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A review by octavia_cade
Henry VIII. by William Shakespeare
3.0
Essentially a puff piece on Elizabeth I; she may have been dead at the time of writing but that didn't stop Shakespeare from sucking-up. It's all laid on rather thick here. However the highlight of the play - surprisingly so, given the above - is the sympathetic treatment given to Katherine of Aragorn, who I've always felt immensely sorry for. She gets some fantastic speeches, as does Wolsey. The two of them quite overshadow Henry.
However. This felt dreadfully unfocused as a whole, in places wandering off into bits that could have been cut and in others not going far enough. I mean I liked reading it, but it felt as if a lot of the most interesting bits were ignored. For instance Anne, love her or hate her, is barely there, and for all the heavy-handed foreshadowing of Elizabeth's future there's little of the same for her mother.
Credit should be given to the editor of this edition, though. Catherine M. S. Alexander has managed to write an introduction that actually increased my interest in reading the play. Astonishing. Usually introductions to Shakespeare seem as if they're trying their damnedest to put me off by being as dreary-dull as possible, so I was genuinely startled to find that this doesn't have to be the case.
However. This felt dreadfully unfocused as a whole, in places wandering off into bits that could have been cut and in others not going far enough. I mean I liked reading it, but it felt as if a lot of the most interesting bits were ignored. For instance Anne, love her or hate her, is barely there, and for all the heavy-handed foreshadowing of Elizabeth's future there's little of the same for her mother.
Credit should be given to the editor of this edition, though. Catherine M. S. Alexander has managed to write an introduction that actually increased my interest in reading the play. Astonishing. Usually introductions to Shakespeare seem as if they're trying their damnedest to put me off by being as dreary-dull as possible, so I was genuinely startled to find that this doesn't have to be the case.