Tout est faux. Henry VIII de Shakespeare et Fletcher ou comment on falsifie l’histoire

Abstract

This article is devoted to Shakespeare and Fletcher’s historical play The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight (1613). At first sight, This History seems very different from the tetralogies, since it is staged later, concerns more recent events, displays a sumptuous scenography and is written in collaboration with John Fletcher. Nevertheless, I argue that, far from “making” a monologic, exemplary and providentialist history, the play is rather similar to other shakespearian historical play, as far as the representation of history is concerned. The play questions historical knowledge in a sceptical perspective, and it shows the ways historical representation can be handled and counterfeited.

Keywords

• historical drama
• fiction
• providentialism
• exemplarity
• hermeneutics
• Shakespeare (William)