Close Reading of Wolseys Monologue in Shakespeares Henry

Close Reading of Wolsey’s Monologue in Shakespeare’s Henry the VIII n "So farewell- to the little good you bear me. Farewell? a long farewell to all my greatness!" What is the meaning of farewell in lines one and two? n What is the irony of using this word? n

Close Reading of Wolsey’s Monologue in Shakespeare’s Henry the VIII n So farewell- to the little good you bear me. Farewell? a long farewell to all my greatness!“ n What is the meaning of the word, “bear, ” in line one? When Wolsey states, “farewell to the little good that you bear me, ” what does he mean? n

Close Reading of Wolsey’s Monologue in Shakespeare’s Henry the VIII n “So farewell- to the little good you bear me. Farewell? a long farewell to all my greatness!" n Who is Wolsey speaking to? Explain. n Who and / or what is Wolsey saying farewell to in line 1, and in line 2? n How are the farewells different?

Close Read Wolsey’s Monologue -Shakespeare’s Henry VIII n “So farewell- to the little good you bear me. Farewell? a long farewell to all my greatness!" n Explain the subtle difference in tone between line 1 and 2. n What was Wolsey’s greatness?

Close Reading of Wolsey’s Monologue in Shakespeare’s Henry the VIII n n n “This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth The tender leaves of hopes, tomorrow blossoms, And bears his blushing honors thick upon him; ” What does the statement, “the state of man, ” mean in line 3? Explain. What are the tender leaves of hopes? What blossoms tomorrow? What is Wolsey comparing himself to in line 5? Explain.

Close Reading - Wolsey - Shakespeare’s Henry VIII n n n “This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth The tender leaves of hopes, to-morrow blossoms, And bears his blushing honors thick upon him; ” What is implied by the use of “blushing” & “thick upon him” to describe honors? How does the meaning of "bears" change in line 5 from "bear" in line 1? Why does Wolsey use “bear” & “bears” twice? For what effect? What literary elements are being employed in lines 4 and 5? Explain.

n Close Read Wolsey’s Monologue Shakespeare’s Henry VIII “The third day comes a frost, a killing frost, n And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root, And then he falls as I do. ” What comes on the third day in line 6? What does this mean? What is this an allusion to? Explain. n How is this allusion opposite the original? n

Close Read Wolsey’s Monologue - Shakespeare’s Henry VIII n n n “The third day comes a frost, a killing frost, And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root, And then he falls as I do. ” What does "good easy man" mean? What does "greatness a-ripening" refer to? How does this image refer back to blushing in line 5?

Close Reading of Wolsey’s Monologue in Shakespeare’s Henry the VIII n The tender leaves of hopes, to-morrow blossoms, And bears his blushing honors thick upon him; ” The third day comes a frost, a killing frost, And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root, And then he falls as I do. ” n What does "nips his root" and "falls" actually refer to? n What literary element is employed in lines 4 -9? n Why does Wolsey refer to “ the state of man" and "he" rather than himself only? n Describe the change in tone from lines 4 to 9?

Close Reading Wolsey’s Monologue -Shakespeare’s Henry VIII n “And then he falls as I do. I have ventur’d, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, ” What does Wolsey mean when he states that "I have ventured"? n What is the connotation of the word, ventured, in this context? n What are "wanton" boys in line 10? What does wanton mean? n Why does Wolsey use the term boys?

Close Read Wolsey’s Monologue - Shakespeare’s Henry VIII n “Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, This many summers in a sea of glory, ” n What are the boys doing in lines 10 and 11? n What are bladders in the context of the poem? n What literary element is being employed here? What is its significance? n Why is "summer" chosen as the season described in line 11? n Explain the meaning of the image, "sea of glory. "

Close Read Wolsey’s Monologue - Shakespeare’s Henry VIII n “But far beyond my depth. My high-blown pride At length broke under me, and now has left me, Weary and old with service, to the mercy Of a rude stream that must forever hide me. " n What does the image, "high-blown, " refer to? Explain. n What does Wolsey mean by "far beyond my depth, " literally & metaphorically? n What broke under Wolsey, figuratively? In reality? n What is Wolsey's condition according to line 14?

Close Reading of Wolsey’s Monologue in Shakespeare’s Henry the VIII n “But far beyond my depth. My high-blown pride At length broke under me, and now has left me, Weary and old with service, to the mercy Of a rude stream that must for ever hide me. ” n Explain “to the mercy of a rude stream. " n What must it do? Why? n How does it compare to line 11? n What is the rhetorical effect of breaking n up the word, forever, into two words – n for and ever? How does this n affect the tone? n How does the tone alter from the middle of line 9 to the end of line 15? Where does it first change?

Close Read Wolsey’s Monologue in Shakespeare’s Henry VIII n “Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye! I feel my heart new open’d. O how wretched Is that poor man that hangs on princes favors!” n What is meant by "pomp, " and how is it vain? n Why does Wolsey hate the pomp and glory of this world? What is Wolsey saying about his heart in line 17? n What does he mean? n Compare the image in line 17

Close Reading of Wolsey’s Monologue in Shakespeare’s Henry the VIII “Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye! I feel my heart new open’d. O how wretched Is that poor man that hangs on princes favors!” n What is meant by wretched? n What does it mean to hang "on prince's favors" in line 18? n How does this image relate back to lines 10 -13? n Explain why Wolsey presents the image of a "poor man. " n What is the tone in lines 16 -18? n How is it climatic? n

Wolsey’s Monologue - Shakespeare’s Henry the VIII n “There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to, That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, More pangs and fears than wars or women have; And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, Never to hope again. ” n What does betwixt mean? n What does Wolsey mean when he mentions aspire? n What are "we" aspiring to? n Why does Wolsey say "we" instead of I? What is the effect?

Wolsey’s Monologue in Shakespeare’s Henry the VIII n “There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to, That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, More pangs and fears than wars or women have; And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, Never to hope again. ” n Compare the image of "sweet aspect of princes" and "their ruin. " What is Wolsey trying to say? n What are the pangs and fears of women? Of war? n How does line 21 relate back to "betwixt" in line 19?

Wolsey’s Monologue in Shakespeare’s Henry the VIII n n n “There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to, That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, More pangs and fears than wars or women have; And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, Never to hope again. ” Who is Lucifer? What is this an allusion to? Explain. How did Lucifer fall? How does this compare to Wolsey? When referring to a fall from power, why does Wolsey say "he" instead of I? What is being inferred?

Wolsey’s Monologue in Shakespeare’s Henry the VIII n n n “There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to, That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, More pangs and fears than wars or women have; And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, Never to hope again. ” What is the effect of the repetition of "falls" in line 22? What other line mentions falls? What is the key difference in pronoun usage? Why does Shakespeare repeat falls? Explain the effect of line 23 to the overall context of the speech. What is the final tone developed by this line?

Wolsey’s Monologue in Shakespeare’s Henry the VIII n “There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to, That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, More pangs and fears than wars or women have; And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, Never to hope again. ” n Who is this speech a warning to? Explain. What is Wolsey’s overarching message? About himself? The king? The court? Humanity? n n n