Shakespeare and Fletcher’s Henry VIII: What ‘Reformation’?

Abstract

Shakespeare never used the words ‘Protestant’ or ‘Catholic’ in his plays, even when the main action centers around religious conflict, as in Henry VIII. Most of the polarizing diction of denominational or internecine Christian conflict is missing in Shakespeare. Denominational vocabulary aimed at Catholics or Protestants is rare. Sectarian terms like ‘puritan’ do not appear in the histories, and ‘Puritans’ are never referred to in the plural. Shakespeare did not employ much of the lexicon of religious polemics of his lifetime, including that found in plays by other dramatists. The lexicon is either omitted entirely, extremely rare, or discredited by the speaker. The principal personages of flaming religious divide also go mostly unmentioned, even in Henry VIII. This pattern established throughout Shakespeare’s entire writing career must have been tested to the utmost, but the play sustains it. Vocabulary choices in Henry VIII shed further light on the dual authorship of Henry VIII and on the authors’ use of their sources. The cruder religious terms used by some characters shed further light on their characterization. And honey-tongued Shakespeare’s sweet avoidance of ugly polemics offers another way to unify the series of trials and interrogations in four of five acts in Henry VIII.