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Henry VIII

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 3,097 ratings · 79 reviews

The world's leading center for Shakespeare studies

Each edition includes:

Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play

Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play

Scene-by-scene plot summaries

A key to famous lines and phrases

An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language

An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published February 6th 2007 by Simon & Schuster (first published 1623)

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Sep 02, 2012 Bill Kerwin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 16th-17th-c-brit, stuart-drama

There are lots of things about this play that please and impress me, but somehow I don't think it quite works. The best things about it are two scenes probably by Fletcher: the sympathetic portrait of Katharine of Aragon's self-defense and the dignified soliloquy of the disgraced Cardinal Wolsey after his fall. The next best thing is the artful, ironic context Shakespeare builds around them, first by creating a magnificent description of the wrestling match staged between Henry VIII and Francis...more

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Nov 25, 2011 Jimyanni rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature

The Folger Library Edition, as usual, is a fine edition. The play, "Henry VIII", however, is far from one of the most interesting of Shakespeare's plays; it is not terribly intresting, but it IS terribly un-historical. Clearly, it accomplished what it set out to accomplish, which was to curry favor with Queen Elizabeth I, whose birth is described at the end of the play as if it were almost Messianical, and whose father (the title character) is portrayed throughout the play in the kindest light I...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Marty rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: school-bookshelf

This is the final of Shakespeare's Henry plays for me to read, and it feels as tired as any of the multi-sequeled, animated, straight-to-DVD movies that Disney puts out after each successful fairy tale. Just like those, however, there are glimmers of past glory and intrigue that make them at least watchable and at most enjoyable. For Henry VIII, this is the case in the first three acts. After those, however, Shakespeare is irritatingly tied by his modern day overseers. The only conflict in the p...more

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Nov 10, 2012 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: english-lit, plays, historical-fiction

Shakespeare's prologue instantly drew me into the play's fandom. However, I don't think I finished the play as part of that same group.

During the prologue, I imagine Shakespeare defending the purpose of his historical fiction while simultaneously revolutionizing the medium of stage plays.

How soon this mightiness meets misery:
And if you can be merry then I'll say
A man may weep upon his wedding-day.

Patrons of such plays expected humour or tragedy. To impress ones political or historical perspecti...more Shakespeare's prologue instantly drew me into the play's fandom. However, I don't think I finished the play as part of that same group.

During the prologue, I imagine Shakespeare defending the purpose of his historical fiction while simultaneously revolutionizing the medium of stage plays.

How soon this mightiness meets misery:
And if you can be merry then I'll say
A man may weep upon his wedding-day.

Patrons of such plays expected humour or tragedy. To impress ones political or historical perspectives onto an audience seeking relief from every-day stressors may result in unhappy patronage and the tarnishing of a good reputation - an invaluable necessity for making a decent living in such an industry. Shakespeare sounds like a modern popular music act dictating their own political beliefs to people who paid to sing along to Top 40 songs. Yes, I can appreciate that.

What mightiness does Shakespeare speak of? And what brings about its misery? And, surely, we do not weep for the demise of Goliath or the victory of those under a mighty thumb.

Therefore I began reading Henry VIII expecting that Henry himself would fall. However, with a more accurate understanding of the history upon which Shakespeare based his work, the reader will likely gain a deeper insight into the one theme he choose to develop. Without spoiling the outcome, I will only say that this theme of "how the mighty have fallen" plays a prominent role - one which I relished. This theme provides an element of literary romance which the patron or reader, like myself, guzzles like a tenth glass of wine. It also exemplified the kind of power which Henry enforced. His policies were generally transient and self-serving, leaving anyone in his good graces vulnerable to an impending fall. Of course, Shakespeare jots down numerous stanzas, soliloquoys and characters which illustrate such universal and timeless truths regarding this theme that I prize them among several others of from his works. But this theme illustrates a misery which generally shrouded the reign of this king.

However, towards the end, I honestly found myself wondering if Shakespeare did not rush to complete this play, or promise to alter his themes and messages to powerful political gendarmes. Because suddenly, after abuses of power and the fickle consequences of irresponsible ambition, the question of the self-made man versus the nobility, the play sounded and read much like a homage to the Princess Elizabeth, born of Anne Bullen, and glorified above all children by Archbishop Cranmer and Henry himself, possibly swayed by the archbishop's lofty rhetoric after hearing that his child left his mother's womb without a penis.

