Catherine of Aragon had almost as much power as a woman could have in the 16th century. Her parents were Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. Her nephew was the holy roman emperor. If being a staunch Catholic wasn’t enough, the pope was once the forced guest of her nephew, and had several good reasons to want to stay on the good side of the family.
Her husband was Henry the VIII, making her not only the queen of England, but a quite popular queen at that. Ironically, one of her husband’s future wives was named after her. A woman reared in part on battle fields, the daughter of a warrior queen, she once “ in her husband’s absence “ won a brilliant and decisive victory against Scotland.
By the mid-1520s, Catherine had most anything a woman could want in order to feel secure in her position — except a male heir or the likelihood of producing one. What Catherine was missing was her youth, and the continued interests and affections of her husband, but none of that was for a lack of trying.
Her husband was both supremely confident and insecure. He found himself only second generation to a throne in a country that tended to give anyone with a slender claim and a successful army the chance to be king. His father was a perfect example of this, coming to power through a successful battle, a bloodline that gave him some legitimate ground to express his right, and a marriage to a woman with a much better claim. The less said about the last point, the better.
Anne Boleyn, for a brief time, had almost as much power as a woman could have in the 16th century. She didn’t have the royal lines of Catherine of Aragon, or the family to offer her protection, but she had brains, the attentions of a king, and a she was of child-bearing years. She had the added security of her husband, Henry the VIII, having moved heaven and earth to marry her. A man would look like a fool to discard a woman he’d been willing to rid himself of a wife and a religion to obtain.
Catherine died in a cold and drafty castle, having been denied contact with her daughter for several years, because she had the audacity to not get out of the way when her husband wished to discard her. She died in exile for refusing to say her daughter, Mary, wasn’t a legitimate heir to the throne, which is what an annulment would have been tantamount to saying.
Anne Boleyn died by the executioner’s sword. It turns out that the fire and passion that appealed to the king’s lust was not what he wanted in a wife “ at least not in a wife who could only manage to give birth to a daughter. Henry had been there, done that, and all he’d had to show for it was excommunication. He’d been spoiled by his first wife, and told the complaining second one that she must endure as her betters had done before her. In order to be rid of the woman he was willing to do most anything to get, he accused her on the treasonous act of infidelity and the unnatural act of incest. The love he had for her? He was bewitched. Anne’s last words contained nothing but benevolence as she proclaimed “a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never.” It would be an educated assumption that she said these words out of a hope that Henry would be kind to her daughter.
That took care of wives one and two.
Jane Seymour, daughter of Thomas Seymour and not the star of Dr. Quinn medicine woman, probably understood that there was only one way to be a woman and really powerful, and being queen wasn’t enough. Hell, being queen wasn’t even worth what it was a decade before. Power wasn’t about family connections, successful battles won, loyalty, brains, comeliness, or a talent at mattress olympics. A woman’s power was based on what she could do for her husband in both the short and long term, and she was married to a man with a short memory.
Jane is the one Henry called his true wife. Not the woman he’d been married to for over two decades, not the woman he changed to course of history to marry, and not the women who followed Jane. She was given honor above all others, painted into official portraits even after her death, given the honor of spending eternity next to Henry, because she gave him a son.
Jane Seymour died as the result of complications of child birth.
Not included is the wife he dumped because she didn’t flatter his ego, the child bride who really did many of the things Anne Boleyn was accused of — who was in fact Anne’s cousin — and who met the same fate, and the wife who served as nursemaid to the morbidly obese man who smelled like a festering wound.
What these women had in common, other than the same increasingly husky hubby, was they were all life support systems for organs of pleasure and reproduction.
Joss Whedon has linked misogyny to womb envy and I think that’s borne out in the lives of these women, and so many nameless women throughout history.
What is wrong with women?
I mean wrong. Physically. Spiritually. Something unnatural, something destructive, something that needs to be corrected.
