Katherine Howard, the fifth wife of England’s King Henry VIII, has rarely received a positive portrayal in fiction. Throughout the 20th century in books, tv series, and movies, she was depicted as frivolous, immature, hyper-sexual, forgettable, and at times cruel. In recent years, the popular musical Six has tried to reclaim Katherine’s story and has made her a cultural icon in the era of the #MeToo Movement. But are any of these depictions capturing the true Katherine Howard? 


In today’s episode, I will be joined by Leigh Wakefield, a historian whose recent masters dissertation focused on the cultural portrayals of Katherine Howard and how this has impacted Katherine’s legacy for future generations. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Katherine Howard in Fiction 

They were adulterers, murderers, mistresses, religious zealots, thieves, and traitors. They were queens, wives, mothers, young, and old. What binds the women together in this podcast is their legacies. These are women who were known during their lifetimes or reinvented after their deaths as wicked women. The lenses of history are often gendered, damning women for some of the same actions that men have been lauded for. The nuances surrounding the women in this podcast were removed in exchange for a one-sided portrayal. Within Wicked Women: The Podcast, I do not attempt to excuse or condone the wrongs committed by these women, instead, the podcast looks at their overarching story and examines the origin of their negative legacy. Alongside a brief biographical overview of the woman, I will be incorporating interviews I have held with experts on the subject to provide multiple and diverse perspectives.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.