Original: I do profess
Modern: I swear to you

Original: You speak not like yourself; who ever yet
Modern: You’re not speaking like the person you usually are; you’ve always

Original: Have stood to charity, and display’d the effects
Modern: Been known for kindness, and you’ve shown the results

Original: Of disposition gentle, and of wisdom
Modern: Of having a gentle nature, and wisdom

Original: O’ertopping woman’s power. Madam, you do me wrong:
Modern: That goes beyond what most women possess. Madam, you’re being unfair to me:

Original: I have no spleen against you; nor injustice
Modern: I have no anger toward you; I’m not being unjust

Original: For you or any: how far I have proceeded,
Modern: To you or anyone else: however far I’ve gone,

Original: Or how far further shall, is warranted
Modern: Or however much further I will go, is authorized

Original: By a commission from the consistory,
Modern: By official orders from the church court,

Original: Yea, the whole consistory of Rome. You charge me
Modern: Yes, the entire church court of Rome. You accuse me

Original: That I have blown this coal: I do deny it:
Modern: Of stirring up this trouble: I completely deny it:

Original: The king is present: if it be known to him
Modern: The king is here: if he finds out

Original: That I gainsay my deed, how may he wound,
Modern: That I’m denying what I’ve done, how deeply he could hurt,

Original: And worthily, my falsehood! yea, as much
Modern: And rightfully so, my dishonesty! Yes, as much

Original: As you have done my truth. If he know
Modern: As you have hurt my honesty. If he knows

Original: That I am free of your report, he knows
Modern: That I’m innocent of what you’re claiming, then he knows

Original: I am not of your wrong. Therefore in him
Modern: I’m not guilty of wronging you. So it’s up to him

Original: It lies to cure me: and the cure is, to
Modern: To heal this situation: and the solution is to

Original: Remove these thoughts from you: the which before
Modern: Get you to change your mind: and before

Original: His highness shall speak in, I do beseech
Modern: His majesty gets involved in this, I beg

Original: You, gracious madam, to unthink your speaking
Modern: You, noble lady, to take back what you’ve said

Original: And to say so no more.
Modern: And to stop saying these things.

Act II, Scene iv of Henry VIII takes place in a great hall at Blackfriars, where a court has been convened to examine the validity of King Henry VIII’s marriage to Queen Katherine of Aragon. The scene opens with an elaborate ceremonial procession, establishing the formal and solemn nature of the proceedings. King Henry and Queen Katherine are both present, along with Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeius, who are presiding over the trial. When Katherine’s name is called, she rises and, rather than addressing the cardinals as judges, walks directly to King Henry and kneels before him. She delivers a passionate and dignified plea, appealing to him as her husband and king, questioning the fairness of the court, and asserting that she has been a faithful and devoted wife throughout their twenty years of marriage. She challenges the impartiality of the proceedings and requests that her case be referred to Rome and to the Pope.

After delivering her speech, Katherine refuses to submit to the authority of the court and exits the hall, declining to return even when called back by the crier. Following her departure, King Henry speaks in her defense, acknowledging her virtues and the respect she commands, while still maintaining that his conscience compels him to question the legality of their marriage. He recounts the origins of his doubts, tracing them back to concerns raised about his marriage to his brother Prince Arthur’s widow. Cardinal Wolsey, sensing the opportunity to defend himself against whispered accusations of having instigated the proceedings, publicly denies having encouraged the king’s doubts. The scene closes with the court being adjourned, as Cardinal Campeius determines that the matter cannot be resolved without further deliberation, leaving the question of the marriage unresolved.

Henry VIII: Plot Summary

The play opens in the court of King Henry VIII of England, where the powerful Cardinal Wolsey has orchestrated the downfall of the Duke of Buckingham, who is arrested for treason based on the testimony of his own surveyor. Despite pleas for mercy, Buckingham is condemned and executed. Meanwhile, King Henry meets Anne Bullen (Anne Boleyn) at a masque hosted by Cardinal Wolsey and becomes captivated by her. Henry also begins to express doubts about the validity of his marriage to Queen Katherine of Aragon, claiming his conscience troubles him over the legality of the union, as Katherine was previously married to his brother Prince Arthur.

Cardinal Wolsey works to manage the political situation, but his influence begins to unravel when Henry discovers that Wolsey has been secretly corresponding with the Pope to delay the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Katherine, and that Wolsey has been accumulating enormous personal wealth. Henry strips Wolsey of his offices and powers. Wolsey, broken by his fall from grace, dies before he can be brought to formal ruin. Queen Katherine, meanwhile, is put on trial regarding the annulment of her marriage. She passionately defends herself before the court but is ultimately cast aside. She later receives a vision of blessed spirits before dying, having been given the reduced title of Princess Dowager.

With Katherine removed, Henry marries Anne Bullen, and she is crowned Queen in a grand coronation celebrated by the common people. Archbishop Cranmer, a Protestant reformer and ally of the King, comes under threat from a council of nobles who attempt to bring charges against him. Henry, however, intervenes to protect Cranmer. The play concludes with the christening of Henry and Anne’s newborn daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, where Cranmer delivers a joyful prophecy foretelling the greatness of Elizabeth’s reign and the prosperity that will follow under her successor, King James I.