How did more than half the people in the world come out incorrectly? I have spent a good part of my life trying to do that math, and I’m no closer to a viable equation. And I have yet to find a culture that doesn’t buy into it. Women’s inferiority “ in fact, their malevolence — is as ingrained in American popular culture as it is anywhere they’re sporting burkhas. I find it in movies, I hear it in the jokes of colleagues, I see it plastered on billboards, and not just the ones for horror movies. Women are weak. Women are manipulative. Women are somehow morally unfinished. (Objectification: another tangential rant avoided.) And the logical extension of this line of thinking is that women are, at the very least, expendable.
I try to think how we got here. The theory I developed in college (shared by many I’m sure) is one I have yet to beat: Womb Envy. Biology: women are generally smaller and weaker than men. But they’re also much tougher. Put simply, men are strong enough to overpower a woman and propagate. Women are tough enough to have and nurture children, with or without the aid of a man. Oh, and they’ve also got the equipment to do that, to be part of the life cycle, to create and bond in a way no man ever really will. Somewhere a long time ago a bunch of men got together and said, “If all we do is hunt and gather, let’s make hunting and gathering the awesomest achievement, and let’s make childbirth kinda weak and shameful.”
Not only are the people who can do what men can’t labeled inferior, but this ability is used to hobble them, make them more at the mercy of the people who need them, like slaves put to work to build pyramids, shrines, and monuments to their oppressors. A woman holding a newborn female, an inferior baby, a child in her own flawed image, would be putting her life at risk to point out that it was something that no man could do. She had failed, by some twisted definition of the word. She could be annulled, divorced, or beheaded from relevance. Catherine, having delivered a daughter, had to watch the father of that child act as she was barren. Anne, who was sexually powerful enough to entice a king, died being called a witch and a whore. Jane was rewarded as a good employee and, being the only of Henry’s wives to have a queen’s funeral, given a plumb promotion. Her only flaw, benevolently forgiven, was that she didn’t produce a spare to go with the heir.
The great irony 0f Henry’s life is that both of the daughters he sought to deny reigned and his daughter by Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I, became one of the most successful rulers England has ever known. His son’s reign was short and insignificant.
***
A Virginia Slims ad, circa 1970, shows a sepia toned wife greeting her husband after he’s returned home from a hard day of work. She takes his hat and overcoat, gives him a gentle kiss, and helps him get settled for a relaxing evening — it fades to suffragettes marching. The text is as follows:
Back in the old days, men were the masters and women were the slaves. Women had the duties, men had all the rights. Then, at last, women won their rights. One by one, they won them all!
Next, we see a modern day woman putting on make-up and smoking over a song about how she’d come a long, long way (baby.) That’s right, she had the right to be purty and get cancer from a cigarette designed for her delicate little fingers. Oh, and the right to lovingly suckle long phallic-y objects for the purposes of selling more long phallic-y objects.
(Um, and then there’s Maude?)
Curiously enough, Betty Draper’s life when we first meet her is a perfect blend of sepia-toned slavery and modern day “progress,” which really doesn’t make it seem like women have come that far after all, does it?
Ask Betty Draper as her husband cheats, connives, apologizes pretty, and still holds all the cards. When she took Don back, you know a part of her did so because she’s on borrowed time. Don tells her she wouldn’t be alone for long, but this is predicated on her still being young, and getting right out there again, and not having a newborn. Her reproductive identity is, like countless women before her, still the guiding factor in her fate. Her choices were two “ do something illegal, dangerous, and arguably immoral or reconcile with the father so that people didn’t gossip about the timing of it all. Certainly, at that time, every child a woman had who was not fathered by the man who is considering making the purchase is a liability.
Betty is not without understanding of this and much more. She used to think that she wasn’t enough, and now she knows that the missing piece is in her husband. That, and pocketbook change, will get her a cup of coffee. (I suggest Martinson’s)
Ask Mona Sterling, who might have to see her husband cooing over a bouncing baby boy. What exactly was her crime? Not having the peachy physical attractions that come with being on the right side of thirty? Hitting menopause? Not keeping her husband young? Mona, have you met Catherine?
