The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth

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1. ACT I.

   Cardinal Wolsey's pride angers the nobles; he engineers the arrest of the Duke of Buckingham for treason; Queen Katherine intercedes against his taxes; and at Wolsey's banquet the king is smitten with Anne Bullen.

   1. Scene 1 — London. An ante-chamber in the palace.

      Norfolk describes the dazzling Field of the Cloth of Gold, and Buckingham and Abergavenny denounce Cardinal Wolsey's pride and ambition as the author of it. Before Buckingham can carry his complaint to the king, Wolsey has him arrested for high treason.

   2. Scene 2 — The same. The council-chamber.

      Queen Katherine kneels to protest the crushing taxes Wolsey has levied in the king's name, and Henry revokes them — while Wolsey claims the credit. Buckingham's discharged surveyor then gives coached testimony of treasonous words, and the king orders Buckingham to trial.

   3. Scene 3 — An ante-chamber in the palace.

      The Lord Chamberlain, Sandys, and Lovell mock the new French affectations at court and set off for a great supper at Wolsey's palace.

   4. Scene 4 — A Hall in York Place.

      At Wolsey's lavish banquet a party of masquers arrives, the king among them in disguise; he singles out Anne Bullen, dances with her, and is instantly taken with her.

2. ACT II.

   Buckingham is condemned and goes to execution forgiving his enemies; the court learns of the king's 'scruple' about his marriage; Anne is raised to nobility; and Katherine defends herself at the divorce court before storming out.

   1. Scene 1 — Westminster. A street.

      Two Gentlemen relate Buckingham's trial and condemnation on his servant's perjury. Buckingham, led to the block, forgives all and takes a noble farewell, and the Gentlemen whisper of the king's coming 'separation' from Queen Katherine and Wolsey's hand in it.

   2. Scene 2 — An ante-chamber in the palace.

      The lords blame Wolsey for the divorce, suspecting he means to punish the Emperor (Katherine's nephew). The king, troubled in conscience, welcomes Cardinal Campeius from Rome to judge the case and approves Cranmer's plan to consult the universities.

   3. Scene 3 — An ante-chamber of the Queen's apartments.

      Anne Bullen tells the Old Lady that she pities the queen and would not be queen herself for the world — just as the Chamberlain brings word that the king has made her Marchioness of Pembroke, prompting the Old Lady's worldly mockery.

   4. Scene 4 — A hall in Black-Friars.

      At the legatine court Queen Katherine kneels to the king, defends the justice of her marriage in a great speech, refuses to recognize Wolsey as her judge, and appeals to the Pope before sweeping out. The king praises her worth, and Campeius adjourns the trial.

3. ACT THIRD

   Wolsey and Campeius press Katherine to yield; then Wolsey's secret letters and his hoarded wealth are exposed, the king casts him off, and the fallen cardinal bids farewell to his greatness and counsels Cromwell against ambition.

   1. Scene 1 — London. The Queen's apartments.

      The two cardinals visit Katherine to urge her to submit and trust the king's love; she rebukes their smooth counsel and protests that she is a true wife abandoned.

   2. Scene 2 — Ante-chamber to the King's apartment.

      The nobles reveal that Wolsey's letters to the Pope opposing the Anne marriage, and an inventory of his vast private wealth, have fallen into the king's hands. Henry confronts him; stripped of power, Wolsey takes his celebrated farewell to 'all my greatness,' and counsels Cromwell to 'fling away ambition' and serve the king and heaven first.

4. ACT FOURTH

   Two Gentlemen describe the splendor of Anne Bullen's coronation, the now-divorced Katherine living in retirement; and the dying Katherine, hearing a charitable account of Wolsey's death, sees a vision of heavenly bliss and sends a last request to the king.

   1. Scene 1 — A street in Westminster.

      On a Westminster street the Gentlemen watch and narrate the magnificent procession of Anne Bullen's coronation, and report that Katherine, divorced, lies sick at Kimbolton under the name Princess Dowager.

