King Henry VIII by William Shakespeare
"The Life of Henry the Eighth" by William Shakespeare is a historical play written during the early 17th century. The play delves into the tumultuous reign of King Henry VIII, focusing on his marriages and political alliances, particularly the background surrounding his infamous divorce from Queen Katherine and his ensuing marriage to Anne Bullen. The narrative explores themes of power, loyalty, betrayal, and the consequences of ambition in the court of one
of England's most famous monarchs. At the start of the play, the Prologue sets a serious tone, indicating that the audience will witness noble scenes filled with deep emotions, rather than light entertainment. The opening scene introduces key characters, including the Duke of Norfolk and the Duke of Buckingham, who discuss their astonishment at the grandeur of the royal court and the political machinations of Cardinal Wolsey. As the narrative unfolds, hints of conflict between Buckingham and Wolsey arise, foreshadowing the dramatic events to come, including Buckingham's eventual downfall. The unfolding tensions in this scene suggest a complex interplay of loyalty and ambition that drives the characters' motivations, setting the stage for the subsequent acts and the dramatic shifts in fortune that follow. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Read or download for free
| How to read | Url | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read now! | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1541.html.images | 214 kB | |||
| EPUB3 (E-readers incl. Send-to-Kindle) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1541.epub3.images | 339 kB | |||
| EPUB (older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1541.epub.images | 337 kB | |||
| EPUB (no images, older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1541.epub.noimages | 204 kB | |||
| Kindle | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1541.kf8.images | 640 kB | |||
| older Kindles | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1541.kindle.images | 616 kB | |||
| Plain Text UTF-8 | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1541.txt.utf-8 | 167 kB | |||
| Download HTML (zip) | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1541/pg1541-h.zip | 325 kB | |||
| There may be more files related to this item. | |||||
Similar Books
About this eBook
| Author | Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
|---|---|
| Title | King Henry VIII |
| Alternate Title | The Life of Henry VIII |
| Note | There is an improved edition of this title, eBook #100 |
| Note | Wikipedia page about this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_(play) |
| Credits | the PG Shakespeare Team, a team of about twenty Project Gutenberg volunteers |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 82.2 (6th grade). Easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PR: Language and Literatures: English literature |
| Subject | Great Britain -- Kings and rulers -- Drama |
| Subject | Henry, VIII, King of England, 1491-1547 -- Drama |
| Subject | Historical drama |
| Subject | Great Britain -- History -- Henry VIII, 1509-1547 -- Drama |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 1541 |
| Release Date | Nov 1, 1998 |
| Most Recently Updated | Sep 19, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 266 downloads in the last 30 days. |
| Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! | |