Henry VIII (Vol. 41) | Edward I. Berry (essay date 1979)
Edward I. Berry (essay date 1979)
SOURCE: "Henry VIII and the Dynamics of Spectacle," in Shakespeare Studies: An Annual Gathering of Research, Criticism, and Reviews, Vol. XII, 1979, pp. 229-46.
[In the following essay, Berry evaluates Henry VIII as a blend of dramatic modes, including history, tragedy, and masque. ]
Although admittedly a modest play by Shakespearean standards, Henry VIII has been subjected to criticism which seems to me undeservedly severe. Its structure has been condemned as episodic, its characterization as sentimental and stereotyped, its pageantry as meaningless, its language as inflated, its treatment of history as evasive and propagandistc1 Much of this criticism reflects, I think, a failure to take the play on its own terms, to understand its distinctive dramatic mode. Like the other late plays, Henry VIII is boldly original in form and assimilates a wide variety of...
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