Henry VIII Criticism
Shakespeare's Henry VIII, often overlooked among his historical plays, has long fascinated scholars with its complex depiction of political and historical narratives, inviting debates on its authorship, thematic depth, and stylistic elements. While traditionally attributed solely to Shakespeare, the play's perceived inconsistencies have led many, including Marco Mincoff, to argue for John Fletcher’s involvement, reflecting a collaborative effort. Despite questions of authorship, the play’s intricate themes and its portrayal of political power during the Jacobean era, as explored by William M. Baillie, have prompted a reevaluation of its artistic value.
In Henry VIII, Shakespeare departs from traditional historical dramatization, opting instead for psychological realism and political commentary. The play's alternative title, All Is True, emphasizes this approach, focusing on political rule and religious realities as highlighted by Paul Dean. The character studies of King Henry, Katherine, and Anne Boleyn reveal themes of power, authority, and gender dynamics. Kim H. Noling addresses the play’s patriarchal undertones, while the political and religious undercurrents of the Reformation are dissected by Roy Battenhouse.
The play has been re-examined for its artistic cohesion, as argued by scholars like Richmond and Champion, who acknowledge both its aesthetic strengths and structural flaws. The blending of historical and dramatic genres is praised by Edward Berry. On stage, diverse productions have highlighted the challenges and triumphs of the play’s spectacle, as reviewed by Ben Brantley, Greg Evans, and Robert Smallwood.
The themes of genre and political context are crucial to understanding Henry VIII's place in Shakespeare's oeuvre. John D. Cox and Stuart M. Kurland explore its reflection of Jacobean political ideals, while Thomas Healy examines its historiographical approach. The utilization of historical sources has been scrutinized for its manipulation of truth, with Ivo Kamps, Barbara Kreps, and Anston Bosman addressing its fragmented narrative.
The political implications of Henry VIII's reign are vividly presented against the backdrop of Elizabethan and Jacobean concerns. The play critiques authority and explores the tension between royal pageantry and moral conscience, as noted by Camille Wells Slights and David Glimp. The prophetic speech by Cranmer, dissected by Maurice Hunt and A. Lynne Magnusson, encapsulates the play's exploration of speech and power.
Ultimately, Henry VIII reveals its depth through character-driven narratives and thematic exploration, drawing attention to monarchy, power, and the human condition. Critics such as Kristian Smidt and Frederick O. Waage Jr. emphasize its unique focus compared to other histories, while Barbara Hodgson and Hugh M. Richmond explore its thematic ties to earlier works. As productions have evolved, the play’s visual and thematic splendor continues to captivate, as noted in the reviews of Peter Marks and Vincent Canby, ensuring its enduring relevance in Shakespearean scholarship.
Contents
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Henry VIII (Vol. 56)
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Criticism: Historical Representation
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History, Romance, and Henry VIII
(summary)
In the following essay, Uphaus examines how the historical facts of Henry VIII are absorbed by Shakespeare's use of romantic convention, and claims that the play presents an historical confirmation of the literary experience of romance.
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The Reformation and Shakespeare: Focus on Henry VIII
(summary)
In the essay that follows, Noll looks to Shakespeare's Henry VIII for help in understanding the nature of the English Reformation, as well as how the history of the English Reformation informs Henry VIII.
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Possible Pasts: Historiography and Legitimation in Henry VIII
(summary)
In the following essay, Kamps claims that Henry VIII emphasizes the “relative unimportance of individuals in the historical process” and resists the idealizing tendencies of literary history.
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Seeing Tears: Truth and Sense in All Is True
(summary)
In the following essay, Bosman examines the “sensory orientation” of Henry VIII in order to observe the theatrical relation of truth and vision in the play.
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When All Is True: Law, History and Problems of Knowledge in Henry VIII
(summary)
In the essay that follows, Kreps studies Henry VIII, claiming that the play is preoccupied with issues of time, particularly with the retrospective glance of history and the anticipatory impact of law.
