This blog is the point of view of a discerning peasant and a scholar of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat alike, all the way from the land of Los Angeles. This blog will reflect the tumbling thoughts in my head and my passions in literature and history, especially that which deals with broken crowns, dried up dreams, and all things politics. Welcome!
Is the country becoming more fascist? I think about this often. Are people forgetting what the Revolutionary War was fought for in the first place? Do they even know anymore? Sometimes it is crazy at how little the new generation knows about history and its significance. Sad grumbles for the day after a depressing history tutoring session.
Is freedom dying? Is the world from "V for Vendetta" so far off? Is it already here? Le sigh.
How I hope Daenerys will conquer the Seven Kingdoms!
Dear George R.R. Martin,
Don't Kill Daenerys Targaryen! Your book series A Song of Ice and Fire is amazing. You have great characters, rich histories, complex characters, and real heart! But, please don't kill the possibly last Targaryen in that world and leave all of us fans in deep depression for at least as long as it has taken you to write the series. If Daenerys Stormborn, of House Targaryen, Rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, Khaleesi of the Great Grass, Chainbreaker of Slaver's Bay, Mother of Dragons, the Unburnt, the Silver Queen, the Bride of Fire, the Dragon Queen, Princess of Dragonstone, Queen of Meeren, Blood of the Dragon, Queen of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, and the Slayer of Lies, never wins the Game of Thrones then what was it all for? Who the heck is Fire in your series if not her. You killed Ned, you killed Mormont, over half of the Starks are gone and separated, the Baratheons are nearly extinguished, and Winter has yet to come!? What can we even expect in winter? Winter is coming! has been proclaimed since the very first book. We are five books later and the series has yet to make any crazy impact that brings Dany closer to Westeros. When will her dragons grow big enough for her to control them and rule the Seven Kingdoms with? Just don't kill her.
The War of Roses that is! Civil war and destruction separated the Yorks, Lancasters, and Plantagenets; the ruling royal families of England in the 15th century. As a Game of Thrones fan (of course, I had to mention it in this post), you can tell that a lot of the civil war and strife in the imaginary land of Westeros was inspired by the families of this actual period in time. Essentially one guy, Henry, had the crown, Edward-this distant cousin wanted it and took it through defeat in battle by getting help from an influential Earl of Warwick who captured Henry- peace semi-remained for a while. Peace remained until Edward fell for and secretely married, much to the annoyance of other royals at court, Elizabeth Woodville. This pissed off the Earl of Warwick who tried to supplant Edward with his younger brother, more battles followed. Edward won and ruled longer, had daughters and sons, then died. Nobody ever liked the Woodville family when Edward was alive but she was queen so they had tolerated it as best they could. But the king is dead, so long live the new king. King Richard III that is, another brother of the late king Edward. What about the kids Edward sired with Elizabeth Woodville? Meh! To the tower...literally (the lost princes of the tower were those kids). So how was this war ended and who won? Why is it called the Wars of the Roses? (their family sigils were red and white roses respectively, so figuratively the roses were battling each other).
The Wars of the Roses ended with the women behind it. Elizabeth Woodville after loosing her sons in the tower, looked to her oldest daughter as the rightful heir of Edward's throne. But a woman being queen in her own right? That is preposterous, haha! Did you hear that joke Elizabeth Tudor, Victoria, Elizabeth II, Daenerys Targaryen (hehe, Game of Thrones again)? So what is a devastated mother to do to secure her daughter's place on the throne- marry her off, of course. Enter Margaret Beaufort and her only son, Henry Tudor, who has a very tiny claim to the throne. So Richard III is dethroned and literally killed off in the Battle of Bosworth. Henry Tudor marries Elizabeth of York (Elizabeth Woodville's oldest daughter) and from these two roses branches the Tudor Dynasty which springs forth peace and prosperity. With peace, there is time again for art and music, and thus the English Renaissance brings forth a new spring (not to mention Henry VIII, his six wives, the Reformation, Shakespeare, and the Golden Age of Elizabeth I).
What I really wanted to say in this post, is that I love that the epicness and awesomeness (those are real words, I promise) of Game of Thrones and The Tudors as period dramas because they were/are big hits, and that makes other studios make more period dramas. This is a history nerd's biggest dream! I even heard they are making a series on Mary, Queen of Scots (another descendant of the Tudors) but it might be on CW so it's not looking to be more than teenage angst in pretty dresses. What looks really promising this summer (August) is Starz's The White Queen, based on the Philippa Gregory historical fiction novel on the women of the Wars of the Roses (Elizabeth Woodville, Anne Neville, and Margaret Beaufort). As much as I dislike the inauthentic history presented by Gregory as a fiction writer, it is hard to ignore an awesome period piece with wonderful costumes. Check out the trailer below:
"Grumble all you like, this is how it’s going to be" -Anne Boleyn Those are the words of a queen; it was her chosen motto, for a time. And now, those words inspire my title for this blog site. I have never blogged before, but I love to write. I don't think that I write well. I mostly write what I think, and when I think it all comes tumbling down in small clumps of moments, of memories, and hopes.
Why would I be inspired by the words of a woman as infamous as Anne Boleyn? Why would a home wrecker, a usurper, a temptress, a witch with six fingers, and an adulteress inspire a random person from Los Angeles?* Why not? She was more than that. Everyone is more than meets the eye, everyone is more than the few seconds spent with them and later judged on for hours.
The real question is, why wouldn't a woman from history inspire? History is the blood of the future and if we ignore that, then we are dooming the future to be catastrophic. I am no Eric Ives nor a self proclaimed Anne Boleyn expert, but she is definitely one of the most interesting historical figures I love. This blog site will not only focus on her, but on other rulers and leaders, in literature and history. This blog site might be personal and completely random at times, especially since there are days when my life takes a turn and it reminds me of something from the past. In these moments, I hope to gain the inspiration to seriously continue this blog. You can say this will be a dual dissection of both history and literature along with the crazy grumblings of a geek-for-life.
*Note: Those are all the
stereotypes, the inconsistencies, and the labels that have been given to
Anne Boleyn over time because no one really knows who she was- life is
all about hearsay.
Is the country becoming more fascist? I think about this often. Are people forgetting what the Revolutionary War was fought for in the first place? Do they even know anymore? Sometimes it is crazy at how little the new generation knows about history and its significance. Sad grumbles for the day after a depressing history tutoring session.
