# How realistic is the personality of Henry in Showtime's "The Tudors"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464 "2010-04-26T22:53:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/1 "2010-04-26T22:53:43Z")
He seems angry all the time – how realistic is this? I’ve seen actors imitate authority by playing angry, as if that were the standard behavior for those in charge. Was Henry VIII really this angry? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/2 "2010-04-26T22:58:07Z")
He was the king and kings get testy when they don’t get their way immediately. Royalty is also imperious, which may come across as irritable or annoyed. Henry VIII was dealing with a huge clusterfuck that he created, which couldn’t have helped his disposition much. He had no male heirs until Jane came along, which was serious business in those days. He was ill from his leg injury, had to worry constantly about French and Spanish imperialism, and had all and sundry plotting constantly for their own agendas. As for Showtime’s portrayal, all of the actors seem ridiculously young to me and there is certainly a huge amount of emoting and scenery chewing going on. It gets tiresome and I can’t imagine that everyone was so pissed off all the damn time. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/3 "2010-04-26T23:01:07Z")
Is this the same show as the British “The Tudors” (with Jonathon Rhys-Meyers as Henry)? If so, he isn’t portrayed as being angry all the time. It’s only after Cromwell and Boleyn manipulate him, and the Pilgrimage of Grace kicks up that he gets really angry. And besides, the show only focuses on the most interesting aspects of his reign. They aren’t going to keep showing another banal day at court. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/4 "2010-04-26T23:09:22Z")
I’m not a Henry expert, but I’ve read that he was actually a fairly genial and fun-loving guy when he was young. He enjoyed music, dancing, and loved physical activities like jousting. His leg injury and subsequent obesity changed him a lot - he could no longer enjoy physical activities and became much more short-tempered. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/5 "2010-04-26T23:11:11Z")
What I read is that his personality changed from a brain injury. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/6 "2010-04-26T23:34:34Z")
_The Tudors_ is definitely playing up his “dark side” this season (the final one). I haven’t seen this past Sunday’s episode, the last episode I saw featured a council meeting where a barely mobile Henry VIII (thanks to his infected leg) basically read the riot act to his men, saying they manipulated him into executing the only man he ever trusted (Cromwell), and his one remaining goal was to make sure any of their schemes (real/imagined) amounted to nothing. Basically as dark as we’ve seen Henry the whole run of the show, Rhys-Meyers even seemed to speak a voice we’ve never heard before. Before that episode (which featured lots of action centered around his bum leg), the only real indication they Henry wasn’t well as he once was was a slight limp and the fact that he didn’t dance at court anymore. They haven’t yet put Rhys-Meyers into a fat suit, though maybe they will as the season winds to close. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/7 "2010-04-27T16:40:29Z")
[QUOTE=sassyfras] I’ve seen actors imitate authority by playing angry, as if that were the standard behavior for those in charge. [/QUOTE] Not necessarily. It’s just the most dramatic, so it’s the best for television. It’s also an issue of masculinity, which is widely seen to be “performative” (ie: _acting_ like a man is what makes you a man). Especially on television. _The Tudors_ is a self-consciously sexy show - a classy soap opera, really - and hardass males are what is sexy right now. ---
**Author:** ![seanchai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@seanchai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seanchai)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/8 "2010-04-29T00:06:33Z")
Henry’s daddy won the British throne by dispatching the ill-fated Richard III on Bosworth Field. He became Henry VII. He married Richard’s sister in law, the dowager queen, mother of the true heirs, sons of Edward IV. To cement his claim to the throne, Hanry VII needed sons, and he had two ‘an heir and a spare’ - Arthur, then Henry. Arthur died young, aged about 20, after marrying Catherine of Aragon, a Spanish princess. Henry inherited his older brother’s widow as well as Arthur’s title as heir apparent. The Tudors were almost obsessed with proving their right to the throne of England and providing an unbroken succession. Catherine of Aragon, after several disappointments, provided Mary. Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, provided Elizabeth I. Third wife, Jane Seymour, whom Henry ever afterward referred to as ‘my wife’, provided the longed-for boy, Edward V. Henry had no other legitimate children. As the “spare” heir, Henry was a good-time charmer. After he inherited the throne, he gradually became … different. He had a strong sense of entitlement, which didn’t help him win friends and influence the right people. seanchai ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/9 "2010-04-29T01:05:44Z")
> [@seanchai](#): > > Henry’s daddy won the [del]British[/del] English throne by dispatching the ill-fated Richard III on Bosworth Field. . . ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/10 "2010-04-29T01:08:52Z")