And the Epilogue made no reference to anything mighty and fallen, surely nothing which would cause men to weep. On the contrary, it seemed to celebrate the rise of something new.

The play crept from under the rays of humane truths, the inherent quality of men and the tragic lessons of ambition and unchecked power, to a prequel for the great Queen Elizabeth I who happened to bare from Henry VIII. It read beautifully but after comparing the prologue and epilogue, so different in tone, I have to imagine that Shakespeare contrasted his initial theme with its antithesis - its annihilation and a celebration of a better day.(less)

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Jan 02, 2011 Marija rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, drama, medieval-renaissance

I was initially surprised Shakespeare wrote this play; I would’ve thought this a dangerous subject, especially since it was practically current history, Elizabeth having been dead only about 10 years after it was penned. After reading it, there is definitely a noticeable conservative element to the writing. The main focus on the play is pageantry, leading up to the birth and christening of Elizabeth. Most of the action takes place off stage. Instead, we’re offered a summation of the events by si...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Abigail Hartman rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics

Goodness, but he did use a deal of stage directions in this one! It rather felt like half the play was action rather than dialogue. Serious, episodic, and a little dry, "Henry VIII" did not seem to me to have as much life to it as most of Shakespeare's works. Since it is historical, the plot is somewhat loose and only vaguely centered on the divorce of Katherine of Aragon; it does have an antagonist for the first part in Cardinal Wolsey, but after his downfall the division of characters becomes...more

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Jun 09, 2009 Terence rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: shakespeare-stuff, audio-books, the-plays-the-thing

Make no mistake, Henry VIII is not a "bad" play. It rates 2 stars only because it doesn't hold up against the 3- and 4-star ratings I've given other Shakespeare plays here on my shelves.

The biggest problem Henry VIII has is a lack of focus and/or a central character.

In terms of focus, we go from Katherine's divorce to Wolsey's downfall to Cranmer's rise to Elizabeth's baptism. All in five acts. There's too much here to adequately develop in the scope of a single play; even in the hands of a mast...more

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Jul 18, 2009 Moira Russell rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009-50-new-books-challenge

Chewed through this mainly because I badly sprained my ankle and am stuck in bed, and saw the BBC production of it but could barely follow it and felt vaguely guilty, like I'd slighted Will or something. After reading it and viewing it once again and focusing on the long, detailed critical introduction by Jay L. Halio (which was quite good and hardly at all stiff), what strikes me is not how it's about Henry VIII -- because it isn't, really, just as King John isn't really about that king and Hen...more Chewed through this mainly because I badly sprained my ankle and am stuck in bed, and saw the BBC production of it but could barely follow it and felt vaguely guilty, like I'd slighted Will or something. After reading it and viewing it once again and focusing on the long, detailed critical introduction by Jay L. Halio (which was quite good and hardly at all stiff), what strikes me is not how it's about Henry VIII -- because it isn't, really, just as King John isn't really about that king and Henry VI is a sort of marginal figure in the three plays which bear his name.....and come to think of it Henry IV isn't really the full focus of the two-parter with his name on it, either. (The two kings who seem to command their respective plays are Richards II and III. The effects of being named Dick rather than Harry are left as an exercise for the reader.) Halio emphasizes the linked way Buckingham, Katherine and Wolsey all foreshadow each other's downfalls, one worst than the next, and the tragic flaw causing it all isn't even really overweening ambition (as Wolsey's fate is presented) but rather the way Henry becomes an increasingly powerful juggernaut who can rid himself of troublesome nobles, his wife, and even the second most powerful man in England. But he remains a shadowy and contradictory figure, motivated not so much by lust (although Shakespeare explicitly makes desire for Anne, rather than worry over succession, his main motive) but the realization that whatever he wants -- Anne, a divorce, telling the Pope to piss up a rope -- he can just take. This exercise of absolute power casts a bit of a shadow over the celebratory joy at Elizabeth's birth which ends the play (IIRC, the Beeb just whacked the Epilogue, not even allowing it to be a VO, as happened to the Prologue).

