Scan barcode
A review by duffypratt
Henry VIII by William Shakespeare
2.0
Imagine doing a history of Henry VIII and ignoring almost everything that he is most famous for. The six wives - two of whom he had beheaded. The executions of Thomas Moore and Thomas Cromwell. The pillaging of the Catholic Church and abbeys in England.
This play ignores all of that, and instead makes a huge deal of Henry and Anne Boleyn because they produced Elizabeth. Other than that, this is an episodic mess. And worse, what we do get are largely the preludes or postludes to events. The events themselves - e.g. the execution of Buckingham, the death of Wolsey - are merely retold.
Once again, I need to remind myself not to save a writer's worst works for last. After this, I only had Merry Wives of Windsor and Cymbeline to read (and I've since finished Windsor, which wasn't much better).
This play ignores all of that, and instead makes a huge deal of Henry and Anne Boleyn because they produced Elizabeth. Other than that, this is an episodic mess. And worse, what we do get are largely the preludes or postludes to events. The events themselves - e.g. the execution of Buckingham, the death of Wolsey - are merely retold.
Once again, I need to remind myself not to save a writer's worst works for last. After this, I only had Merry Wives of Windsor and Cymbeline to read (and I've since finished Windsor, which wasn't much better).