Ask Joan Halloway. Last year’s model. Still a young woman, but “ to borrow from a Martina McBride song “ beginning to toss pennies into the fountain of youth. If she leaves her fiancé, the rapist, who knows what another catch will come along? I mean, a doctor, c’mon! She’s just making hay while the sun shines and while she’s still a fine piece of ass. Getting married and getting pregnant is a woman’s real job security and she knows it.
The women of the early sixties are still life support for organs of pleasure and reproduction. They have the babies, but the men soak up the glory. If men feel virile in a woman’s presence, that’s because she’s holding up a mirror. If they feel impotent or unfulfilled in her presence, that’s because she’s not enough.
Thomas Moore, initially a beloved and loyal friend of Henry’s, counseled that people should tell him what he should do and not what he could do. The men of Sterling Cooper, and countless places like Sterling Cooper, are little kings and dukes who’re constantly being told what they can do and few telling them what they should do. Freddy Rumsen, God love him, for the longest time had more job security than many wives.
There are small acts of treason though. Revolution is in the air. Betty went back to Don, but not before doing something that Anne Boleyn was falsely accused of doing “ she let someone else enjoy the king’s playthings. But, and this is insidious whether intentional or not, she did so at the very safest time for a woman to be unfaithful “ when the right seed had taken root.
Helen’s revolt got her ostracized by other women, but she still chose to embrace her own independence. However, that doesn’t necessarily make her the trailblazer she seems at first glance. Imagine for a moment Helen had no children “ the pity of the neighbors, the lessened obligations of her ex-husband, the fall from grace with no safety net. The damaged goodsiness off it all.
Our shining example is, of course, Peggy Olson. Read between the lines, and what Peggy did, what she told Pete she’d done was decide that the fruit of her literal labor was going to be neither her salvation nor her damnation. This is all the more powerful coming from a member of a church that not only believes in heaven and hellfire “ salvation and damnation “but that crowned a woman queen because she gave birth to the bestest heir ever.
Ãve MarÃa, grátia pléna, Dóminus técum. BenedÃcta tu in muliéribus, et benedÃctus frúctus véntris túi, Iésus. Sáncta MarÃa, Máter Déi, óra pro nóbis peccatóribus, nunc et in hóra mórtis nóstrae. Ãmen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Hello Mary, you’ve pleased God, because you are going to give him a son. Because producing a male heir, and doing so without the taint of original sin that clings to all other women, gives you sway and power, put in a good word for me, would you?
Peggy Olson, girl ad exec, church-goer, and insurrectionist, decided to be her own savior.
Imagine that!
***
On a personal note, I’m glad to be back. As you can see, I’ve made up for my absence by extreme wordiness!
29 Responses to “It's Good To Be The King, or, Peggy and Her Hail Mary Pass”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Ms. D–
Wow. Welcome back.
Thanks. Geeze O' Pete (Campbell), I missed a lot of mistakes.
What she said.
That I missed a lot of mistakes?
Wow. One hell of a post. I really liked the the "wives of Henry VIII" analysis and the last sentence of it.
Powerful words there. I, uh, think I've got something in my eye.
First Welcome back! I am loving this article and the use of Henry VIII's wives. Such a fascinating egocentric behavior with out understanding his own motivations, care for the women or anything.
Interestingly after the children were born then there is not much information about what the mothers were like as mothers. Probably as many were short lived, but it should be brought up more in regards to Mad Men. We have spent so much time discussing Betty's reluctance or lack or preparedness for parenting and it probably colors peoples thoughts about her more than anything.
I am going to disagree about Helen Bishop. I think she would have an easier time slipping back into single life if she did not have kids. A lot of the horror expressed towards her is how can she do this to the kids! Get divorced, a job, not act like she is submitting all of her life to them! Glenn's visit in "The Inheritance," show he believes her to selfish in her choices. Even her attempts to work with the PTA or what ever are mocked (Francine said something about it in F1 or FTWTY)
And how much do I love Peggy for (almost) never equating her sex appeal with her value as a professional or a person?! It goes back to Joan saying "… there's no money in virginity" through the conflict with Fr. Gill acting like she's been reduced to a couple of sexual indiscretions.
