2016 Theses Master's

In His Image: A Study of the Dramatic Representation of Henry VIII in Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel and its Adaptations

Biering, Ida Victoria

The visual legacy of Henry VIII is less how we see him, and more how Henry would like to see himself: originals have long been lost to us, yet even copies of his majesty are engrained in our culture and perception of his character, defying ravages of time. The paradox of Henry’s image being so familiar, though the portrait we most often encounter is neither the original, nor is its depiction the way it was initially intended, mirrors the general way he has been represented have manifested over time: several copies of his dramatic likeness exist, in history books, theatre, film and television, but instead of tiring from repeated exposure to the same figure, the slight differences in how the Tudor king continues to appeal to readers and audiences, well beyond the quincentennial of his ascension to the throne. True to what he probably would have wished, his legacy, in terms of his memory and his presence throughout time was, and remains, larger than life. No matter what history has set against him, we have an enduring interpretive fascination with the historical Henry.