Henry II of England

Queen. Her cousin, and Queen of England, Elizabeth I was reluctant to order the execution of Mary, as she was concerned that there would be dire consequences. The consequences were dire, but not nearly as bad as Elizabeth imagined they would be. The results of the execution impacted on the lives of the English people in many ways. Mary Stuart, or Mary I of Scotland, fled her home country of Scotland in 1568, in search of the help of her cousin, Elizabeth I of England. However, she was not met…

To become a good human, one has to be self-aware that he or she has to take action in order to accomplish a task. In Richard II by William Shakespeare, King Richard went through many of these tasks in order to become a good human. He starts off as a king who takes advantage of his position and uses verbal dramatization by making long speeches. He experiences multiple regrettable events and as the play goes on, he soon realizes his humanity. Throughout the play, Richard transitions from being…

It's the mid 1500's. The French Court has just welcomed their new queen and king after the death of King Henry. Francis II and his new wife, Queen Mary of Scots, are thrust into leadership amidst the most tense moments in Protestant vs Catholic history. Reign, the hit television show aired on the CW in 2013, follows the story of Mary of Scotland as she faces challenge after challenge of love, friendship, death, and courtship, all while struggling to run not one, but two kingdoms in one of the…

lack of understanding on the impact of powerful visual imagery created a void in distinctive royal portraiture beginning from the time of their father’s passing. Henry VIII was portrayed as a fearless Warrior King and to much of the public was seen as such. This level of engrained iconography would not be present again until the reign of Henry VIII’s second wife’s daughter, Elizabeth I. When Queen Elizabeth I ascended the throne, she was succeeding an unsuccessful regime led by her half-sister…

splendid ceremony, you would expect both mother and father to be delighted with their new child” (Adams 9). Instead, King Henry VIII was angry at Anne for giving birth to a boy. His yearning for a son led him to marry several times until one of his wives finally gave birth to a son, Edward. Four years later, Henry died and Edward inherited the throne. “After the death of Henry VIII…, King Edward VI…

John’s unfair rule over England, barons and other nobles created the Magna Carta in 1215 in order to limit his influence, thus creating a balance of power between the king and his subjects that ultimately served as the basis for a strong and stable government. Written in 1215 the Magna Carta, directly translated as “The Great Charter”, allowed King John to appease his restive subjects. King John was the youngest son of Henry II and came to power in 1199 as the king of England. His rule was seen…

upon him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land,” ("Magna Carta”). This quote explains that the King must be true to the law rather than his own notion while judging someone. The extremely dominant monarchy that ruled England for years was finally…

When Shakespeare wrote Henry IV, Part II, England faced issues of kingship, constitution, and rebellion. Shakespeare’s contemporaries, Elizabethans in the 1590s, undoubtedly had anxieties about the aging Queen Elizabeth I’s lack of an apparent heir, much like the anxieties surrounding Hal’s imminent succession to the throne. At the same time, Shakespeare presents to his audience a history play, dramatizes information, introduces fictional characters, and “mingling kings and clowns” on stage, and…

Sir Thomas More’s titular nation of Utopia has come to colloquially express a society free of conflict. A “Utopia” is that place where there are (virtually or literally) no poor, no class struggles, no crimes, etc. More’s Utopia, as described through the recollection of the landless traveler/philosopher Raphael Hythloday, achieves these ends primarily through its commonplace “laws,” i.e., its distributed model of property. Jonathan Swift’s scathing satire “A Modest Proposal…” sardonically…

Falstaff has been an audience favorite ever since the release of Henry IV Part I. This hyperbolical character lightens up the solemn undertone of this English History play with his humorous ways. At the final part of the play, his comical nature helps him gain the sympathy of all but Prince Harry, whom he shares a seemingly genuine friendship with. Shakespeare reveals the lack of sincerity in Hal and Falstaff’s friendship through two major literary devices: metaphor and meter, along with other…