Henry VIII is a play, written by Shakespeare, which reveals a lot of social problems. Some of them are disloyalty, excessive desire of wealth and the split of the family.
The actions take place during the reign of Henry VIII. Cardinal Wolsey, the king's nearest adviser, lives in prosperity and luxury with the help of the money he received from deceived people. The king relies on Wolsey's fidelity but, unfortunately, he cannot see his inner world, which is full of abhorrent intentions. Wolsey and other religious leaders had managed to persuade Henry in divorcing the queen.
The major theme of the play is dishonesty and cowardice of the Cardinal, which affects the society that surrounds him. He is not faithful to Henry, but he had managed to create a perfect image, which broke into pieces in the eyes of the king one day. The author shows the consequences of such wrong doings. It is obvious that every person has to pay for his sins and this is what happens to Wolsey. In the end he gets what he deserves, but the worst thing is that on the way to his punishment the queen suffers too.
But why does a person constantly lie in the faces of other people and spoil their lives? This is the other theme of the play – the pursuit of power and wealth. This is the topic problem in the modern world s well. When the person gets something, he always wants more and tries to reach the aim, without paying attention to the means of getting what he wants. Unfortunately, nothing is eternal and all good things come to an end. This is why it’s important not to lose more valuable things, such as people's trust and love.
The author also describes the process of separation of two people, which turns out to be completely destructive for one of them. King Henry falls in love with young and beautiful Anne Bullen and decides to divorce his wife. So he leaves a person, who treated him with great love and admiration. A woman is describes in this play as the one, who has no right to resist her husband's decision. Moreover, after being left with nothing, she still wishes her husband happiness, which is the example of true loyalty.
The play teaches not to reach our aims by hurting other people's feelings and also not to trust and admire a person without any common sense, as he may turn out to be a disguise and betray.
