A review by alicejwhite17
Henry VIII by William Shakespeare

5.0

King Henry VIII is the history surrounding his famous divorce from Catherine of Aragon and his marriage to Anne Boleyn. It also covers the other trials of various "traitors" and even Cardinal Wolsey. Honestly it has been a while since I read it but from what stood out to me the most about this play was the portrayal of Catherine and Anne. Catherine was seen as very sympathetic and Anne was simply in the background as far as the plot line goes. She only has lines in one act of the play and the scene she is, is her coronation and then she disappears from the play. Scholars say that has something to do with Queen Elizabeth being on the throne or King James but honestly I think it was nice seeing Catherine as sympathetic because too often the focus is on Anne Boleyn and her beheading. Countless books and movies have been dedicated to poor Anne Boleyn but what of King Henry's wife Catherine of thirty plus years? I would much prefer to watch or read a story about her and the divorce trial because there was more to it than King Henry's wandering eye. Shakespeare's play did a very good job of exploring that different side of history.