A review by lukas_sotola
Henry VIII by William Shakespeare

The characters in this play are pretty sterile. None of them has much of a personality or much complexity; they are meant to be simple representations of their historical figures. However, the long, eloquent speeches do not fail to move the reader, even when a despicable person like Wolsey speaks them, and they are some of Shakespeare's finest poetry. You could also argue that this play presents a compelling portrayal of the fickleness of fortune, though that wreaks to me of forcing profundity on a play that was obviously supposed to be a simple, enjoyable spectacle.