And I love your translation of the Hail Mary
Amazing. I've always been fascinated by the Tudor saga, Henry VIII and his wives in particular, and I even wrote a ridiculously long research paper on the topic back in middle school. Yet I never thought about it in this context. And as a sort-of Catholic, I've been saying the Hail Mary since toddlerhood–your translation is just about right. I remember asking teachers, what's so special about Mary? She was created without original sin, yet she is praised for just that, just the way she was made? It's not our faults we have original sin. I don't think they tried to answer me. Maybe that's irrelevant, but just my thoughts. Thanks for the post.
I think that women of means in the Tudor era didn't raise their children. Not just that, but I think their children were pretty much given their own households and only brought to court for special occasions.
I'm pretty sure this was the case with at least Elizabeth, and since she seems to never have spoken of or written about her mother, and having lost her so young, it's not a surety that she even remembered her.
Edward was certainly whisked away, but then again, his mother was dead and some of it was certainly the result of wanting to keep him away from illness.
Mary was certainly her mother's daughter, keeping her mother's faith.
While Catherine is well-regarded, it's interesting that her parents were not above killing and torturing in the name of their religion, and her daughter was called Bloody Mary for the same tendencies.
Of course, Mary's more violent tendencies could be the result of — let's see starting out as Princess Mary, the apple of daddy's eye, and then becoming Lady Mary while her mother was abused by her father, and then being nursemaid to her father's (temporarily) legitimate daughter, and then having them both be further devalued by the birth of a son…
Jane seemed to have been maternal, treating both Mary and Elizabeth kindly, even though some of her regard for marry seems to be a result of being Catholic, and probably of the mind that Mary was the rightful heir.
I also think believe that Henry's 4th wife, Anne of Cleves, and sixth wife, Catherine Parr, were good stepmothers for their time. The fact that Mary, a Catholic, liked Anne of Cleves, a protestant indicates a lot and I think that Elizabeth lived with C. Parr before her stepmother's next husband went all grab-ass on her.
***
I see your point on Helen. I agree that she would have had an easier time being a single woman again without children — at least in the having fun without obligations and the landing another husband department. I also see where her children and her parenting skills were another point of gossip in the neighborhood. However, children at that time were also the fulfillment of womanhood, as well as leverage. Helen's ex, without the children, could have told her that if she wanted out so badly, she was on her own — and few people would have faulted that logic. Helen, strange habit of walking and curious independence aside, had done her part in giving birth. Even then, a guy who turned his back on his kids was a shit heel, and that means that the the mother as the custodial parent must be assisted as well.
Helen without children probably wouldn't have a nice house in the suburbs — she'd probably be home with her parents or struggling for rent. She may or may not have been happier.
Pete seemed to be pretty conflicted about being a parent, but the lack of children clearly had a deep effect on Trudy. When it became clear — or even clearer, from the perspective of the viewer — that Pete could do his part in making babies, it hurt Trudy on a very deep level. There's little doubt in my mind that she wanted children for their own sake and hers, but I don't think it could be denied that her inability to conceive struck at the heart of her sense of womanhood and purpose. Trudy didn't need a baby in order to be secure in any material sense — it's pretty clear that her parents will always provide for her — but she seems to need it for part of her sense of self-worth, and that makes her only slightly ahead of the women in the court of Henry.
I think Peggy was right that she could have shamed Pete into being with her, but I think there's even more to it than that. Pete has a fear of fatherhood, but as a fait accompli I think that he would have wanted to know his child, particularly a male child, and would be drawn and indebted to the mother of that child — no matter what the particulars of how that baby came to be. As ambivalent as he might seem, I think that Peggy's stock would have increased for the same reasons that Jane Seymour became the revered wife. There would have been other issues and factors at work, even resentment and anger in the mix, but motherhood has cache — which I suppose circles back to Helen Bishop thing.