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History, Romance, and Henry VIII
(summary)
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Criticism: Political Commentary In Henry Viii
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The Politics of Conscience in All Is True (or Henry VIII)
(summary)
In the essay that follows, Slights argues that Henry VIII represents the politically subversive potential of Christian conscience, in a way that negotiates between a glorification of Henry VIII's reign and an examination of its undermining.
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Staging Government: Shakespeare's Life of King Henry the Eighth and the Government of Generations
(summary)
In the following essay, Glimp discusses the interaction between political authority and anxieties regarding theatrical representation in the Elizabethan period, particularly in relation to Shakespeare's Henry VIII. The essay seeks to show how this play acknowledges and explores the limits of the cultural logic informing anxieties about the stage and describes how Shakespeare's attention to these issues represents an effort to consolidate the cultural authority of the popular theater.
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The Politics of Conscience in All Is True (or Henry VIII)
(summary)
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Criticism: The Power Of Dramatic Speech
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The Rhetoric of Politeness and Henry VIII
(summary)
In the essay below, Magnusson examines the “social rhetoric of politeness” in Shakespeare's Henry VIII. The critic maintains that gender and class have an effect on speech patterns and attempts to “help us toward a new understanding of the social construction in language of dramatic character.”
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Shakespeare's King Henry VIII and the Triumph of the Word
(summary)
In the following essay, Hunt argues that Henry VIII shares with Shakespeare's late romances an attention to the redemptive function of speech.
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The Rhetoric of Politeness and Henry VIII
(summary)
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Criticism: Historical Representation
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Henry VIII (Vol. 61)
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Criticism: Historical Sources
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Henry VIII: A Jacobean History
(summary)
In the following essay, Baillie compares Henry VIII to other Shakespearean history plays, remarks on its realistic portrayal of Jacobean politics, and examines selected events and issues that occurred in the months immediately preceding the play's publication.
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Dramatic Mode and Historical Vision in Henry VIII
(summary)
In the following essay, Dean contends that while Henry VIII shares many of the dramatic elements of the late romances, it also adheres closely to its chronicle sources.
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‘All Is True’: Negotiating the Past in Henry VIII
(summary)
In the following essay, Patterson explores the relationship of Henry VIII to Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles, noting that Shakespeare often modified facts in order to achieve a desired dramatic or thematic outcome.
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Henry VIII: A Jacobean History
(summary)
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Criticism: Masculine Identity And Feminine Power
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Grubbing Up the Stock: Dramatizing Queens in Henry VIII
(summary)
In the following essay, Noling suggests that through the characters of Queen Katherine and Anne Boleyn, Shakespeare was endorsing kingly authority and the notion that the proper function of queens was to produce male heirs.
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‘Thou Hast Made Me Now a Man’: Reforming Man(ner)liness in Henry VIII
(summary)
In the following essay, McMullan explores Henry VIII's treatment of contemporary definitions of manliness, examining standards of masculinity and appropriate social conduct.
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Grubbing Up the Stock: Dramatizing Queens in Henry VIII
(summary)
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Criticism: Religion, History, And Politics
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Shakespeare's Henry VIII and the Theme of Conscience
(summary)
In the following essay, Young examines the theme of conscience as exemplified by the character of King Henry, remarking that the historical events that inspired this play dramatized a fundamental difference between the Roman Catholic and Protestant points of view.
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Shakespeare's Henry VIII Reconsidered in the Light of Boethian and Biblical Commonplaces
(summary)
In the following essay, Battenhouse traces several parallels between Henry VIII and Boethian philosophy, remarking that the Boethian belief in God and providence reopens the debate regarding Shakespeare's stance toward Tudor-Stuart politics.
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Shakespeare's Henry VIII and the Theme of Conscience
(summary)
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Criticism: Historical Sources
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Henry VIII (Vol. 72)
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Criticism: Overviews And General Studies
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Shakespeare's Henry VIII: Romance Redeemed by History
(summary)
In the following essay, Richmond evaluates the merits of Henry VIII, including its unity, structure, characters, historical theme, and affinity with other Shakespearean dramas, and considers the issue of Shakespeare's collaboration with John Fletcher in the composition of the play.