Personally, I went into the play detesting Wolsey and expecting some major fireworks from Anne Boleyn/Bullen, who is one of my favourite figures of that period, but wound up sympathetic to the Cardinal (well, with those fantastic final speeches Will gives him, can you blame me -- "he falls like Lucifer, Never to hope again") and v impressed by Shakespeare's portrayal of Katherine, one of his strongest and most dignified women. However, I just absolutely cannot STAND Henry VIII and this play did nothing to counteract that. People who think that this play glorifies Elizabeth's father are about as clueless as the ones who say that Henry V is a piece of pro-war jingoistic propaganda.

I didn't enjoy reading this, exactly, but I'm glad I made the effort and dug into it and especially read the critical matter, which was very helpful. Shakespeare almost always rewards really engaging with the text -- doesn't Woolf call his influence 'fertilizing'? (No no, not like that. Smartasses.)(less)

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Feb 09, 2013 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Apparently co-written with John Fletcher, I would probably give this one 2.5 stars. It is certainly my least favorite of the Shakespeare histories. It is not the most interesting Shakespeare play; the plot seems a bit forced and certainly very slow. It was difficult to get into (having to put the book down for a while as I struggled against a bout of the flu didn't help any). Thoughts about the play: it did portray King Henry VIII in the most positive light I've ever encountered (familiar, of co...more

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Jul 13, 2009 Mike Jensen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's two, two, two plays in one. This is a very interesting example of the "Big Man" play that turned up sometimes in early modern England. Pretty much every bit of it is wonderful, but, perhaps because of the joint authorship with John Fletcher, the bits do not add up to a wonderful play. There is nothing that can be called a plot, and the succession of fallen people wears me out. It is still fascinating, just highly flawed.
Someone needs to tell Goodreads that Fletcher is Shakespeare's co-autho...more

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Nov 22, 2010 Steve rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: shakespeare, plays

Decent. Not much of a plot, as "what it's about" jumps around from (1) Wolsey's conflict with the nobility, especially Buckingham; to (2) Henry's desire of annulling his marriage to Katherine so that he can marry Anne; to (3) Cranmer's loyalty and Elizabeth's baptism. There's not really one thread that ties it all together; it's kind of like a highlight reel of Henry's life, with much of the sensitive stuff (i.e. Thomas More) left out.

Worse is that most of the juicy stuff doesn't happen onstage...more

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May 25, 2012 Andrew Wright rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

I guess this play might be interesting if you were already deeply acquainted with the political to-dos of late 16th century England, and furthermore interested in seeing them all-too subjectively depicted as a romantic/political debacle. I guess it's of note that Katharine seems to be the most fully developed character amidst a woefully flat cast. And the language of the play varies so much from scene to scene that I give some tentative creedence to the insinuations that this play amongst those...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Matt rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though questionably a collaboration, I hope it was. Henry VIII is somewhat lackluster in comparison to Shakespeare’s commonly thought of last play The Tempest. In a rather perfunctory manner, Queen Elizabeth and her successor, King James, are honored in this play centering on Henry’s quest for an heir. Funny how, in retrospect, Elizabeth’s birth can be viewed a s a triumph while at the time it was considered the first of a string of disappointments ultimately leading to Ann Boleyn’s beheading.

A...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Trelesa rated it 3 of 5 stars

This account of Henry VIII seems glossed over, while Katherine's character was more in line to historical accounts. The short account left out a lot of the emotion and turmoil involved with the king's marriage struggles.

"Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself."

"'T is better to be lowly born and range with humble livers in content,than to be perked up in a glistening grief and wear a golden sorrow."

"Love thyself last: Cherish those hearts that hate thee. Corruption wins...more

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Feb 22, 2012 Lise Petrauskas rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: plays

I chose this as my next Shakespeare play because it is mentioned in Mansfield Park and I hadn't read it yet. I'm finding it a difficult play, with Queen Katherine being the most sympathetic character so far. I like the scene with Anne Bullen and her attendant for its comedy. Shakespeare rightly warns the audience at the beginning that it's not a light-hearted play. I'll probably enjoy it much more on a second and third reading, once I get a feel for what is happening.

Okay, now that I've finishe...more

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Jul 06, 2011 Wafaa Khaled rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: theatre

الكِتاب كواقعة تاريخية منقولَة ، و مضغوطة ، بارع ..
لاحظتُ على يدِ الأستاذ محمد عناني أن شكسبير ضغطَ الأحداثَ ببراعة لتسيير روايتها و تحسين إلقائها ،
مع أن التواريخ - الغير مذكورة - مغلوطة ، و مُخلّطة بدهاء

المُقدمة طالت كثيراً فجَعلت هُناكَ فاصلاً ما بينها و بين المسرحيّة من ناحية ، و رابط بينهما من أخرى ، فهي وضّحت الكتاب و رسمت الأحداث و بيّنت الحقائق و الأخطاء ، و لكنها طالت ^^ ..