I like your thoughts, Luisa.
That's a good point about Pete, Ms. Darkly. Even though he runs ambivalent-to-negative about the parenting thing, he wasn't unhappy to hear about his viable sperm.
I think he is ambivalent because of his own parents. All indications are that neither was nurturing or supportive. If he believes the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, his concerns make sense. It also makes sense that he might feel safer with adoption.
I think he likes happy little swimmers for the some of the same reasons he likes guns and hunting fantasies — manly! Of course, his manliness just sorta makes Trudy feel like crap as I think she was ready to be supportive.
Underneath the fear and ambivalence is probably a guy who does want kids and that might not be apparent until he actually has them. Pete is constantly battling between his weasel nature and his better self, but I think that he would have stepped up to the plate, even if some of it is just what men are supposed to do.
@#4 — I meant "wow and welcome back."
Ms. Darkly until the above I never quite connected that Catherine of Aragon was the daughter of Isabel and Ferdinand. For what ever reason I thought of the start of the Spanish Inquisition and the Church of England. Must be why I never became a historian. Or just that USA schools emphasize the colonial turf war aspects of 15th-16th century English/Spanish relations. Thank you for all of this.
I don't know how Pete would have felt about the child if he leaned about it earlier. I know he would have resented Peggy. He already did as she had stopped being really nice to him months earlier.
Betty… used to think that she wasn’t enough, and now she knows that the missing piece is in her husband.
Read between the lines, and what Peggy did, what she told Pete she’d done was decide that the fruit of her literal labor was going to be neither her salvation nor her damnation.
What she said ; )
Read between the lines, and what Peggy did, what she told Pete she’d done was decide that the fruit of her literal labor was going to be neither her salvation nor her damnation.
Badass. Like Anne B. said — which is why it made the quote of the week.
Speaking of which…Anne B., drop me a line when you get a moment:
rjayz123 at ymail dot com
I wish I could congratulate Peggy, but I think that she rose up the ranks just a little too fast for my tastes. Either she was too impatient, or Don assisted her career just a little too fast. Other than attaining the position of Creative Director, she has no where else to go at Sterling Cooper. Either she'll have to leave the firm and go somewhere, take over Don's position by S3 or remain stuck in her present position for years to come.
Whatever happens to her . . . she rose in the ranks just a little too fast for my tastes.
I don't have a problem with the timing. In nine months she got promoted to Underpaid Junior Copywriter. Two years later, after saving a presentation, she got another promotion. Seems okay to me.
I'm sorry, but it doesn't to me. Professionally, where else is she going to go in her story arc?
I think Peggy still has a ways to go so far as earning respect from everyone in the office. Sure, she's risen far and fast, but she's still a woman, and I think that'll leave plenty of opportunity for her to be further challenged. Like when SC was interviewing younger people and she says she's only twenty-two, Paul says "You don't count." And the general reaction from the boys when she got her office. And so on. Maybe in name she's high in rank, but she surely isn't treated that way, at least not yet.
And about Pete: I also think he did want a child, unconsciously, but not with Trudy. Maybe he saw it as repeating his own parent's life cycle, and he just didn't want to bring a child into all that. He already did what he was supposed to do, in marrying rich, getting the apartment, etc. But I think he sees that it would be useless to bring a child into a loveless marriage. And since he's fallen for Peggy, the bombshell just hit all the harder–the woman he really loves had his child and gave it away? By then, he would've wanted the child. If she had told him earlier, he probably would've resented her and never grown to love her as he does now. It's rather twisted, actually, now that I think about it. And sad.
I think there are plenty of stories to be told about Peggy's work life. I could name some, and probably will ::Grin::, but I'm sure we're going to end up surprised.
Luisa is right that at the end of the day they'll still see Peggy as a woman, akin to a piano playing dog.
Think of the nature of prejudice. Peggy is Girl Wonder, and well-liked, but all she has to do is fall on her face once and the door is opened for the guys thinking she's risen too far, too fast. Her earlier successes could look like flukes if there is a predisposition to thinking that women aren't cut out for her job.
