‘You cannot show me’: Two Tudor Coronation Processions, Shakespeare’s King Henry VIII and the Staging of Anne Boleyn

Abstract

In this paper, Leahy argues that Shakespeare’s portrayal of Anne Boleyn in King Henry VIII has traditionally been regarded as one that does not take account of her ambiguous historical position, and he goes on to examine this portrayal in the light of her own coronation procession, as well as her representation in the coronation procession of her daughter, Elizabeth. These representations of Boleyn are then set against the famous letter written by Sir Henry Wotton to describe the burning down of the Globe Theatre during a production of King Henry VIII in 1613. Set within such a context, Leahy argues that the representation of Anne in the play is not what it has traditionally been made out to be, but demonstrates the difficulties inherent in staging such a problematic figure.