Branta Institute

Analysis - Henry VIII by William Shakespeare

Marcella Magaldi

U.K. Literature

Ms. Leticia Baldow

May 31st 2021

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Marcella Magaldi

Ms. Letícia Baldow

U.K. Literature

May 31st 2021

Analysis - Henry VIII by William Shakespeare

The "brilliant, extraordinary, unique and powerful performance" said by Sir Henry

Wotton, was performed on June 29, 1613. "Henry VIII" was considered one of the best

plays ever created by Shakespeare. However, during the nineteenth century, critics who

defended the design of the play did not cognize Shakespeare's writing proficiency. In

contemporary society, "Henry VIII" is a controversial theatre piece that has discussed the

authenticity of the play and the supposition of its true meaning. The aim is to show how

Henry VIII was depicted in Shakespeare's literary composition and scrutinize the factual

author of the play.

Henry VIII has five Acts, a Prologue, Epilogue, and the Final Perspective.

Preliminary to Act I, the Prologue is considered a short speech staged ahead of the play. This

speech is not about the piece that will be presented but aimed at the audience. A prologue can

presume in the 21st century as a movie trailer, including the genre and what one can expect

from the play. The First Act states the Duke of Buckingham is arrested and executed for

treason. After gathering with Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII wants a divorce from his wife

Catherine of Aragon. It denotes principles listed by Niccòlo Machiavelli, as explained by

Hilton, in "In Henry VIII, Part I, he refers to that 'well-known Machiavelli.' Machiavelli's

ideas represent the clash between two conflicting ideologies, two very different ways of

looking at the world, an opposition that originates in the developments of the new

science"(Hilton,17).
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In the third Act, the nobles have a plan to depose Wolsey, nonetheless, not needed.

After Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine, he married Anne Bolen. As a consequence, in Act

IV, Anne Boleyn is crowned and Act V describes Anne Boleyn's pregnancy and Elizabeth I's

birth. Shakespeare describes her birth by attributing to Archbishop Cranmer's praise

concerning the future of that baby, a eulogy anticipating the greatness of the "phoenix virgin"

demonstrating the potential of Elizabeth I. She was raised as an English prince and

consequently became the ruler queen of England. Shakespeare's play was presented in

Elizabeth’s wedding, and his presumes were correct about the newborn future queen. It is

possible to see in

“Her ashes new create another heir,/As great in admiration as herself;/ So shall she

leave her blessedness to one, /When heaven shall call her from this cloud of darkness,/Who

from the sacred ashes of her honour/ Shall star-like rise, as great in fame as she was,/ And so

stand fix'd: peace, plenty, love, truth, terror,”.

"Henry VIII" was considered a unique theatre piece, even so, was this uncommonly

styled play written by Shakespeare? Some professors such as Irvin Matus, find this theory

“ridiculous” and "there is more about Shakespeare in contemporary materials than about most

others in English Renaissance theater,". He believes that Shakespeare could be the only

author of this play, yet others are quite sure that parts of it were written by John Fletcher, a

playwright that contributed to British history. According to Gordon McMullan's Arden 3

King Henry VIII (All is True), "critics who like the play have been happy to claim it for

Shakespeare; those who do not have found it useful to be able to lay the blame on Fletcher",

demonstrating that this is one of the most questionable and controversial plays that has ever

been created. Fletcher collaborated with Shakespeare for "The Two Noble Kinsmen''
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however, scholars believe that when it comes to "Henry VIII" they did not. McMullan thinks

that, in analyzing the play in a complex form, one encounters the problem of scribes and

compositors, who adjust the texts that are given. Shakespeare did not come up with Henry

VIII all by himself. Many factors contributed to the development of the play. Playwrights

were surrounded by possessions, the theatre company, the actors, the audience, the traditions,

and acting styles. Furthermore, writers needed to be inspired by something to write the play,

such as sources, books, and other playwrights. McMullan thinks the play can be described as

Shakespeare's because "it has been read, performed, and witnessed in a Shakespearean

context [...] and in the sense that it engages with [...]". It is considered as Shakespeare's and

Fletcher's play, however, no evidence officially reclaims this information.

"Who wrote Henry VIII?" There is no correct answer. It is not recent that theories are

around Shakespeare's authority over many separate plays and documents. Many scholars

concluded that Francis Bacon was the "real Shakespeare"(Maranzani, Biography.com) that

used to write all the plays such as "Henry VIII". Prior mentioned the professors believe that

John Fletcher whether wrote "Henry VIII" or collaborated with Shakespeare. Donald

Maxwell also agreed with the statement that there is a possibility they developed the play

unitedly.

