Clearly, the author doesn't value historical accuracy either, because the painting she used for the thumbnail is not of Catherine Howard, it is a painting titled The Execution of Lady Jane Grey.
Valuing historical accuracy
The piece ends with “ In an age of audiences valuing historical accuracy...”
Is this true?
I don’t usually expect historical accuracy in fictional works. I usually expect they are viewed through a lens of the time.
The recent Odyssey movie, for instance, takes significant liberties, giving Odysseus a more modern guilt that was not accurate for the time.
This isn’t exactly the same, since Odysseus isn’t a real historical figure, but the idea is the similar. Fictional works are made to resonate with the audience of their time.
It’s surprising to me to read the author being bothered with that making historical accuracy more difficult to attain. I don’t think most people care about the historical accuracy of a person who lived long vs a story that connects with them now in their time.
Discussing
Comments
Catherine Howard was always my least favorite of Henry's wives, mostly because she was not around long enough to gain any clout in the HVIII fandom so to speak.
I think she resonates now because we seem to have a more sophisticated understanding of coercion and abuse of young women/girls. The musical Six really plays up Catherine's youth and how she was basically sexually used and abused by every man she met. It should not be that surprising that Six became popular around the time of MeToo and the first discussions of Jeffrey Epstein.