From the beginning. Don posed the question of what women wanted — and then he answered the question and it comes down to an excuse to get closer to him, and maybe jewelry. Roger thinks the answer is a candy pink stove. When the men had an opportunity on the Belle Jolie account to observe women they used it as an excuse to leer and mock. Freddy, say what you will since he mocked too, at least knew Peggy had it right.
But I think these guys are fully capable of having a woman tell them what she wants only to shake their heads and say, "No, that's not it!"
What about a storyline where a client just really does not want a woman on his account? Frankly, I think Don might tell them to go piss up a rope, but I could see others thinking she should maybe sit this one out.
How about an account that turns the tables and makes Peggy have to figure out what men want? I know she wouldn't be clueless from the airline scene with Don, but would the men buy that she could be the best person for the job?
I don't know. I'm just not fully convinced. Allowing a twenty-something character to go from secretarial school graduate to secretary to junior copywriter to senior copywriter in a space of two-and-a-half years just seems ridiculous to me.
The way advertising campaigns are put together is going to change very soon in the show's time line. Matt Weiner said that part of the purpose of the Smith & Smitty characters was to show that thee copywriter/artists teams we assume exist through advertising today were really new then. Given Peggy's precarious relations with others in SC it would be interesting to see if this type of creative partnership is appealing or conducive to her.
She also is not competitive, and has done little self promotion. (Even people who hated Pete for his role in Freddy being sacked thought Peggy deserved the office more than Freddy. Also in the BoK interview with Joel Murray he says that Freddy's championing of Peggy was a form of enabling himself, which she played along with.) I am guessing that next season will have a lot more intra-office competition.
A while back one of the Lipps pointed out that Don is relatively new to SC and being the creative director in Season 1. The dinner in 1.02 was one of if not the first between the Sterlings and Drapers. There is a lot of turn around in that field.
Also something that struck me during the confession scene: as guarded as Peggy is, she might welcome a forum where she can talk freely and with out fear of being judged. Maybe there would be opportunity to look for one.
Some of the SC boys already assume there's something not quite right about Peggy's success – as much as they seem to like her, I doubt they think she's in for the long haul.
The idea of a client not wanting her would be a very interesting story to tell. She worked on the Right Guard account, but would a client want her writing copy for a Real Men's Productâ„¢, like chain saws or something? Would Bethlehem Steel have wanted her on the account? Heck, I know older people even today who don't think female physicians are proper doctors and seek out male ones instead, and women who don't want a man styling their hair.
Weiner had promoted Peggy too fast. That's all I have to say.
Rosie, I understand. While some people are disagreeing with you, I think we all respect your opinion on this and understand that this affects and will affect how you view the story. I can see your perspective even as I have a different take on it. Her ascension has been speedy!
#25 Melissa – I've seen some of these women who don't want a "man" styling their hair. You can spot them at K-mart wearing a Dale Earnhardt Sr. tee-shirt and a 64 oz. Big Gulp. Great conversation starters with these people include, "tell me why you are proud to be an American" and "is Jesus your savior?"
Ms. Darkly, can I be your fan on Facebook? Forgive my late post, I'm not terribly regular with this site between seasons. You've managed to combine two of my favorite topics. I got really into the Henry VIII story thanks to Philippa Gregory's novels, to the point that I've even read actual nonfiction on the topic. Henry VIII managed to change the course of world history because he was able to convince himself that the contents of his pants were the will of God. Not having the male heir just gave him the excuse.
But isn't Rosie's point interesting? Peggy has had a accelerated journey upwards. Who else had such a thing? Anne Boleyn! They weren't too happy that the Boleyn family gained so much power so quickly, and so they had to be brought down. Quite severely! Anne did not produce a boy, giving Henry the excuse to get rid of her. But everyone around Henry was more than willing to help. She was hated for her meteoric rise. I hope the same thing does NOT happen to Peggy!