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Shakespeare's Henry VIII: A Celebration of History
(summary)
In the following essay, Champion analyzes the structure, characters, and themes of Henry VIII, suggesting that the play's lack of unity is outweighed by its artistic merits.
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Henry VIII and the Dynamics of Spectacle
(summary)
In the following essay, Berry argues that Henry VIII, though not without its flaws, offers a successful blend of history, tragedy, masque, and romance. In addition, Berry examines the drama's structural pattern of four successive tragedies that culminate in Cranmer's prophetic vision.
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Shakespeare's Henry VIII: Romance Redeemed by History
(summary)
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Criticism: Character Studies
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Introduction to King Henry VIII (All Is True)
(summary)
In the following excerpt, McMullan concentrates on the characterization of Queens Katherine and Anne in Henry VIII, noting the lack of more than superficial distinctions between the two figures in regard to the play's ambivalent treatment of the English Reformation.
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Introduction to King Henry VIII (All Is True)
(summary)
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Criticism: Production Reviews
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Review of Henry VIII
(summary)
In the following review of director Mary Zimmerman's 1997 production of Henry VIII, Brantley praises Jayne Atkinson's sympathetic Queen Katherine, but finds that the remainder of the cast members were unable to offer compelling interpretations of character. Brantley also comments favorably on the stage design, costuming, and blocking of the performance.
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Review of Henry VIII
(summary)
In the following review of Mary Zimmerman's staging of Henry VIII in New York's Central Park, Evans lauds the period design and costumes, and assesses the main figures in the drama—King Henry, Queen Katherine, and Cardinal Wolsey—finding Josef Sommer's villainous clergyman the outstanding role.
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Review of Henry VIII
(summary)
In the following excerpted review, Smallwood comments on the excellently staged, designed, and performed Royal Shakespeare Company production of Henry VIII directed by Gregory Doran.
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Review of Henry VIII
(summary)
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Criticism: Themes
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Henry VIII and the Masque
(summary)
In the following essay, Cox contends that Henry VIII can be understood as an experiment in adapting the principles of the court masque to the dramatic tradition of the public theaters.
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Shakespeare's Henry VIII and the Theme of Conscience
(summary)
In the following essay, Young identifies the theme of conscience as the central and unifying element of Henry VIII.
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Henry VIII and the Ideal England
(summary)
In the following essay, Leggatt examines the idealized image of England and its history intimated in the body of Henry VIII and fully expressed in Cranmer's prophecy at the end of the drama.
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Henry VIII and James I: Shakespeare and Jacobean Politics
(summary)
In the following essay, Kurland traces affinities between King Henry of Shakespeare's Henry VIII and the historical King James I of England, the reigning monarch at the time of the drama's premiere.
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History and Judgement in Henry VIII.
(summary)
In the following essay, Healy highlights the theme of historiography in Henry VIII, exploring the drama's concern with the evaluation, interpretation, and malleability of historical “truth.”
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Henry VIII and the Masque
(summary)
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Criticism: Overviews And General Studies
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Henry VIII (Vol. 82)
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Criticism: Production Reviews
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Political Spin Decked in Royal Trappings
(summary)
In the essay below, Marks reviews the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1998 production of Henry VIII directed by Gregory Doran. He praises the traditional staging of the play and comments on the production's pageantry, including the bejeweled set and gold-flecked costumes.
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Does Shakespeare Really Need B12 Shots?
(summary)
In the following excerpted review, Canby evaluates the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Henry VIII at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, characterizing Gregory Doran's directorial effort as “a vigorous, clear-eyed, unhackneyed delight.”
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Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon, 1996-98: or, The Search for a Policy
(summary)
In the following excerpted review, Jackson lauds Gregory Doran's 1996-97 production of Henry VIII at the Swan Theater as a skillful balance of ceremony and stagecraft.