   2. Scene 2 — Kimbolton.

      The dying Katherine has her usher Griffith give a balanced, generous account of the dead Wolsey's virtues as well as his faults. She falls into a sleep and sees a vision of white-robed spirits bearing garlands of bliss, then sends Capucius to the king with a letter commending her daughter and her faithful servants.

5. ACT FIFTH

   Gardiner plots Cranmer's ruin, but the king secretly protects him; the council's attack collapses when Cranmer shows the king's ring; and at the christening of the infant Elizabeth, Cranmer prophesies her glorious reign and that of her heir.

   1. Scene 1 — A gallery in the palace.

      At night Gardiner reveals to Lovell his design to bring down Archbishop Cranmer through the council. The king privately warns Cranmer of the malice against him and gives him his ring as a safeguard, while the Old Lady brings word that Anne has been delivered of a daughter.

   2. Scene 2 — Lobby before the council-chamber.

      Summoned before the council, Cranmer is humiliatingly made to wait at the door among pages and servants. Doctor Butts sees the slight and fetches the king to watch the proceeding from a window above.

   3. Scene 3 — The council-chamber.

      In the council chamber Gardiner's faction moves to commit Cranmer to the Tower; Cranmer produces the king's ring, and the king himself enters to shame his councillors into reconciliation, naming Cranmer godfather to the new princess.

   4. Scene 4 — The palace yard.

      In the palace yard the Porter and his Man struggle, with comic exasperation, to hold back the huge unruly crowd pressing in to see the royal christening.

   5. Scene 5 — The palace.

      At the christening of the infant Elizabeth, Archbishop Cranmer prophesies that she will be a paragon of a queen ushering in a golden age of peace and plenty, and that her successor will inherit and spread her greatness — a tribute reaching from Elizabeth to King James.

Characters

• King Henry VIII protagonist

  Henry VIII, who over the course of the play sheds Cardinal Wolsey, divorces Queen Katherine, and marries Anne Bullen, whose daughter Elizabeth the play ends by celebrating. Shakespeare and Fletcher present him as a king growing into his authority, learning to see through the counsellors who manage him.

• Cardinal Wolsey antagonist

  Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal and Lord Chancellor, the butcher's son who rose to rule England under the king. He destroys Buckingham, drives the divorce, and amasses vast wealth, until intercepted letters expose his double-dealing and he falls — taking his famous leave of 'all my greatness' and dying humbled at Leicester.

• Queen Katherine deuteragonist

  Katherine of Aragon, Henry's first queen, who defends her marriage at the divorce trial with unanswerable dignity ('Sir, I desire you do me right and justice'), refuses to accept the court's authority, and dies in pious exile after a vision of angelic garlands. The play's moral heart.

• Anne Bullen supporting

  Anne Bullen (Boleyn), Katherine's maid of honour, who pities the fallen queen even as she supplants her. She becomes Henry's wife and queen, and her coronation and the birth of her daughter Elizabeth crown the play.

• Duke of Buckingham major

  Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, who denounces Wolsey's pride and is destroyed by him on his own surveyor's perjured testimony. Condemned for treason, he forgives his enemies in a celebrated scaffold speech before his execution.

• Archbishop Cranmer major

  Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, who finds for Henry's divorce and is protected by the king from Gardiner's faction. As godfather to the infant Elizabeth he delivers the play's closing prophecy of her glorious reign and that of her successor.

• Duke of Norfolk supporting

  Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, a leading noble who warns Buckingham against Wolsey and later helps bring the cardinal down.

• Duke of Suffolk supporting

  Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, who joins Norfolk and Surrey in confronting Wolsey at his fall.

• Earl of Surrey supporting

  Earl of Surrey, Buckingham's son-in-law, who bitterly upbraids Wolsey to his face once the cardinal has fallen.

• Lord Chamberlain supporting

  The Lord Chamberlain, a court official who observes the rise of Anne Bullen and the maneuvers against Cranmer.

• Bishop Gardiner supporting

  Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester and the king's secretary, leader of the conservative faction that tries to bring down Archbishop Cranmer before the council.