أما الشخصيّات ، فلا أعلمُ من أصدّق :/ !
الكاردينال وولزي كانَ رديئاً في عينيّ ، و هدايته في النهاية لم تأتي لي برضا...more

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May 13, 2013 Bruce rated it 4 of 5 stars

This late play, apparently co-authored with John Fletcher, was first produced during the reign of James I and is essentially a praise of Elizabeth I and her successor. Throughout the work all is continually pointing to her birth and illustrious future, this subtext being linear and unchanging. Within this, however, is the presence of roiling politics, including the rise and fall of important political personages such as Buckingham, Wolsey, and (almost) Cranmer. Recurrent pageantry is the order o...more This late play, apparently co-authored with John Fletcher, was first produced during the reign of James I and is essentially a praise of Elizabeth I and her successor. Throughout the work all is continually pointing to her birth and illustrious future, this subtext being linear and unchanging. Within this, however, is the presence of roiling politics, including the rise and fall of important political personages such as Buckingham, Wolsey, and (almost) Cranmer. Recurrent pageantry is the order of the day, and long speeches abound. Katherine in particular is portrayed sympathetically. Anne Boleyn is treated gently as the future mother of Elizabeth, and nothing of her downfall is alluded to. Probably the most enjoyable part of this play is the language and eloquence of the long speeches, the parts most certainly written by Shakespeare himself.

Amended on 5/13/13:

It is hard for me to experience this late Shakespeare play without being influenced by the lenses that Hilary Mantel provides in Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, her first two novels about this period of history and these characters. Henry VIII, originally known as All is True, is thought by many Shakespeare scholars – Stephen Greenblatt, Marjorie Garber, and Harold Bloom, inter alia (although Bloom hedges his bets a little) – to have been co-authored by Shakespeare and John Fletcher. It covers the short period from Henry’s decision to divorce his first wife, Katherine, through the birth of Elizabeth to his second wife, Anne Boleyn. The play is structured rather formally, with recurring sequences of large pageants, short narrative/commentary scenes, and long thoughtful speeches by major characters at critical junctures in their lives. The first half of the work demonstrates the fall of major personages – Buckingham, Katherine, and Wolsey – showing the ends of the trajectories of their careers, in all cases with great poignancy. The second half focuses more on the rising trajectories of the careers of Anne, Cromwell, Cranford, and More, all of whom will themselves fall after this play has ended. Both Buckingham and Katherine are victims who do not deserve their fates, Wolsey, on the other hand, being fully deserving of his fall. All three, and especially the last two, evolve considerably over the course of the play, Katherine most sympathetically, Wolsey more puzzlingly, his final attitude of humility leaving questions about its depth and sincerity.

Henry himself is in many ways an enigmatic figure, one whom I view as being still young and not fully formed in terms of who he is and who he will be. He seems ambiguous, not entirely sure of himself, capable of making hard decisions but yet easily led by those around him and by his own desires and appetites, maybe most of all incapable of fully knowing himself. He is far from being the most compelling person in the play.

There are other subplots in the work as well, notably the struggle within the Roman Catholic Church and between it and English Protestants. The play ends in a rather conventional and sycophantic way with its flattering of Queen Elizabeth.

Yesterday I saw the current Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production of Henry VIII, directed by Barbara Gaines. It had both strengths and weaknesses. The large pageant aspect was minimized, probably necessary in order to manage the cost and size of the “cast of thousands” that Shakespeare apparently envisioned; this minimization did not detract from the overall effect. Henry’s own ambivalence to events was also underplayed, a disadvantage from my perspective. His erotic attraction to Anne Boleyn, which is but one aspect of his motivation, was – in typical Gaines fashion – (over)emphasized at the expense of his concern about a male heir. And one of the most poignant aspects of the original play, Henry’s fondness and respect for Katherine – demonstrated most sensitively by his addressing her as “Kate” on one occasion – passed so fleetingly and in such understated fashion that its effect was largely lost. The highlight of the production for me was Scott Jaeck’s portrayal of Wolsey. Hateful in his smugness and self-satisfaction until his downfall, his subsequent remorse and humility after his downfall perfectly suggested his own conviction of his “new” state of mind and relationship to God, even as it left a legitimate question in the mind of the observer as to its genuineness beneath the surface of his own consciousness. Gaines did construct an ending that suggested a slight note of irony regarding the too-obvious adulation of Elizabeth, and the play ended in a speechless tableau wherein Anne came on stage to find Henry in the arms of another woman, perhaps Jane Seymour, an effective suggestion that events will continue to be fraught.
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Apr 08, 2009 Nicholas Whyte added it · review of another edition

