The Wives of Henry VIII
Dr. Robyn Muir, History Adjunct Faculty
Photo submitted by Dr. Robyn Muir
Over the summer, I had the amazing opportunity to work with Stan Barber, who is the playwright, director, and owner of Pax Amicus Theater in Budd Lake, New Jersey. He has been writing and directing plays for over fifty years and was looking to write an original script about
the wives of Henry VIII of England, which was different than the usual sensationalist angle, summed up in the phrase “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.”
He wanted to write a historically accurate and creative look at the six wives as unique and strong women and put together a circle of advisors to help him research.
It was fascinating to watch him write as he asked questions and listened to our small group of women advisors who represented different fields of education and experience.
To me, it was a great lesson in building something through a willingness to learn from others and by many voices expressing opinions and knowledge for a single purpose.
The performance of the Six Wives of Henry VIII that came out of our summer writing and discussion sessions was very rewarding for me to watch, and I feel strongly that we honored these women from the past by giving voice to their experiences and emotions.
I was also asked by The Center for Lifelong Learning here at SCCC to give a presentation on what I had learned about these six women on September 11th of this year.
Members of the community, faculty from the college, and students attended, and I had a great time introducing them to these fierce women from the past. They were each so different in their personalities, in their upbringing, and in how they reacted to being queens and wives to a man who was obsessed with having a male heir. Their stories are insights into the bigger pictures of psychology, social structures, trauma, gender issues, politics, and the overall power of individuals to make a dramatic influence on the world.
Henry VIII, for instance, is often credited with starting the English reformation in religion, which has led to multiple ongoing religious wars, an eventual rise in religious tolerance, but also the impetus behind the settlement of much of New England. The dominoes of history that started with this king have impacted millions, and it really all began because he could not accept that his only heir would be a girl, his daughter Mary. Ironically, if it were not for the women in his life, his wives and his daughters, history would remember him for very little.
As I try to bring stories like this to life in courses here at SCCC, I am often reminded of how much our personal decisions reverberate throughout time. My experience this summer with advising for the play reminded me of the creative and powerful accomplishments we can achieve when we work together, listen to those around us, and use our knowledge for a common goal.