• Thomas Cromwell supporting

  Wolsey's faithful servant, who weeps at his master's fall and receives his counsel to 'fling away ambition.' He rises in the king's service and defends Cranmer in the council.

• Cardinal Campeius supporting

  Cardinal Campeius, the papal legate sent from Rome to sit with Wolsey in judgment on the king's divorce, who adjourns the trial to Rome.

• Griffith supporting

  Gentleman usher to Queen Katherine, who attends her in exile and, prompted by her, gives the dead Wolsey a generous and balanced obituary.

• Old Lady supporting

  An elderly friend to Anne Bullen, whose worldly, bawdy banter about queenship counterpoints Anne's professed reluctance.

• First Gentleman supporting

  One of the Gentlemen whose conversations narrate offstage events — Buckingham's trial, Anne's coronation — serving as the play's choric eyewitnesses.

• Second Gentleman supporting

  One of the Gentlemen whose conversations narrate offstage events, supplying the audience with court news and commentary.

• Third Gentleman minor

  A Gentleman who reports the splendor of Anne Bullen's coronation.

• A Gentleman minor

  A gentleman or gentleman-usher delivering messages at court.

• Lord Chancellor minor

  The Lord Chancellor who presides over the council's attempt to commit Cranmer to the Tower.

• Surveyor minor

  Buckingham's discharged surveyor, whose testimony — coached by Wolsey — condemns his former master for treason.

• Lord Sandys minor

  Lord Sandys (Sir William Sandys), a genial courtier at Wolsey's banquet where the king first meets Anne Bullen.

• Lord Abergavenny minor

  Buckingham's son-in-law, arrested with him on Wolsey's orders.

• Sir Thomas Lovell minor

  A courtier in attendance on the king and Wolsey.

• Brandon minor

  An officer who, with a sergeant-at-arms, arrests the Duke of Buckingham for high treason.

• Capucius minor

  Ambassador from the Emperor Charles V, who visits the dying Katherine and carries her last letter to the king.

• Bishop of Lincoln minor

  The Bishop of Lincoln, the king's confessor, who first raised the scruple about the marriage to Katherine.

• Patience minor

  Waiting-woman to Queen Katherine, who attends her in her final illness.

• Sir Anthony Denny minor

  A courtier who brings Archbishop Cranmer to the king at night.

• Doctor Butts minor

  The king's physician, who shows Henry how the council has left Cranmer waiting at the door like a lackey.

• Secretary minor

  A secretary to Cardinal Wolsey.

• Porter minor

  The palace porter who, with his man, struggles to hold back the crowd at the christening of Princess Elizabeth.

• Porter's Man minor

  The porter's man, who helps keep order among the christening crowd.

• Keeper minor

  A keeper at the council chamber door.

• Crier minor

  The court crier who summons the parties at the divorce trial.

• Scribe minor

  A scribe at the legatine court.

• Messenger minor

  A messenger at court.

• Servant minor

  A servant at court.

• Sergeant-at-Arms minor

  A sergeant-at-arms who assists Brandon in arresting Buckingham.

• Sir Henry Guildford minor

  The host who welcomes the guests to Wolsey's banquet.

• Sir Nicholas Vaux minor

  The officer charged with conveying the condemned Buckingham to his execution.

• Page minor

  Page to Bishop Gardiner.

• Garter King-at-Arms minor

  The herald who proclaims good wishes at the christening of Princess Elizabeth.

• A Voice minor

  A voice heard from within.

• Prologue chorus

  The speaker of the Prologue, who warns the audience to expect not a merry bawdy play but a serious, tearful 'chosen truth' of greatness brought to misery.

• Epilogue chorus

  The speaker of the Epilogue, who guesses the play will please chiefly the good women in the audience, and the men for their sake.

• Both ensemble

  Two speakers answering together.

• All ensemble

  Several speakers answering together.

Cross-references

• Folger Shakespeare
• MIT plain text
• Wikipedia