Extra short post today, because I don’t have much to say
about this play.
Henry VIII.
The last of the Bard’s histories. (Both in terms of when it
was written, and in the chronology of the histories themselves.)
If I were to rank the Bard’s plays, this would rank very
near the bottom, but that’s not what I want to talk about. We’re going to focus
on my favorite character and favorite moment in the play.
Katharine of Aragon is definitely my favorite character in
this play. She seems fiery and ahead of her time. Unwilling to let even the
king walk all over her. To me, that is admirable. And I think the best part of
the play is when she is taking Wolsey on in front of the king and court, calling
him out.
It is interesting that perhaps the richest history material
that Shakespeare worked with resulted in his most stilted play. There is
endless artistic possibility within the story of Henry VIII’s life and reign.
But perhaps it was all still too close at the time. It’s difficult, sometimes,
to see what is right in front of us, and perhaps Henry VIII is an example of that.
