Cranmer

Play

Henry VIII

Summary

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, is the Protestant reformer whom Henry champions against a conservative council that seeks to destroy him. His survival — when Henry personally intervenes and shows the council ring that places Cranmer under royal protection — is a moment of unexpected grace in a play full of falls. He delivers the play's closing prophecy over the christening of the infant Princess Elizabeth, foretelling her great reign and England's Protestant glory.

Notable Quotations

"Let me speak, sir, / For heaven now bids me; and the words I utter / Let none think flattery, for they'll find 'em truth." *(5.5)*

"This royal infant — heaven still move about her! — / Though in her cradle, yet now promises / Upon this land a thousand thousand blessings, / Which time shall bring to ripeness." *(5.5)*

"She shall be, to the happiness of England, / An aged princess; many days shall see her, / And yet no day without a deed to crown it." *(5.5)*

Cross-references