Families are the ultimate sources of drama, whether it's your family, a Mafia family, or the Kardashians. In The Other Boleyn Girl, the Boleyns were basically the Mafia meets the Kardashians in 16th-century England: they gained popularity and fame through sex; their marriages were national sensations; and they may have killed people. And we're just talking about the Kardashians.
The Boleyns were a family who manufactured drama and used it to make themselves rich and powerful. And this was five hundred years before Instagram, folks. Family drama didn't start in the reality-TV age. It started with families.
Questions About Family
- How does the Boleyn family use its daughters to achieve its goals?
- Are there families today who behave the way the Boleyn family or the royal family behaved back then?
- How would you define a "traditional" family during this time period? In what ways does Mary create a family that defies tradition?