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Queen's Gambit


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Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

Created: 08/22/13

Replies: 12

Posted Aug. 22, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3444

Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

Katherine places a lot of importance on her jewels. She "insists on wearing her finest things ... in spite of the cloying heat." Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?


Posted Sep. 02, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
terri

Join Date: 04/11/12

Posts: 102

RE: Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

The queen needs to appear and look like a queen in front of others at all times. Katherine tried not to appear weak. She dresses up to appear strong and in charge. Appearance was very important. I do believe that the queen's jewels don't mean much to her. They would not mean much to me either, but I think it was important to outshine others.


Posted Sep. 02, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
audrey1

Join Date: 09/02/13

Posts: 43

RE: Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

I think Katherine was very aware that the Tudor court was a warren of competing interests. She had observed how the former queens had been used as pawns in the personal, political and religious issues that went on around Henry. She was also aware that Henry was always easy to manipulate. She was very steadfast in her convictions about faith. She was well aware that the cabal that centered around Archbishop Gardiner and Mary were intent on diminishing her influence in order to manipulate Henry back into repression of all reformers. Henry's break with Rome was more a move borne from expediency rather than actual faith. In order to survive herself, protect her fellow reformers at court, she had to appear strong. She had just replaced a queen who was only a pawn and not a player at court. The reality was that by the time Henry married Katherine Parr, he was impotent. Beyond Henry's personal vanity and needs, he wanted a second son to insure the Tudor dynasty. The reality was that that was not going to happen. No one wanted to tell Henry that. I think that part of the behavior by Catherine Howard, was predicated on the fact that Henry was incapable of siring an child. Catherine Howard, at the age of 13 or so was under tremendous pressure from her family to have a child to insure their influence at court. She paid an ultimate price.
Katherine was aware that her ultimate power was that Henry trusted her and her opinions. She dressed as a woman who was not only a consort but an advisor. This allowed her to fend off all attempts to bring her down. I think the only people she came to trust were Dot, her sister and Huicke.


Posted Sep. 02, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
irisf

Join Date: 01/16/12

Posts: 136

RE: Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

I do believe that Katherine was uninterested in the jewels on a personal level. I believe she wore the outrageous gowns and bedecked herself in jewels to present herself as a strong force to be reckoned with. I believe that she was afraid that to present herself in any other way was to invite her enemies to perceive her as being weak. Weakness could be deadly


Posted Sep. 02, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
sandrah

Join Date: 07/18/11

Posts: 68

RE: Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

Katherine understands the importance of appearance. She knows that what she wears is seen as how she feels about her role as not just being a queen but how she feels about being Henry's queen and being The Queen of England.

No, her interests and values do not lie in jewels but in her beliefs, especially her religious beliefs. She also understands that wearing them shows that she understands the importance of showing Henry she values the jewels he gives her both as an individual and as his Queen while it also makes clear her standing to the others at court and tells the general public.


Posted Sep. 04, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Retired Reader, NE

Join Date: 09/16/11

Posts: 165

RE: Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

Katherine knew that to stay alive she must appear to be powerful. Clothes and jewelry gave her that status. I think the queen's jewels were only "things" to her. But she loved her mother's cross.


Posted Sep. 04, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
moth77

Join Date: 08/05/13

Posts: 5

RE: Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

I think it was about power and Tudor court appearances, but I think it was also about hiding herself too. She was in a dangerous position and couldn't trust many people. She had to hide her true self from most people. Heavy clothes and jewels are partly an outward expression of her struggle.


Posted Sep. 07, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
kathleenr

Join Date: 12/07/12

Posts: 68

RE: Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

I thought that clothes make the man and in this case the Queen. She gained assurance from the formal clothes and she projected that confidence wearing them. Those who saw her had no doubt of her position. Only the Queen could wear what she wore and Henry's power was hers in his absence.


Posted Sep. 09, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
alycet

Join Date: 04/23/12

Posts: 182

RE: Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

Katherine had to dress the part. Apperances were necessary to demand respect in court.


Posted Sep. 09, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
laurap

Join Date: 06/19/12

Posts: 407

RE: Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

Image was important in Henry's court. Catherine understood the importance of always "looking the part."Her interest was in conveying to other courtiers an "in charge" image.


Posted Sep. 09, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jww

Join Date: 05/31/11

Posts: 166

RE: Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

Everything about this court was pretense and contrivance. You could not wear certain fabrics, furs, or colors if you did not have a particular title. The queen knew how important it was to maintain the facade of power. She knew that strength of character was the only thing that would help her survive and she did whatever needed to maintain the semblance of that strength. What she wore was her armour. The only jewelry she cared about was her mother's cross on pearls.


Posted Sep. 13, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
sylviaj

Join Date: 09/14/11

Posts: 30

RE: Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

I agree with all of the other comments. Katherine was playing the part of the Queen and in order to play the Queen she had to dress the part- the heavy clothing and the jewels. Without those things that represented the position that she had attained, she would have made herself appear weaker to those around her like Stanhope, Gardiner and Wriothesley.


Posted Sep. 15, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
terri

Join Date: 04/11/12

Posts: 102

RE: Why do you think Katherine is adamant about wearing her heavy clothing and jewels? Do you believe her when she says that jewels mean nothing to her?

To sum it up, outward appearances were very important.


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