!THE FAMOUS HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF KING HENRY THE EIGHT (ca. 1612-3)
!!By William Shakespeare (& John Fletcher)
FOLIO is sole authority for this play. Print-house copy was likely a scribal transcript (probably of a promptbook).
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In all likelihood, the authorship of HENRY VIII or ALL IS TRUE (as it was originally called) was most likely “shared”. In this case, with JOHN FLETCHER (1579-1625) who took over from Shakespeare as lead playwright of the King’s Men. According to a September 1653 entry in the Stationers Register (wherein publishers protected their upcoming titles), Fletcher & Shakespeare were co-authors of the play CARDENIO (now lost but probably based on Cervantes’ DON QUIXOTTE). Most scholars believe that CARDENIO & ALL IS TRUE were written at roughly the same time (i.e. 1612-3) thereby reinforcing the case for collaboration (which, in any case, was a common practice of Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights).
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As with TIMON OF ATHENS, then, perhaps the FLETCHER sections of HENRY VIII should be indicated (either through framing or shading) on the graph itself. According to the OXFORD TEXTUAL COMPANION, Fletcher probably wrote:
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• 1.3-4
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• 3.1
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• 5.2-4
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It is believed that Fletcher may have also touched-up scenes 2.1-2, 3.2, & 4.1-2. Nevertheless, but the bulk of these scenes still remains mostly the work of Shakespeare.
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!!X AXIS (abscisses): 3464 lines
Subdivisions of ACTS & SCENES are according to the FOLIO.
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Prologue: line 1 (reads "Prologue begins at line 1")
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1.1: line 34
1.2: line 316
1.3: line 569
1.4: line 660
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2.1: line 819
2.2: line 1026
2.3: line 1200
2.4: line 1331
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3.1: line 1614
3.2: line 1823
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4.1: line 2376
4.2: line 2547
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5.1: line 2768
5.2: line 2987
5.3: line 3256
5.4: line 3353
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Epilogue: line 3549
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FINIS: line 3464
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!!Y AXIS: ENTRANCES & EXITS
Entrances & exits of Characters
According to their order of appearance.
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• (2,305) reads "enters at line 2, exits at line 9".
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• (hidden 3014,3044)
reads "character is hidden from others onstage"
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• PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS are capitalized.
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NORFOLK
(35,315) (330,568) (1039,1132) (1824,2080) (2107,2249) (2434,2471) (3039,3255) (3355,3448)
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BUCKINGHAM
(36,315) (889,983) RIP
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Aburgavenny
(37,315)
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WOLSEY, Cardinal of York
(175,187) (317,568) (710,818) (1115,1199) (1342,1613) (1644,1822) (1924,2375) RIP
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Secretaries of Wolsey
(176,187) (318,445)
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Sergeant at arms
(276,315) (1340,1613)
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Brandon
(276,315)
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KING HENRY
(317,568) (753,818) (1100,1199) (1343,1613) (1963,2080) (2836,2980)
(hidden 3014,3044) (3181,3255) (3368,3448)
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Thomas Lovell
(318,568) (590,659) (674,818) (891,983) (1100,1199) (1963,2080) (2770,2879) (3014,3044) (3181,3255) (3368,3448)
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QUEEN KATHERINE
(329,568) (1345,1495) (1615,1822) (2548,2767) RIP
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SUFFOLK
(331,568) (1039,1132) (1824,2080) (2107,2249) (2432,2471) (2836,2864) (3039,3255) (3356,3448)
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Surveyor, witness against Buckingham
(446,568)
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LORD CHAMBERLAIN
(570,659) (674,818) (1027,1100) (1262,1298) (1825,2080) (2108,2249) (3039,3255) (3325,3352)
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Lord Sands
(570,659) (674,818) (892,983)
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ANNE BULLEN
(662,818) (1201,1330) (2437,2471)
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Henry Guilford
(665,818)
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Maskers
(753,818)
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Two Gentlemen
(820,1025) (2377,2546)
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Nick Vaux
(891,983)
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Cardinal CAMPEIUS
(1115,1199) (1342,1613) (1644,1822)
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GARDINER, Archbishop of Winchester
(1165,1192) (2439,2471) (2769,2834) (3040,3255)
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Old Lady, attendant to Anne Bullen
(1201,1330) (2961,2986)
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Griffith, attendant to Queen Katherine
(1345,1495) (2548,2767)
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Surrey
(1824,2080) (2108,2249) (2429,2471) (3039,3255)
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CROMWELL
(1924,1938) (2273,2375) (3041,3255)
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Lord Chancellor
(2423,2471) (3036,3255)
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3rd Gentleman
(2472,2546)
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Capuchius
(2692,2767)
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CRANMER, Archbishop of Canterbury
(2876,2959) (2988,3255) (3355,3448)
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Keeper
(2993,3255)
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Dr. Butts
(2998,3002) (hidden 3014,3034)
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PORTER & his man (clowne characters)
(3257,3352)
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!!PLOTS & COLOURING
Norton editor Walter Cohen is correct in affirming that HENRY VIII’s “principal structural unit is DE CASIBUS tragedy, which recounts the fall of illustrious figures and resembles the morality play’s abstractly allegorical focus on vice and virtue” (NORTON SHAKESPEARE, p.3111)
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Indeed, HENRY VIII or ALL IS TRUE recounts three falls — those of BUCKINGHAM, QUEEN KATHERINE, & CARDINAL WOLSEY —; a fourth fall, that of ARCHBISHOP CRANMER, is averted in extremis when the King (“personae ex-machina”) finally reconciles opposing parties (and the play thereby adopts a tone reminiscent of Shakespeare’s tragicomic romances). “Consequently,” writes Riverside editor Herschel Baker, “the play is not only episodic but also repetitious” (RIVERSIDE SHAKESPEARE, p.1024).
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Therefore, our colouring scheme merely needs to isolate
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BUCKINGHAM
QUEEN KATHERINE
CARDINAL WOLSEY
KING HENRY
ARCHBISHOP CRANMER
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to reveal this underlying “de casibus” structure of the play.
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!!METATHEATRE
More than any other play of Shakespeare, HENRY VIII relies on “spectacle”. It is almost a “pièce à machine”, excepting that there ARE no machines per se, just very elaborate (and minutely described) processions. Indeed, HENRY VIII seems to represent the goings-on of politics and power as a series of splendid ceremonies (almost as if power were “all show”). Of the eight “framed” events of the play, six are protocolic.
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Though these are not really plays-within-the-play, they are nonetheless spectacles-within-the-spectacle and so, to my mind at least, deserve some form of framing.
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KING IN STATE, trial “in absentia” of Buckingham : (317,568)
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MASKED DANCE (meeting of Henry & Anne Bullen): (758,818)
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Buckingham’s EXECUTION PROCESSION: (889,983)
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LEGATINE COURT, divorce court or “show trial”: (1331,1613)
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Anne Bullen’s CORONATION PROCESSION: (2420,2444)
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Queen Katherine’s VISION: (2642,3255)
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COUNCIL MEETING, trial of Cranmer: (3035,3255)
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BAPTISM OF QUEEN ELIZABETH: (3353,3448)
