The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England's Most Notorious Queen - Paperback

by Susan Bordo (Author)

"Bordo's sharp reading of Boleyniana and her clear affection for this proud, unusual woman make this an entertaining, provocative read."--Boston Globe

Part biography, part cultural history, The Creation of Anne Boleyn is a reconstruction of Boleyn's life and an illuminating look at her very active afterlife in the popular imagination. With recent novels, movies, and television shows, Anne has been having a twenty-first-century moment, but Bordo shows how many generations of polemicists, biographers, novelists, and filmmakers have imagined and reimagined her: whore, martyr, cautionary tale, proto-"mean girl," feminist icon, and everything in between. Drawing on scholarship and razor-sharp analysis, Bordo probes the complexities of one of history's most intriguing women, teasing out what we actually know about Anne Boleyn and what we think we know about her.

"Riveting . . . Bordo's eloquent study not only recovers Anne Boleyn for our times but also demonstrates the ways in which legends grow out of the faintest wisps of historical fact." --Book Page

"Engrossing . . . Ms. Bordo offers a fascinating discussion."--New York Times

Front Jacket

Part biography, part cultural history, The Creation of Anne Boleyn is a fascinating reconstruction of Anne s life and an illuminating look at her afterlife in the popular imagination. Why is Anne so compelling? Why has she inspired such extreme reactions? What did she really look like? Was she the flaxen-haired martyr of Romantic paintings or the raven-haired seductress of twenty-first-century portrayals? (Answer: neither.) And perhaps the most provocative questions concern Anne s death more than her life. How could Henry order the execution of a once beloved wife? Drawing on scholarship and critical analysis, Bordo probes the complexities of one of history s most infamous relationships.
Bordo also shows how generations of polemicists, biographers, novelists, and filmmakers imagined and re-imagined Anne: whore, martyr, cautionary tale, proto mean girl, feminist icon, and everything in between. In this lively book, Bordo steps off the well-trodden paths of Tudoriana to expertly tease out the human being behind the competing mythologies.

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Back Jacket

Bordo s sharp reading of Boleyniana and her clear affection for this proud, unusual woman make this an entertaining, provocative read. Boston Globe
Part biography, part cultural history, The Creation of Anne Boleyn is a reconstruction of Boleyn s life and an illuminating look at her very active afterlife in the popular imagination. With recent novels, movies, and television shows, Anne has been having a twenty-first-century moment, but Bordo shows how many generations of polemicists, biographers, novelists, and filmmakers have imagined and reimagined her: whore, martyr, cautionary tale, proto- mean girl, feminist icon, and everything in between. Drawing on scholarship and razor-sharp analysis, Bordo probes the complexities of one of history s most intriguing women, teasing out what we actually know about Anne Boleyn and what we think we know about her.
Riveting . . . Bordo s eloquent study not only recovers Anne Boleyn for our times but also demonstrates the ways in which legends grow out of the faintest wisps of historical fact. Book Page
Engrossing . . . Ms. Bordo offers a fascinating discussion. New York Times
[INSERT AUTHOR PHOTO] Susan Bordo is the Otis A. Singletary Chair in the Humanities at the University of Kentucky. Her first book, The Flight to Objectivity, has become a classic of feminist philosophy. Her widely read and cited Unbearable Weight, followed by The Male Body, have shaped thinking about culture and body image.

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Author Biography

SUSAN BORDO, who holds the Otis A. Singletary Chair in the Humanities at the University of Kentucky, is the author of Unbearable Weight and The Male Body.