You are here
قراءة كتاب Henry VIII and His Court 6th edition
تنويه: تعرض هنا نبذة من اول ١٠ صفحات فقط من الكتاب الالكتروني، لقراءة الكتاب كاملا اضغط على الزر “اشتر الآن"
Henry VIII and His Court
HENRY VIII
From the Portrait by Holbein, at Warwick Castle
HENRY VIII
AND HIS COURT
BY
HERBERT BEERBOHM TREE
WITH FOUR FULL-PAGE PLATES
SIXTH EDITION
CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD.
London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne
1911
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
INTRODUCTORY
In these notes, written as a holiday task, it is not intended to give an exhaustive record of the events of Henry’s reign; but rather to offer an impression of the more prominent personages in Shakespeare’s play; and perhaps to aid the playgoer in a fuller appreciation of the conditions which governed their actions.
Marienbad, 1910
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| King Henry VIII. | 1 |
| Wolsey | 21 |
| Katharine | 47 |
| Anne Boleyn | 55 |
| Divorce | 63 |
| The Reformation | 77 |
| Manners and Customs | 83 |
| A Note on the Production of Henry VIII. at His Majesty’s Theatre | 87 |
| An Apology and a Footnote | 103 |
| Chronology of Public Events during the Lifetime of Henry VIII. | 111 |
| Shakespearean Plays Produced under Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s Management at the Haymarket Theatre | 115 |
LIST OF PLATES
| Henry VIII. | Frontispiece | |||
| Cardinal Wolsey | Facing | page | 42 | |
| Katharine of Aragon | " | " | 76 | |
| Anne Boleyn | " | " | 96 | |
KING HENRY VIII
KING HENRY VIII
His Character
Holbein has drawn the character and written the history of Henry on the canvas of his great picture. Masterful, cruel, crafty, merciless, courageous, sensual, through-seeing, humorous, mean, matter of fact, worldly-wise, and of indomitable will, Henry the Eighth is perhaps the most outstanding figure in English history. The reason is not far to seek. The genial adventurer with sporting tendencies and large-hearted proclivities is always popular with the mob, and “Bluff King Hal,” as he was called, was of the eternal type adored by the people. He had a certain outward and inward affinity with Nero. Like Nero, he was corpulent; like Nero, he was red-haired; like Nero, he sang and poetised; like Nero, he was a lover of horsemanship, a master of the arts and the slave of his passions. If his private vices were great, his public virtues were no less considerable. He had the ineffable quality called charm, and the appearance of good-nature which captivated all who came within the orbit of his radiant personality. He was the “beau garçon,” endearing himself to all women by his compelling and conquering manhood. Henry was every inch a man, but he was no gentleman. He chucked even Justice under the chin, and Justice winked her blind eye.
It is extraordinary that in spite of his brutality, both Katharine and Anne Boleyn spoke of him as a model of kindness. This cannot be accounted for alone by that divinity which doth hedge a king.
There is, above all, in the face of Henry, as depicted by Holbein, that look of impenetrable mystery which was the background of his character. Many royal men have this strange quality; with some it is inborn, with others it is assumed. Of Henry, Cavendish,[1] a contemporary, records the following saying: “Three may keep counsel, if two be away; and if I thought my