In the 21st century, a study by Thomas Merian also proved the point of McMullan and

Maxwell, demonstrating parts of "Henry VIII" in comparison to other plays made by John

Fletcher. In 2008, Merian wrote an article with a theory about Act II, supposedly written by

John Fletcher. He analyzes when Anne Boleyn speaks with the Lord Chamberlain (a total of

31 verses). Thomas Merian contributed to prove the point of the possible partnership of

Shakespeare with John Fletcher. Many scholars that still believe Shakespeare is the genuine

author of the theatre piece replied to Merian’s analysis and criticized it. Merriam believes all
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the ironic meanings are made by Shakespeare and, the one whose focus more in the historical

parts are Fletcher's. The part analysed by Merian proves the irony (would have been written

by Shakespeare) and not ironic parts (would have been written by Fletcher). Lord

Chamberlain’s praise of Anne is not ironic, meaning that it has a chance of being written by

John Fletcher, while the whole dialogue between her and the Old Lady stands out for being

ironic (written by Shakespeare). This also proved a point made by David Lowe and Robert

Matthews, in “Shakespeare Vs. Fletcher: A Stylometric Analysis by Radial Basis Functions”

that supports the idea of Shakespeare not being the only author. "Henry VIII'' is very

controversial when it comes to the authorship of it. Yet, all the research shows strong

evidence that contributes to John Fletcher being considered a co-author of the play.

In conclusion, the theatre piece "Henry VIII" is considered one of the best plays

created; however , multiple theories are questioning the genuine author of the play. Likewise,

McMullan and other scholars, there are many factors and proof that William Shakespeare

made a collaboration with John Fletcher to develop the play. The play thesis is compared to

contemporary society since every action explains ways that could be conflicting. Taken into

consideration, if Shakespeare admitted that he wasn't the only author of the piece, the

perspective of this play would be different. Maybe Shakespeare tried to hide other authors as

he did in most of his plays to receive all rewards by himself?

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Works Cited

Shakespeare, William, and John Fletcher. King Henry VIII, Or, All is True.
Vol. 6. Oxford University Press, 1999

Lowe, David, and Robert Matthews. "Shakespeare vs. Fletcher: A stylometric analysis
by radial basis functions." Computers and the Humanities 29.6 (1995): 449-461.

Richmond, Hugh M. "Shakespeare's Henry VIII: Romance Redeemed by History.

" Shakespeare Studies 4 (1968): 334.

Bevington, David. "Henry VIII". Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 Feb. 2020,

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Henry-VIII-by-Shakespeare. Accessed 26 April
2021.

Hilton, Lisa. Elizabeth I: Uma Biografia (Em Portugues Do Brasil). Zahar, 2016.

Bosman, Anston. Review of King Henry VIII, or, All is True, and: King Henry VIII

(All is True). Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 53 no. 1, 2002, p. 116-119. Project MUSE,

Maxwell, Donald, "Henry VIII was here", Illawarra Historical Society Bulletin,

April 1969, 69-69.

Merriam, Thomas, “A Fletcher interpolation in Henry VIII”, in Notes and Queries,

vol. 55, iss. 2, June 2008, p. 213.

Barbara Maranzani, “Was Shakespeare the Real Author of His Plays?”, Biography.com,

26 May 2020, https://www.biography.com/news/shakespeare-real-author-theories.

Accessed 30 Apr. 2021.

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Barbara A. Mowat, “Henry VIII: A Modern Perspective”, The Folger Shakespeare,

https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/henry-viii/henry-viii-a-modern-per

spective/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2021.

“Henry VIII Act 5, Scene 5 Translation | Shakespeare, By.” LitCharts,

www.litcharts.com/shakescleare/shakespeare-translations/henry-viii/act-5-scene-5#:%

7E:text=Nor%20shall%20this%20peace%20sleep,of%20her%20honour%20Shall%20

star%2D. Accessed 30 Apr. 2021

Mambrol, Nasrullah. “Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Plays.” Literary Theory and

Criticism, 25 July 2020, literariness.org/2019/05/19/analysis-of-william-shakespeares-plays.

Lowe, David, and Robert Matthews. “Shakespeare Vs. Fletcher: A Stylometric

Analysis by Radial Basis Functions.” Computers and the Humanities, vol. 29, no. 6, 1995,

pp. 449–461. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30200368. Accessed 10 May 2021.