ESFP 3w2 Characters
Natalie Dormer’s Anne Boleyn, as portrayed in The Tudors, embodies the magnetic and daring spirit of an ESFP 3w2 personality type. Known for her charm, wit, and ability to captivate Henry VIII, Anne thrives in the spotlight and uses her natural charisma to influence the court. Her ambitious Enneagram 3 drive pushes her toward the crown, while her 2 wing adds a flair for generosity and grand gestures. From her flirtations and bold fashion to her sharp tongue and reformist ideals, Anne is the perfect blend of entertainer and strategist, determined to leave her mark on history.
A Queen of Action: Extraverted Sensing
Anne is far different from Henry’s other wives in that she is pleased to cavort with him, go riding and hunting, loves to dance and amuse herself with entertainment, is fashionable and sexually alluring. When her father tells her to catch and hold the king’s interest, she puts herself in front of him with the idea of finding some way to prevent him from “having” her too soon (“If he had me, who is to say he would keep me?”). She sets out to bait and tease the king, to lead him into a relationship in which she never gives him what he wants (sex) until he makes her a queen, but she still uses teasing and sexual provocations to accomplish it (hiding her new motto on her body, giving him a hand job in gratitude for his gifts, etc.). Anne loves to do things. She wants Mark Smeaton to show her how to play the violin, she enjoys performing in plays and dances, and is eager to show her ladies the latest fashion and dance steps. She also tends to blurt out whatever she is feeling or thinking at times, such as when she insults foreign ambassadors, by assuming that she has the power to do as she pleases. As she becomes more arrogant, she becomes more reckless in her behavior, and abandons her initial concerns (when her brother George gives her a mocking sheet of paper depicting her raven sigil tearing apart the queen’s pomegranate, she tells him “it’s not a game, it’s dangerous!”).
The Heart Behind the Crown: Introverted Feeling
She can sometimes misread situations and make things worse (owing to her Fi’s inability to mirror other people’s emotional states or choose the right comments to suit the situation) in an attempt to enact her vision. Anne never wavers from what she wants, nor gives in to Henry’s demands and her own desires, until she has gotten what she wants (the crown, and the promise of legitimate children). Though compliant with her father’s demands she seduce the king, Anne sets about doing it on her own terms, in her own way, with an end goal in mind of “keeping him” (not being a dalliance). She shares his love letters with her family, but keeps her true feelings close to her chest; when her father directly asks her how she feels about her new charge, she says she has grown fond of the king, but does not elaborate further. Anne is often alone, pondering her feelings, which makes her hard for others to read. She has a strong set of personal beliefs, which she uses to bring about change in England (giving the king the books necessary to dismantle Catholicism, being angry at Cromwell for taking funds from the dissolution of the monasteries and not using them to help poor people). Anne tries to maintain a sense of control in her relationship, becoming increasingly paranoid, insecure, and jealous whenever the king’s attention strays from her.
A Tongue Sharper Than a Sword: Extraverted Thinking
Her Te comes out in sharp bursts with a brutal tongue – when frustrated, she insults Katharine in front of the entire court (“I would rather see her hanged than acknowledge her as my mistress”); she mocks Henry’s virility (“The king cannot pleasure a woman!”); she blasts him when she catches him with another woman (“Just when my belly is doing its business, I find you wenching with Mistress Seymour!”), and she flat out tries to control others to assuage her own anxiety about her position (she tells Cromwell if he’s not careful, she’ll have him “cropped at the neck,” she orders Thomas Wyatt “never to speak of me to others, do you understand?” and she jerks the king’s present of a locket off Jane’s neck).
Visions of Tomorrow: Introverted Intuition
As time passes, Anne becomes increasingly more fixated on the future, her daughter’s life, and an irrational fear of Mary Tudor replacing Elizabeth as heir apparent (“I don’t know why, I just fear it!”). She also becomes convinced Mary will be her death.
Give Me A Crown: Enneagram 3
Anne is ambitious but also aware of how things look, how to present herself in an admirable and desirable manner, and how to use her influence and power to get what she wants. Anne tries not to draw undo attention to herself until she feels confident of her position, and then knows exactly the kind of message her appearance in court in purple is sending. She is pleased to accomplish things for herself, and her family – delighted when Henry responds to her attentions with gifts, presents, and noble titles for herself and her family. When her father tries to control her, as queen, she reminds him forcefully that SHE did this, that it was ALL ME. She is skilled at wearing whatever face is necessary for the situation – presenting the appropriate emotions for the situation, while hiding her true self, and in putting a happy face on everything (when Henry loses his cool and beats up a servant, she reassures him it’s fine and “everything is beautiful, wouldn’t you agree?”). She isn’t above lying and deceit, pretending to be something she is not (a virgin) to win over the king.
The Benevolent Queen: The 2 Wing
Anne feels as if she “should” do some good with the money taken from the monasteries; it’s wrong in her eyes to use it for personal gain and not to apply it to the poor. When she becomes the queen, she makes a grand show of her generosity, by offering “twice as much as the old queen did” when giving out alms outside the church, setting up her ladies with free and easy access to the Reformist Bible, and insisting upon them being virtuous and “decent” (while conveniently ignoring how she got the throne and the moral compromises she made). Anne knows how to promise Henry what he wants the most, constantly assuring him that she will give him a son and even using that as a manipulation tactic when he disappoints her (“I could have contracted an advantageous marriage and borne him sons!”). When Henry considers taking another mistress, Anne searches out and provides him with her own choice, which is a cousin of hers that she feels able to “control” (she sees this as her place). Sometimes, her pride causes her to overstep and assert herself—with Cromwell, who then undermines her and has her arrested, with her father, who betrays her and leaves her to die without a word of protest, and with Henry in quarreling with him and demeaning him (telling him that his wife is sure to have the upper hand whenever they argue).
Anne the Temptress: The Tudors’ Portrayal
I have mixed feelings about this version of Anne Boleyn. Natalie Dormer completely captures the essence of Anne in how fiery, gorgeous, temperamental, and risk-taking she is, but the script painted her as a liar from the start. Pretending to be a virgin, when she had been fooling around with a married man. Then when Natalie asked them to insert more of the real Anne’s virtues and her Reformist beliefs, it turns her into a hypocrite, who insists on “high morals” from her ladies, while having sexually teased Henry for seven years. I wish Michael Hirst had written Anne more like the real one, and had her not be such a “tease.”
