336
C
o-written by Shakespeare
with John Fletcher, Henry
VIII, or All is True, explores
a decisive period of the king’s
long and famous reign: his divorce
from Katherine of Aragon, his
marriage to Anne Boleyn, and the
birth of the future Elizabeth I.
Against a background of ceremony
and spectacle, the action maps the
rise and fall of some of Henry’s
closest courtiers and, as the play’s
alternative title suggests, casts
an ironic light on the motivation
of all concerned.Wolsey’s power
Henry is presented as the source
of greatness. Like the sun, his royal
beams gild life by granting status
and power to those he favors.
When this light is withheld for
whatever reason, the individual
withers and declines. For the first
part of the play, the king’s favor
is strongly influenced by Wolsey.
By carefully controlling access to
the king, he is able to mediate
what Henry sees and hears, and so
selectively shape what he believes
to be the truth. It is a privileged
position that allows Wolsey to
replace courtiers he distrusts with
those who will do his bidding. He
even acts on the king’s behalfwithout his knowledge, as when
he initiates the harsh taxes against
which Katherine appeals. As
custodian of the king’s great seal
(the stamp of royal authority),
Wolsey thinks he has Henry in his
pocket. These gatekeeping powers
make him a dangerous enemy, as
the Lord Chamberlain points out:
“If you cannot / Bar his access to
th’ king, never attempt / Anything
on him” (3.2.16–18).Fall from favor
Buckingham is the first to fall from
grace. Furious at Wolsey’s abuse of
power, he wants to denounce him
to Henry. But Wolsey blocks his
move with lies, priming the duke’s
surveyor to give false testimony so
that, before Buckingham can speak
out, he is arrested as a traitor and
executed. Katherine seems secure
in Henry’s favor when, kneeling,
she petitions him against Wolsey’sIN CONTEXT
THEMES
Integrity, royal marriage,
political ambitionSETTING
Court of King Henry VIII;
York Place, Cardinal
Wolsey’s London home;
Westminster Abbey;
Kimbolton CastleSOURCES
1548 Edward Halle’s The Union
of the T wo Noble and Illustre
Families of Lancaster and York.1563 John Foxe’s Acts and
Monuments.1587 Holinshed’s Chronicles of
England, Scotland, and Ireland.LEGACY
1613 On June 29, a stage
cannon accidentally sets the
roof thatch alight and burns
down the Globe Theatre during
a performance of Henry VIII.1742– 68 Garrick’s production
plays to the enthusiasm for
pageantry with 140 actors on
stage for Anne’s coronation.18th–19th centuries Textual
cuts make room for added
spectacle and end the play
when Wolsey leaves the stage.1969 Trevor Nunn’s RSC
production focuses on Henry’s
maturation as father and man.1983 Also for the RSC, Howard
Davies explores the accretion
of power to Wolsey.2010 The play is revived at
the Globe Theatre, London,
with ceremonial cannon fired
as in the 1613 production.HENRY VIII
This imperious man
will work us all
From princes into pages.
Norfolk
Act 2, Scene 2Herbert Beerbohm Tree played
Wolsey in a lavish 1910 London
production that boasted a huge cast.
The play went on to have a long and
successful run on Broadway, New York.