The Private Life of Henry VIII - Critical Essay

Introduction

Directed by Alexander Korda, the Private life of Henry VIII is a British film that was cast in 1933. The film portrays the life of King Henry VIII, and particularly his marriage to his six wives. The film sets off during the execution of King Henry's second wife. This is in May 1536, 20 years into the reign of King Henry VIII. After he had his wife, Anne Boleyn executed, he marries another wife, Jane Seymour. Jane later dies during childbirth, after a marriage that lasts eighteen months only. King Henry VIII is then compelled to marry Anne of Cleves.

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This marriage, like the others behind him, goes to the roots. Ann of Cleves deliberately makes herself uncouth so that her lover can marry her. Ann of Cleves ends up in a divorce with King Henry VIII. Henry goes ahead to marry Katherine Howard. Katherine is a go-getting lady and sacrifices her love for her determination. Later, she is attracted to the king's courtier, Thomas Culpeper. Thomas had tried courting Katherine in the past to no success. Their affair is finally discovered, and the king has both of them executed. Henry goes ahead to marry the sixth wife, Catherine Parr, who outlives him.

The General Accuracy of The Film

The film, as the name submits, takes a keen look into the personal life of King Henry of England. The most prominent aspect being his marital status. The film, in the beginning, does not talk much about Henry's first wife. The film dismisses her as a person whose story is of negligible interest, although she was respectable. The film begins in the 20th year of Henry's reign in England. The first scene displays a well composed Anne Boleyn who is on the verge of being executed.

The execution of Anne Boleyn sends King Henry into marrying the subsequent wives. One of the citizens at the gallows observes and comments on the King Henry's change of wives. King Henry's history. According to the film displays him as a ridiculous person with an enormous appetite for food and women. The film also presents King Henry as an aggressive figure, although sometimes filled with humanity and little sense of humor. The big issue is whether this aspect of King Henry is accurate.

The truth is that the film does not match or satisfy the research done by historians. The historians say that the film does not mention other things that King Henry accomplished or took part in other than his marital affairs. For instance, the film does not focus on the moment and how King Henry broke from the Roman Catholic Church. Several historians also observe that the film has left out small details about King Henry, such as the positioning of his shoes' buckles. The accuracy of this bit is therefore not complete according to the historians.

The film, The Personal Life of King Henry VIII was cast in depression. The film displays King Henry as a person who represented the will of the people. Later research by historians in 1960's however found out that the reign of King Henry was authoritative, divisive and oppressive. During his reign, religion had become loosened, and censorship was no longer a subject of significance. Henry is also displayed as a person whose era had started losing regard for authority. His reign is portrayed as very corrupt and psychopathically inclined.

The film also portrays King Henry as an indecisive person and a self-righteous being. His decisions are arrived at selfishly, to satisfy his desires. This concept is demonstrated when he quickly leaves his wives to marry others at the slightest provocation. The accuracy of the depiction by the film is questionable due to the tightness of the storyline. The events that surround King Henry's personal life took many years to happen. The art of trying to compress the events of King Henry's reign into a single, short storyline could substantially undermine the accuracy of the events.

The Context of the Film

Political

When King Henry took over the Kingdom from his father in 1509, he renewed the hopes of the citizens in himself. He wanted to establish himself as a king who was different from other medieval monarchs in Europe. Arguably, the reign of King Henry represented the transitional period of England from a simple kingdom to a more modern country. The policies of King Henry in some aspects influenced the political, social and economic arena in England. The period during his break from the Roman Catholic Church was evidenced by many political changes done by King Henry.

The religious transformation was unique, just as the reforms that were taking place politically. King Henry believed that the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church were outdated and instead chose to stick to the beliefs of the Orthodox Church. King Henry soon afterward declared himself as the Supreme Head of all churches in England. In doing this, he aimed at exterminating papacy of the legal denomination that used to exist in England. One can easily conclude that King Henry had no intentions of expelling the ancient teachings of the Orthodox church. This conclusion is because, with his policies, Protestantism had a great future in England.

More religious battled arrived with the arrival of Lutheran Movement that aimed at instigating reforms in England. This reformation took place in 1519. The movement, amid Protestantism, caused England to be more confused as about religious matters. The exciting bit is that just as the religious sector was disorganized, the relationship between England and other European nations was equally strained. This fact is evident as King Henry opposed Lutheranism. Moreover, King Henry discouraged and fought the French invasion on Papal, which is located in Italy.

