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Things done well,
And with a care, exempt themselves from fear;
Things done without example, in their issue
Are to be feared. Have you a precedent
Of this commission? I believe, not any.
We must not rend our subjects from our laws
And stick them in our will. Sixth part of each?
A trembling contribution! Why, we take
From every tree lop, bark, and part o’ th’ timber,
And though we leave it with a root, thus hacked,
The air will drink the sap. (1.2.103–113)
Henry addresses these lines to Wolsey after Katherine has alerted him to a high tax the cardinal has levied in the king’s name. Henry’s words impress on Wolsey the importance of moderation when it comes to ruling over others. He then orders Wolsey to repeal the tax. Although Henry’s wise words are meant to chasten the cardinal, it’s very evident that the king isn’t fully in charge. He wasn’t remotely aware of the tax Wolsey instituted, nor is he aware of the various other schemes the cardinal has at work. Thus, there is a certain irony in the king’s attempt to control a man who is in fact controlling him.
Go thy ways, Kate.
That man i’ th’ world who shall report he has
A better wife, let him in naught be trusted,
For speaking false in that. Thou art, alone—
If thy rare qualities, sweet gentleness,
Thy meekness saintlike, wifelike government,
Obeying in commanding, and thy parts
Sovereign and pious else, could speak thee out—
The queen of earthly queens. She’s noble born,
And like her true nobility she has
Carried herself towards me. (2.4.149–59)
At the trial that’s set up to decide the matter of Henry and Katherine’s divorce proceedings, Katherine refuses to submit to Cardinal Wolsey’s judgment, and she walks out. Immediately after she leaves, Henry utters these lines in which he praises his wife. His tone is both tender and sad, expressing a deep affection for the woman to whom he’s been married for twenty years, and whom he knows he’s hurting by pursuing a divorce. Yet however touching his use of the familiar “Kate” may be, it’s notable that he only addresses his wife after she’s left the court. The fact that he won’t address her directly indicates his withdrawal from the legal proceedings, making him a strangely passive participant in his own divorce.
You were ever good at sudden commendations,
Bishop of Winchester. But know I come not
To hear such flattery now, and in my presence
They are too thin and base to hide offenses.
To me you cannot reach. You play the spaniel,
And think with wagging of your tongue to win me;
But whatsoe’er thou tak’st me for, I’m sure
Thou hast a cruel nature and a bloody.—
Good man, sit down. (5.2.191–99)
With these words, Henry chastises Gardiner for his two-faced behavior. Gardiner was initially employed by Wolsey, who installed him as the king’s secretary while demanding his ongoing loyalty. Gardiner has since been appointed the bishop of Winchester, and even though Wolsey is now dead, Gardiner retains the scheming spirit of his old master. Most recently, the bishop has stirred up trouble by accusing Cranmer, the newly installed archbishop of Canterbury, of favoring Protestant ideas. Henry has caught wind of Gardiner’s scheme to remove Cranmer from the Privy Council and imprison him in the Tower, and he has also personally pledged his support for his old friend. Here, though, Henry directly intervenes and confronts Gardiner. Whereas in earlier acts Henry was quite passive, here he finally takes a more active role in quelling dissension within his court.