We’ve finally caught up on this series (had to watch from season one until now), which seems overly long (particularly the Anne Boleyn years), and often just an excuse to show fake-porn scenes. Entertaining, though. By the way, there was another son, Henry Fitzroy by Henry’s mistress Blount. The series has him dying in childhood, while in reality he died as a young man, leaving no heirs. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/11 "2010-04-29T01:31:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > …By the way, there was another son, Henry Fitzroy by Henry’s mistress Blount. The series has him dying in childhood, while in reality he died as a young man, leaving no heirs. They’ve also merged Henry’s two sisters, Mary & Margaret, into the same character who basically has Princess Mary’s personality & life story and Princess Margaret’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/12 "2010-04-29T01:35:50Z")
> [@seanchai](#): > > Henry’s daddy won the British throne by dispatching the ill-fated Richard III on Bosworth Field. He became Henry VII. He married Richard’s sister in law, the dowager queen, mother of the true heirs, sons of Edward IV. Niece, and sister to the sons of Edward IV. Elizabeth of York and Elizabeth Woodville were two different Elizabeths. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/13 "2010-04-29T01:37:10Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > They’ve also merged Henry’s two sisters, Mary & Margaret, into the same character who basically has Princess Mary’s personality & life story and Princess Margaret’s name. Except that they married her to the King of…where was it? I want to say Spain, but that can’t be right. But it wasn’t France like it should have been. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/14 "2010-04-29T03:19:01Z")
Scots? [Princess Margaret](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Tudor) married James IV, King of Scots, while [Princess Mary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Tudor,_Queen_of_France) married Louis XII, King of France. ---
**Author:** ![Charley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@Charley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charley)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/15 "2010-04-29T12:40:28Z")
> [@Katriona](#): > > Except that they married her to the King of…where was it? I want to say Spain, but that can’t be right. But it wasn’t France like it should have been. Portugal. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/16 "2010-04-29T14:27:44Z")
I just saw an interesting show on the National Geographic Channel that explored all of Henry’s maladies. Along with his ulcerated leg (actually there were multiple ulcers) and head injury he’s also suspected to have had malaria, diabetes and syphillis. He underwent daily leeching and other nasty procedures, was in constant agony and was dilusional by the time he died. Compared to how he must have really been, I’d say Mr. Rhys Myers plays him like Ned Flanders. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/17 "2010-04-29T14:39:49Z")
> [@Charley](#): > > Portugal. Yeah, the show’s writers thought it would be too confusing for viewers, what with all the other issues with France. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/18 "2010-04-29T15:45:55Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I just saw an interesting show on the National Geographic Channel that explored all of Henry’s maladies. Along with his ulcerated leg (actually there were multiple ulcers) and head injury he’s also suspected to have had malaria, diabetes and syphillis. He underwent daily leeching and other nasty procedures, was in constant agony and was dilusional by the time he died. Compared to how he must have really been, I’d say Mr. Rhys Myers plays him like Ned Flanders. Malaria? Isn’t that normally a tropical disease? How’d it get to the North Atlantic? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/19 "2010-04-29T15:53:59Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Malaria? Isn’t that normally a tropical disease? How’d it get to the North Atlantic? Malaria had a long history [in England](http://malaria.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTD023991.html). > [@](#): > > “We don’t know what proportion of deaths can be directly attributable to malaria,” acknowledges Dr Dobson, whose studies of mortality were published in ‘Contours of Death and Disease in Early Modern England’ (Cambridge University Press, 1997). Dr Dobson reconstructed mortality figures from local parish registers, which provide a record of burials but not always a cause of death. > > Nevertheless, it seems that malaria was a threat to health, and several ingenious remedies were developed to combat the fevers: Fenland locals became addicted to opium from locally grown poppies, while hostelries served opium-laced beer. But it was a remarkable quinine-based remedy that had the biggest impact on malaria mortality statistics. ---
**Author:** ![myriad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@myriad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myriad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464/20 "2010-04-29T19:16:59Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I just saw an interesting show on the National Geographic Channel that explored all of Henry’s maladies. Along with his ulcerated leg (actually there were multiple ulcers) and head injury he’s also suspected to have had malaria, diabetes and syphillis. He underwent daily leeching and other nasty procedures, was in constant agony and was dilusional by the time he died. Compared to how he must have really been, I’d say Mr. Rhys Myers plays him like Ned Flanders. I always wonder (apart from wishing I could jump thru the screen/go back in time and splash huge quantities of hydrogen peroxide on that leg!) when they show the leg scenes-and the horrible pain…what did they do for pain killers back then??? It looks like they just have to bear it, but surely they had some kind of concoction for pain relief??😕 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-realistic-is-the-personality-of-henry-in-showtimes-the-tudors/537464.md?page=2)