In 1522, King Henry was quick to ally with several leaders in Europe. For instance, he made a pact with Charles the Fifth of Spain. Charles the fifth was the nephew to the former wife of King Henry, Catherine of Aragon. The alliance was aimed at fighting France. This move affected the European scales of power significantly. King Henry, however, later changed his mind and allied with the French leader to fight against the imperial forces. The imperial power was behind the plot to oppose his divorce to Queen Catherine.

Social and Economic

Regardless of the changes that were witnessed in the political and religious arena, King Henry steered some social and economic transformations too. For instance, under King Henry, the national government in London became stronger. This awakening was attributed to the collapsing of feudal systems. The indictment of the Roman Catholic church saw King Henry bringing the vast lands and wealth occupied by the church under his control. King Henry oversaw to it that the public areas were well marked and enclosed.

King Henry is remembered for expanding the army and navy of England. As a result, to sustain the building of ships and to cater for the war expenses, taxation was hiked. The increase in tax was done in defiance of the British people opinions about it. King Henry supported the business class and a burgeoned town life which later grew to higher dimensions. King Henry's reign was symbolized by enormous transformations and reforms, aimed at making England better as well as protecting the English Common Law.

The Effectiveness of the Film in Representing and Interpreting the Past Events of People

The firm, The Private Life of Henry VIII, is a mainstream film that has been gathered and makes us view the past events as if we were there. The history is usually narrated to the viewers just as a story is done. The film is produced after much research has been conducted to create minimal error and inaccuracies. The representation of past events is embedded in the recent histories of people. From the film of the personal life of King Henry, we see a perfect picture of the events that took place, even if we did not witness them. The interpretation is however sometimes biased to the opinions of the creators of the films.

The film can be interpreted as a window that links the present to the past events. As most of the history is usually complete and just closed, their presentation and interpretation are straight-forward as the film does not dwell on possibilities of the future too much. The film is a form of an undoubted assertation of the of the past events of people, brought to light. The witnesses hence depict the emotions that the characters experienced and the same feelings are transferred to the viewers. Thus, the interpretation of the film about past events of people is of significant relevance to the viewers.

How the Films Were Shaped By Fascism and Onset of World War II

Fascism is the radicalization characterized by dictatorship, suppressing the opposing parties by use of force and placing the economy and people into powerful regimes. This kind of radicalization is also termed as authoritarian ultra-nationalism. Fascism arose in Europe in the 20th century. One can relate the depictions in the films, Elizabeth I and King Henry VIII as being greatly influenced and shaped by fascism and onset of the Second World War. Many aspects of fascism relate to the happenings in the two films.

In the film on King Henry VIII's era, one finds out that the film depicts Henry as a form of dictatorial regime. The indecisiveness and bad temper lead him to be a suppressor of his people. The massive persecutions that he carries out throughout England and suppression of any opposition that arises is an example of a fascist regime. Besides, just as the rise of fascism arose by the formation of allies to aid in fighting others, King Henry is depicted commenting about the war and how he is going to stop it. Probably by peaceful means.

King Henry is depicted as a war-lord as he commands his generals to build more ships so that England can be safe. This move in itself portrays how the film has been impacted by the rise of fascism, where political violence is viewed as the sole means of achieving national rejuvenation. The building of more ships signifies King Henry's intentions to expand the army and the navy, an exact idea of the fascist regime. There is a thin line between citizens and militants. More citizens are conscribed into the armed forces to aid rejuvenation.

For the film on Queen Elizabeth I, fascism impacts the movie in many aspects too. For instance, her regime is also characterized by many assassinations that she carries out to the people who she thinks are against her sovereignty. She goes ahead to make many treaties of friendship with other nations to fight together. This movie depicts the influence of fascism and the start of the Second World War. The film portrays Queen Elizabeth as a ruler who has acquired the complete power to intrude in the lives of the British people, just as fascist regimes do to their citizens.

Marius Richard's Criticism of Thomas More

Thomas More lived a very active political life and served King Henry VIII, who proved to be self-righteous and self-centered. Thomas More was strongly criticized for the truth and good that came out of Catholicism. He is responsible for the persecution of many Protestants in his time and was also a writer and a philosopher. Most of his writing is under strong criticisms of the significance of his work, even long after he was dead. Everyone, from Catholics to Protestants, has their own opinion to either love or vilify the leading man in a man of all seasons.

Marius Richards criticizes Thomas More in a man of all seasons as a person who is multifaceted. Even if the times I which Thomas More lived were violently transforming in the aspects of religion, politics, and philosophy, Marius states that Thomas chose the wrong path to follow. Thomas More wanted to serve King Henry, who was full of controversies about religion and leadership. King Henry separated with the Vatican...