The role of women
One of the most noticeable features in the play is the treatment and the role of women in the play, especially through the characters of Henry´s two wives: Katherine and Anne, who present many oppositions between them, but a very important common factor, the portrayal of a silenced woman.
Katherine is Henry`s VIII first wife. She describes herself as a helpless woman ` I am a simple woman, much too weak/To oppose your cunning´(Act II, scene IV). Her role is the one of an obedient and submissive wife and she confesses it. Her figure is dependent on the king´s one as she confesses in her long and dramatic monologue:
I have been to you a true and humble wife,
At all times to your will conformable;
Ever in fear to kindle your dislike,
Yea, subject to your …show more content…
When she hears about the king´s divorce and his fondness on her, she seems to realize that her only role towards the king is to give him a male heir. She is completely silenced, she does not even have a considerable role in the play as Katherine . Great part of the action that concerns Anne appear offstage. We know that she has married the king, that she is pregnant and that she has given birth to Elizabeth through other character´s dialogues.
Taking into account that the aim of Elizabethan theatre hides `the cult of flattery´ for the play is more important to make queen Elizabeth be born than to profound in Anne Bullen´s life or personality. Thus, her only role is the one of the future queen´s mother, we could interpreter this lack of information about Anne in order to avoid the kind of polemic that this theme may arise and which was unnecessary for the play´s purpose. This is clearly shown in Chamberlain´s aside, where he expresses his feelings towards Anne´s role to the audience:
I have perused her well;
Beauty and honour in her are so
One of the most noticeable features in the play is the treatment and the role of women in the play, especially through the characters of Henry´s two wives: Katherine and Anne, who present many oppositions between them, but a very important common factor, the portrayal of a silenced woman.
Katherine is Henry`s VIII first wife. She describes herself as a helpless woman ` I am a simple woman, much too weak/To oppose your cunning´(Act II, scene IV). Her role is the one of an obedient and submissive wife and she confesses it. Her figure is dependent on the king´s one as she confesses in her long and dramatic monologue:
I have been to you a true and humble wife,
At all times to your will conformable;
Ever in fear to kindle your dislike,
Yea, subject to your …show more content…
When she hears about the king´s divorce and his fondness on her, she seems to realize that her only role towards the king is to give him a male heir. She is completely silenced, she does not even have a considerable role in the play as Katherine . Great part of the action that concerns Anne appear offstage. We know that she has married the king, that she is pregnant and that she has given birth to Elizabeth through other character´s dialogues.
Taking into account that the aim of Elizabethan theatre hides `the cult of flattery´ for the play is more important to make queen Elizabeth be born than to profound in Anne Bullen´s life or personality. Thus, her only role is the one of the future queen´s mother, we could interpreter this lack of information about Anne in order to avoid the kind of polemic that this theme may arise and which was unnecessary for the play´s purpose. This is clearly shown in Chamberlain´s aside, where he expresses his feelings towards Anne´s role to the audience:
I have perused her well;
Beauty and honour in her are so