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1223233.html[return][return]Here we are, practically at the end of Shakespeare's writing career, and he goes right back to the beginning with a play about an English King called Henry. [return][return]It's an odd one. To get the worst out of the way, the last three scenes are all about the birth of Elizabeth I and how she and her successor will obviously be wonderful. Total rubbish. But we've built up to this with the poisonous interactions of her father, Henry VIII...more

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Sep 25, 2007 Núria rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2007, prestados, literatura-en-ingles, teatro, edad-moderna, 2-ni-fu-ni-fa

Yo esperaba que el 'Enrique VIII' de Shakespeare abarcaría todo su reinado, pero resulta que sólo se centra en el divorcio de Catalina y en el matrimonio con Ana Bolena. Me diréis que he sido ingenua de pensar que una obra podría contener tantos años concentrados, pero Shakespeare si hubiera querido hubiera podido, porque si algo se le da bien es la concentración de un montón de hechos históricos en un par de escenas, y en esta obra lo vuelve a hacer, y a mí, que soy una fan de la concentración...more Yo esperaba que el 'Enrique VIII' de Shakespeare abarcaría todo su reinado, pero resulta que sólo se centra en el divorcio de Catalina y en el matrimonio con Ana Bolena. Me diréis que he sido ingenua de pensar que una obra podría contener tantos años concentrados, pero Shakespeare si hubiera querido hubiera podido, porque si algo se le da bien es la concentración de un montón de hechos históricos en un par de escenas, y en esta obra lo vuelve a hacer, y a mí, que soy una fan de la concentración en literatura, esto siempre me fascina. El problema de aquí es que el reinado de Enrique VIII aún era demasiado reciente y por decoro no se podía empezar a explicar como Enrique empezó a decapitar esposas y no esposas. La imagen que se da de Enrique evidentemente no es tan mala como la que nos ha llegado, pero aún así se le ve que es un hipócrita y no despierta en mí ninguna simpatía.

Se ve que la obra fue escrita a cuatro manos, por Shakespeare y por un tal John Fletcher, y se nota, porque le falta unidad y, sobre todo después del cuarto acto, se dispersa y se fragmenta demasiado, las líneas argumentales que nos interesaban se terminan pero aún así la obra sigue con cosas que tienes la sensación que son un simple añadido. La obra cuenta la caída en desgracia de tres personajes y las caídas en desgracia siempre tienen su graica. Se trata del duque de Buckingham, la reina Catalina y el cardenal Wosley. Los dos primeros son inocentes y el tercero no tanto, pero todos pringan igual, porque el rey es bastante tontín y parece ser incapaz de pensar por el solito, no tiene criterio y depende totalmente de sus consejeros.

El duque de Buckingham es tan bueno que es soso, Wosley es un ambicioso que apiña riquezas como una urraca y, como la mayoría de malos de Shakespeare, tiene su encanto, pero el mejor personaje de todos es la reina Catalina. Y no pasa muy a menudo que Shakespeare dé un personaje femenino realmente interesante. La pobre las pasa canutas y destaca por su carácter, su fuerza y su resignación. En seguida te compadeces de ella, porque su miedo, su decepción y su sufrimiento son totalmente reales. Y me encanta que cuando las cosas se ponen feas, ella opte por pirárselas, se enfrenta a los problemas huyendo, porque como mujer es lo único que puede hacer. Oh, ella sola salva toda la obra.
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Jan 27, 2013 Alex rated it 1 of 5 stars

One star is a bit harsh, but it's intended more to clarify that this is my least favorite of Shakespeare's histories. The absence of an overreaching plot arc makes it feel like a dull transcript; perhaps this reveals in insufficient period of fermentation via the 'historical' sources from which Shakespeare's material is drawn? Aside from one or two monologues (Wolsey's in particular, though his transformation comes with as little pre-figuration as whiplash), there wasn't much to keep me at it.