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Political Spin Decked in Royal Trappings
(summary)
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Criticism: Overviews And General Studies
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The Ordering Effect of Dramatized History: Shakespeare and Henry VIII.
(summary)
In the following essay, Cook examines the moral and political concerns of Henry VIII and contends that the play is a historiography that interprets history by organizing it in the process of evoking it.
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Introduction to The Oxford Shakespeare: King Henry VIII, or All Is True
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Halio offers a brief overview of the critical history of Henry VIII, accompanied by an analysis of the main action of the play.
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The Ordering Effect of Dramatized History: Shakespeare and Henry VIII.
(summary)
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Criticism: Themes
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Henry VIII and the Crisis of the English History Play
(summary)
In the following essay, Waage argues that Shakespeare was unable to “mythologize history” in Henry VIII, maintaining that this inability “signalled the virtual end of the reign of the English history play on the Stuart stage.”
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All Is True, or The Honest Chronicler—King Henry VIII.
(summary)
In the following essay, Smidt contends that unlike Shakespeare's other histories, Henry VIII is a play of character rather than of action and pageantry—a quality it shares with some of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies.
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Uncommon Women and Others: Henry VIII's ‘Maiden Phoenix.’
(summary)
In the following essay, Hodgson argues that women play a crucial role in Henry VIII, noting that “only in Henry VIII do they become such spectacular sites, so to speak, for contesting and confirming royal authority.”
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The Life of King Henry the Eighth
(summary)
In the following essay, Pearlman theorizes that despite the prophecy declared by Archbishop Cranmer at the end of Henry VIII which celebrates the perfection of monarchy, the play emphasizes the fragility, danger, and corruption of human institutions.
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The Resurrection of an Expired Form: Henry VIII as Sequel to Richard III.
(summary)
In the following essay, Richmond focuses on parallels between Henry VIII and Richard III, theorizing that Shakespeare drew upon Richard III to create the plot elements and structural patterns of Henry VIII.
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Henry VIII and the Crisis of the English History Play
(summary)
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Criticism: Production Reviews
- The modernity of Henry VIII
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Henry VIII (Vol. 41)
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Overviews
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Henry VIII and the Dynamics of Spectacle
(summary)
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 propagandistic. 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 traditions into a complex whole. Its dramatic vocabulary includes disparate, even conflicting elements: de casibus tragedy, the history play, the masque, tragicomedy, romance. The unfamiliarity of the blend puts unusual (though not un-Shakespearean) demands upon an audience; the combinations force reevaluations not only of the conventions but of the views of reality they imply. Henry VIII is a history play that redefines truth, a de casibus play that moves beyond tragedy, a masque that questions the value of spectacle.
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Introduction to King Henry VIII
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Margeson surveys the topic of authorship in relation to Henry VIII and critical reaction to the play, arguing that the work possesses an aesthetic unity as "an exposure and celebration of royal power" and a dramatization of the "conflict between worldly and eternal values."
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Henry VIII and the Deconstruction of History
(summary)
In the following essay, Rudnytsky examines the authorship and genre of Henry VIII by reviewing the play's juxtaposing Catholic and Protestant views of the divorce of the king.
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Henry VIII and the Dynamics of Spectacle
(summary)
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Language, Imagery And Spectacle
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'Sit By Us': Visual Imagery and the Two Queens in Henry VIII
(summary)
In the following essay, Micheli investigates the contrasting visual images associated with Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn in Henry VIII and the significance of these to the play as both a romance and a chronicle history.
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Shakespeare's King Henry VIII and the Triumph of the World
(summary)
In the following essay, Hunt explores the transformational power of speech in Henry VIII. He discusses Shakespeare's interest in the proper use of language and how it extends to the late romances, particularly in the context of deficient and disabling speech in Henry VIII, culminating in Cranmer's fifth-act prophecy as a triumph of the word.
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'Sit By Us': Visual Imagery and the Two Queens in Henry VIII
(summary)
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Overviews
- Possible Pasts: Historiography and Legitimation in Henry VIII
- Further Reading