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Summary
Norfolk, Suffolk, Lord Chamberlain, and Surrey enter. Norfolk urges for them to combine their complaints against Cardinal Wolsey, for Wolsey wouldn’t be able to resist a united front. Lord Chamberlain says the only way to get at Wolsey is to bar his access to the king, but Norfolk says the king has already become displeased with Wolsey. Norfolk explains that Wolsey’s double-dealing in the divorce proceedings has come to light. Suffolk adds that Wolsey’s letters to the pope were intercepted by the king, who discovered that Wolsey urged the pope to deny Henry the right to divorce until the king had gotten over his infatuation with Anne Bullen. Lord Chamberlain reveals that, in fact, the king has already married Anne. The marriage will soon be announced publicly, and Katherine will be demoted to her former status as princess dowager.
Wolsey and Cromwell enter, and the other lords stand aside to observe them. Wolsey asks about the delivery of his letters, and when Cromwell leaves, Wolsey comments to himself that the king shall marry the French king’s sister, not Anne Bullen. Wolsey suggests that he objects to Anne on religious grounds, since she is a Lutheran. He also speaks against Cranmer, who is now in favor with the king. The lords can’t hear him speak, but they observe that Wolsey seems ill at ease.
The king enters with Lovell, muttering to himself about the wealth Wolsey has accumulated. He asks the lords if they have seen the cardinal, and they reply that he is nearby but strangely upset. The king says it may be because of misdelivered papers the king just read, including a surprisingly large inventory of Wolsey’s holdings. Lovell summons Wolsey.
Henry comments that he must be too busy contemplating spiritual matters to consider the earthly world, but Wolsey says he has time for both. Henry reminds Wolsey that he’s been his right-hand man throughout his reign. Wolsey says that the praises showered on him by the king have been more than enough reward for his efforts, and that all his work has aimed at the good of the king and the profit of the country. Wolsey declares his loyalty, and the king observes that his speech makes him sound like a loyal servant. He comments that the reward for loyalty and obedience is honor, just as disloyalty and corruption bring dishonor. Wolsey repeats that he has always worked for good and honorable ends.
The king then gives Wolsey the papers he has intercepted and exits with the nobles. Wolsey wonders how he has caused such annoyance in the king, then examines the papers. He immediately sees that his career is over. The first paper is the inventory of the immense wealth Wolsey has accumulated. The second is his letter to the pope. Wolsey knows there is nothing he can do; he has reached the highest point in his career, and now he must fall.
Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, and Lord Chamberlain reenter and announce the king’s order for Wolsey to give over the seal of his office and confine himself to his house. Wolsey is unwilling to step down before these lesser lords, whom he accuses of envy. He charges the lords with being too eager to see him fall, and he says he prefers to give the seal directly to the king.
Surrey accuses Wolsey of being ambitious and heartless in bringing about the death of Surrey’s father-in-law, Buckingham, and sending Surrey away to Ireland, where he was too remote to protest the death. Wolsey reminds Surrey that a jury sent Buckingham to his death, not him. Surrey, angered at Wolsey’s arrogance, reminds him of his efforts to take the lands and holdings of other nobles and his scheming with the pope against the king. Norfolk tells Wolsey that he holds a set of articles enumerating Wolsey’s faults, written in the king’s hand, but Wolsey says his innocence will be declared when the king knows of his loyalty.
The lords begin to read the articles against Wolsey, accusing him of scheming to become a papal representative without the king’s assent or knowledge. Next, they accuse Wolsey of writing to the pope without the king’s knowledge or permission. Wolsey is declared guilty of other, smaller political schemes, not least of which are bribes he sent to the pope. Lord Chamberlain stops the proceedings, insisting they leave the trial for the court. The lords depart to tell the king of Wolsey’s refusal to give up the seal.
Alone, Wolsey laments that his pride was not enough to support him. He curses the pomp and glory of the world and his own efforts to win the favors of the king.
Cromwell enters and weeps at Wolsey’s misfortune. Wolsey tells him not to weep, for now he knows himself and is at peace. He has been cured by the king, and he says he is glad to be unburdened. Now, he says, he can bear more misfortune than his enemies ever could.
Cromwell relates the latest news: the king has appointed Sir Thomas More to Wolsey’s position, Cranmer has returned, and Anne has been announced as the new queen. Wolsey comments that his sun has set, but he assures Cromwell that the king will promote him. Cromwell is saddened and says that while the king may have his service, Cromwell’s prayers will stay with Wolsey. Wolsey weeps and advises Cromwell to forget his ambition, to love himself last, and to cherish those who hate him. Above all, Wolsey exhorts Cromwell to serve the king.
Analysis
The extended scene that concludes act 3 dramatizes Cardinal Wolsey’s downfall. This moment is a long time coming, since nearly everyone in the play has complained of his scheming. Thus, it makes sense that Shakespeare should allow this scene so much time to play out, at once giving the nobles the satisfaction of confronting the cardinal while also enabling Wolsey to speak on his own behalf and process his reversal of fortune.
Speaking alone on the stage after the nobles announce the king’s punishment, we see a changed man. Wolsey is guilty of ambition, pride, and scheming toward his own ends. He’s plotted against other nobles and gone behind the king’s back. Perhaps most reprehensible of all, he’s seized and stockpiled wealth as part of a plan to bribe his way to the very top of the Catholic Church and become pope. Yet, in the manner of many of Shakespeare’s heroes, Wolsey learns something from his downfall. As he insists to Cromwell, he knows himself now. Self-knowledge is the worthiest achievement in Shakespeare’s world, though it’s also the hardest won. But what, exactly, has Wolsey learned? On the one hand, he’s learned that he was wrong to be ambitious and prideful. But on the other hand, the main lesson of his downfall seems to be that he was fundamentally out of his depth. This seems an odd and somewhat unclear lesson. Does it mean that he should not have walked among the nobility or toyed with the fate of nations? Or does it mean that he just wasn’t clever enough to get away with his various schemes?
What emerges over the course of the scene is a fundamentally ambiguous picture of the cardinal. We know Wolsey is not an honorable man, since it was at his behest that Buckingham and Katherine met their respective fates. We also see him dealing out several lies in this scene. First, when the king asks him about his service, Wolsey declares that being honorable and serving the king has always been its own reward, which is laughably false. Later, when Surrey charges him with the death of Buckingham, Wolsey insists that the jury was at fault more than himself, which is the same line he took when discussing the unfair tax he levied in act 1. Wolsey seems hardwired to deflect blame whenever he can, and he continues to make boastful and false comments to the nobles when he has already acknowledged that his own demise is imminent.
And yet, it’s significant that, in his downfall, we don’t see a wholly corrupt man. Unlike the typical Shakespearean villain, who remains unrepentant to the very end, Wolsey sounds genuinely remorseful. Even when speaking to himself, it seems that he understands how his actions were wrong. He strives to communicate this lesson to Cromwell, whom he counsels to live without ambition. His final lesson to his protégé seems to be that honorable behavior will get him just as far as corruption. In the end, then, we in the audience may well feel sorry for Wolsey. He acted callously and arrogantly, and he schemed against the king. But it also seems possible that he thought he was doing the right thing. And even if he did act in bad faith, he admits his failures now. Of course, his admission won’t be enough to exonerate him of his crimes. But it may at least partially temper the audience’s judgment of his corruption.
