Power has its limits. The 8th episode of Showtime's The Tudors - as fine a play about politics and power as it is about unbridled passion - reminds us that, even in an age far less democratic than ours, there are some things that even a King cannot have.
Henry's lust and love for Anne may be unbridled, but his capacity to make her his wife seems checked at every turn. The Church wants to let him have his way, but it, too, is restrained - by a combination of honest morality and unworthy fear about what the Emperor Charles (Queen Catherine's nephew) might do. Wolsey truly wants to help Henry - for he knows he'll be dead, and not just figuratively, if he does not - but even his extraordinary strategic intelligence is no match for the forces of irresistible, volcanic history that are in play. Whatever Wolsey does, however hard he pushes, seems to have the opposite of the effect he wants. The real, unbridled power here is Sam Neill's performance as Wolsey, a continuing masterpiece of portrayal of haughty arrogance to abject fawning and, it seems, every emotional gambit in between.
And then there is Catherine, also played powerfully by Maria Doyle Kennedy, who is more than anyone else the real power here, or at least the power to say no to Henry and his plans. She says no to the Church's proposal that she retire to a nunnery. She says no to the trial that is to decide her and Henry's fate - just walks right out on it. Her role in this story of the Tudors is testament to the courage of one woman to stand up for love and what she truly believes is right. Although, romantic that I am, I'm looking forward to seeing Henry and Anne together, completely, at least for a little while, I've got to admire Catherine (and, indeed, Maria Doyle Kennedy's fine performance).
Just two more episodes to go. Enough time to see Wolsey gone and Henry and Anne married?
Given what we know about the real history, there can be no happy endings here - at least, none that last too long...
Useful links:
Derriere and Bosom on The Tudors: More of What the FCC Would Deprive Us Of
The King's Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church G. W. Bernard's 2005 book
The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution my 1998 book
The Tudors Michael Hirst's brand new book!
my latest novel: The Plot to Save Socrates
my reviews of other episodes of The Tudors: Episodes 1 and 2: History So Colorful You Can Taste It, Episode 3: History So Real You Can Feel It, Episode 4: The Penalty of Royalty, Episode 5: Madrigal, Musical Chairs, Episode 6: Tectonic Chess, Episode 7: Henry's Imperfect Apothecary
The Plot to Save Socrates
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
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