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May 20, 2010 Julie added it · review of another edition

Shelves: shakespeare

I was surprised at how much Shakespeare took the wind out of the incredible tension surrounding Henry's courtship of Anne Bullen, diehard determination to end his marriage to Katherine of Aragon, and split with the Catholic Church. These events were like also-rans.

Some very nice passages, but overall actually a lot duller than other works on these historical players and than Shakespeare's other histories.

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Jan 11, 2010 Penny rated it 5 of 5 stars

Read for Shakespeare Club. I enjoyed this history because I know the most about this English king. The play is co-written though and the last of Shakespeare's. It is all about Queen Elizabeth's birth - the big event actually. I should say really it's about Henry getting his divorce from Katherine and marrying Anne Bullen (as Shakespeare spelled Boleyn).

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Mar 23, 2013 Eyehavenofilter rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is one of those Shakespeare plays that I thought would never end. It is not without merit, it's just not the best thig he ever wrote. I don't particularly like it very much. It's not for me, but if you LOVE WS, you drag you butt over the ten miles of broken glass that is this play to read it, and probably come to the same conclusion?

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Dec 16, 2011 TAB rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1600s, england, drama

Great play up to the end of Act IV. Act V almost didn't seem needed and didn't really make a lot of sense until I read the historical source bits about the text. Queen Katherine is an awesome dramatic character and Wolsey is a proper villain. Henry though just seems so historically inaccurate that it's hard to rationalize what I've been taught all my life about the guy vs. the seemingly jolly character I meet here.

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Sep 18, 2011 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

This play seemed to try to fit too much detail. There are various bit pieces of information that seemed unnecessary (except in the self-referential historical fashion that I'm sure went over well in 1613). The cast of characters alone stretches on for more than a page. Cardinal Wolsey's repentance seems forced. The Duke of Buckingham, though, is pretty great.

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Nov 06, 2009 Mike Jensen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Based on the very solid Penguin edition, this audio performance is well done. As usual with the Arkangel series, the music is not well handled and some of the sound patterns are trite and overdone, but the performances are just fine--and that is what matters most. This audio book was a good companion during a long drive.

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Aug 10, 2011 Christine added it · review of another edition

Stop worrying which parts are by Shakespeare and which ones by poor Fletcher and give yourselves up to the experience. This edition also has a brilliant introduction and argues that the play be at last recognised as the multi-layered masterpiece that it is.

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Apr 27, 2013 Marilee rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: bbc-list, shakespeare

I didn't like this one as much as most of the other Shakespeare plays I've read, which surprised me - of all Shakespeare's history plays, you would think the one about Henry VIII wouldn't put you to sleep. I felt like the play lacked focus and needed more character development.

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Feb 01, 2010 Alex rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

Read this as a companion piece after I finished Wolf Hall. I didn't even know he wrote a play about Henry VIII, and now I know why: it pretty much sucks. And a total whitewash, which makes sense in retrospect. Where's the fucking beheadings, Will?

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Jul 19, 2012 Jyothy Sreedhar rated it 1 of 5 stars

It was a horrible historical drama for me! I can't figure out even now about why I don't like the old historical writings. It makes me confused, distracted and sometimes even irritated. Sorry to my one of the most favourite writer- Shakespeare! :)

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About William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been tr...more William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. Scholars believe that he died on his fifty-second birthday, coinciding with St George’s Day. It is an interesting idea that English writer is so closely identified with the Patron Saint of England!

At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest examples in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime, and in 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's.

Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the nineteenth century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians hero-worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry". In the twentieth century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are consistently performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

According to historians, Shakespeare write 37 plays and 154 sonnets throughout the span of his life. Shakespeare's writing average was 1.5 plays a year since he first started writing in 1589. There have been plays and sonnets contributed to Shakespeare that were not authentically written by the great master of language and literature.
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“We all are men, in our own natures frail, and capable of our flesh; few are angels.” — 18 people liked it

“Nor shall this peace sleep with her; but as when
The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix,
Her ashes new-create another heir
As great in admiration as herself.” — 17 people liked it

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Henry VIII

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