Damian Wong

In this project, I delved into the fascinating world of historical letters, focusing on the correspondence between King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. By applying sentiment analysis techniques using Python and the NLTK library, I aimed to uncover the emotional dynamics and themes present in these letters. The project showcases my skills in text preprocessing, sentiment analysis, and data visualisation.

Henry VIII, a King of England in the 16th century, is renowned for his tumultuous personal life and his role in the English Reformation. The letters exchanged between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn offer a glimpse into their passionate and complex relationship, which ultimately led to significant changes in English history, including the break with the Roman Catholic Church and the establishment of the Church of England

Data and Methodology

The dataset consisted of a collection of 18 letters obtained from Project Gutenberg. 17 written by Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn, and one letter (eighth letter) written by Anne Boleyn to Cardinal Wolsey, with a postscript by Henry VIII.

To preprocess the text, I removed headers, footers, and punctuation, converted the text to lowercase, and tokenized the letters. In addition to the standard stopwords filtered out by NLTK, I added a few more words that didn’t provide useful insight into the sentiments expressed in the letters, such as “shall”, “would”, and “written”.

Sentiment Analysis

Using the NLTK library’s SentimentIntensityAnalyzer, I calculated sentiment scores for each letter, including compound, positive, negative, and neutral scores. The analysis revealed that the majority of the letters had high positive sentiment scores, indicating Henry VIII’s strong affection and love for Anne Boleyn. Only one letter (the tenth letter) had a significant negative sentiment score, likely due to the worries and concerns expressed during the sweating sickness outbreak.

Visualisation

To gain a deeper understanding of the sentiment analysis results and the content of the letters, I created several visualisations using Python libraries such as Matplotlib and WordCloud.

The line plot above displays the sentiment scores for each letter, with the x-axis representing the letters in chronological order. It is important to understand the historical context around—3 letters (eighth, ninth, and tenth) were written during the sweating sickness outbreak. The letter to Cardinal Wolsey (eighth letter) was written by Anne Boleyn. This visualisation allows for a clear understanding of how the sentiment in the letters evolved over time and in relation to historical events. As seen in the plot, the majority of the letters maintain high positive sentiment scores, indicating Henry VIII’s consistent affection towards Anne Boleyn. However, Letter Tenth stands out with a significant drop in sentiment, reaching a negative score. This shift in sentiment can be attributed to the worries and concerns expressed by Henry VIII during the sweating sickness outbreak.

A frequency distribution plot showcasing the most frequently used words in the letters, providing insights into the main themes and topics discussed. The frequent use of words related to time, such as “time,” “long,” and “shortly,” suggests a sense of longing and anticipation in the letters. Henry VIII’s eagerness to be reunited with Anne and his desire for her presence are evident throughout the correspondence. The word “trust” also appears prominently, indicating the importance of trust and loyalty in their relationship, especially given the complex political and personal dynamics of the Tudor court.

A visual representation of the most prominent words in the letters, offering an intuitive way to grasp the key themes and emotions expressed by Henry VIII.

Insights and Conclusions

The sentiment analysis and visualisation results provided valuable insights into the emotional dynamics and themes of Henry VIII’s love letters to Anne Boleyn. The consistently high positive sentiment scores reflected Henry VIII’s deep love, affection, and devotion towards Anne. The most common words, such as “love,” “heart,” “trust,” and “servant,” further emphasised the passionate and intimate nature of their relationship.

However, the analysis also revealed a notable shift in sentiment in Letter Tenth, which had a highly negative score. This letter, written during the sweating sickness outbreak, expressed Henry VIII’s concerns and worries about Anne’s well-being, showcasing the impact of external circumstances on their relationship.

Furthermore, the presence of religious references, such as “God,” underscores the importance of personal faith and the prevailing religious context of the time. Henry VIII’s letters often invoke God’s blessing and protection, reflecting the deeply religious nature of society during this period.

In conclusion, this sentiment analysis project provides a fascinating glimpse into the emotional world of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s relationship. By leveraging Python and the NLTK library, I was able to uncover the prevailing sentiments, themes, and emotions expressed in their correspondence. The project demonstrates the power of sentiment analysis in analysing and understanding historical texts, offering valuable insights into the private lives and experiences of historical figures.

• Access the GitHub Repository here.