Cardinal Wolsey: The Rise and Fall of a Self-Made Man
First appears: Act 1, Scene 1
Wolsey was born the son of an Ipswich butcher and rose to become Lord Chancellor of England, papal legate, and the second most powerful man in Europe for a period. Shakespeare does not hide where he came from. His enemies use it against him constantly.
His downfall comes when Henry discovers that Wolsey has been secretly negotiating against the royal divorce and has personally enriched himself from the king's revenues. A letter meant for the Pope is accidentally included in a packet sent to Henry. It is a clerical error that ends a career.
His speech after his fall ('Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness') is one of Shakespeare's finest meditations on ambition and loss. He achieves, in disgrace, a self-knowledge he never had in power.
Key Scenes
Famous Quotes
“Farewell! a long farewell, to all my greatness! This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth The tender leaves of hopes; to-morrow blossoms,”
Cardinal Wolsey — Act 3, Scene 2
“Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king, he would not in mine age Have left me naked to mine enemies.”
Cardinal Wolsey — Act 3, Scene 2
“Be just, and fear not: Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's, Thy God's, and truth's;”
Cardinal Wolsey — Act 3, Scene 2
Themes
Other Characters in Henry VIII
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