In Cardinal Wolsey’s speech from Shakespeare’s play, Henry VIII, Wolsey considers his down fall from his position as adviser to the king. Shakespeare enhances this scorned man’s fury by using tone, figurative language, and allusion.
This passage is filled with the use of a prideful tone; Shakespeare uses this to convey Cardinal’s anger, and his feelings of injustice. Starting off with a “farewell” to his own greatness, he bitterly describes what has happened to him as the result of the “state of man” and not necessarily his own wrong doings. In his anger, it is obvious he doesn’t believe he deserved what has happened to him, as he likens himself to the “good easy man” who falls in the midst of his greatness ripening. It seems as if Wolsey feels…show more content… “To-day he puts forth 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.” In this excerpt, Wolsey describes his actions as merely “putting forth the tender leaves of hope,” and describes outside forces as killing his hopes with a frost. If he truly believes this about his situation, this would aid in his anger of being unjustly acted against. In his eyes, he is as good a man as any, and if he cannot succeed in his goals, and if he is struck down from his honorable position, it could not possibly be his own fault.
Lastly, Wolsey’s response alludes to Lucifer, the fallen angel. Cardinal references him in saying “he falls like Lucifer,” “he” referring to himself. After losing his position, he begins to feel a likeness to the king of hell, in that they both lost everything, struck down by he who appears higher and holier than themselves, whether it be his king, or God. Shakespeare’s use of an allusion to this specific person reveals the inner intention of Wolsey. As the disgraced and fallen right hand man of God then wished to become independent and more powerful than God himself, perhaps Cardinal wishes to regain control of his life and seize the thrown of the king, the man that he was decided to be not good enough for.
Cardinal Wolsey’s anger is thoroughly depicted in this passage through Shakespeare’s use of tone, figurative language, and
