able to see her son through the rest of his life.
Anna Of Cleves (1540): Her performance in “Haus of Holbein” and “Get Down,” were two fast paced songs–both wonderful performances. They spoke about her background as a German princess. Anne’s story capitalized on her tale of how Henry saw a portrait of Anna, invited her to come marry him, and when he saw her in person, he thought she was ugly. They did not have kids, and after, she was shortly (6 months!) divorced. The song is funny because it talks about how Anna was happy with this Arrangement, because he did not want to spend time with her. Because of this, she was able to use the riches and high status for herself (until she was divorced), which gave her song a very strong vibe.
Katherine Howard (1540): Her performance “All you wanna do,” is one of the most meaningful ones throughout this whole show, because it goes over a lot of serious topics such as sexual abuse of minors by those in power (especially during these times). Katherine Howard was only 17 when she got married and even younger when she was taken advantage of by older men. Her performance switched between extreme hopefulness of finding what love truly means, to sarcasm and stress when she learns they did not really love her. This tone in her life ultimately got her beheaded, as she was found being abused by another man while being married to Henry. Her song goes over the important message that love is more than physical appearances and physical actions–it is about what you can give emotionally and provide.
Catherine Parr (1543): The final Queen, the one who survived and sang “I don’t need your love,” was named Catherine Parr. Catherine’s part of the show was set up very differently from the previous Queens, mostly due to the fact that she survived past him. We learn that this is Catherine Parr’s fourth marriage, as all of her other husbands previously died before her. Before Henry, she was in love with another man and had to leave him because Henry wanted to marry her. She did not want to marry Henry. This sentiment in her song made her song very much not about Henry and more so about her life and accomplishments. For one, Catherine of Parr read and published books; something that women could not do during this time. She also supported education and the Reformation.
SIX is a powerful play because it goes over feminism throughout history, and details the lives of women in history whose names are only paired with a definition of how they died, not their lives. As for which queen had it the worst–they all agreed that the point of the show was not to compare and fight over deaths, but to celebrate their lives. It truly is a show about HERstory.