CHARACTERS: CARDINAL WOLSEY EARL OF SURREY DUKE OF NORFOLK DUKE OF...

CHARACTERS:

CARDINAL WOLSEY

EARL OF SURREY

DUKE OF NORFOLK

DUKE OF SUFFOLK

LORD CHAMBERLAIN

from Henry VIII, Act 3, Scene 2

In the court of King Henry Vlll, Cardinal Wolsey became an increasingly powerful figure, aggressively seeking to assure his own position of wealth and power. In this scene, Wolsey is accused of committing acts of treachery and is being asked to forfeit the Great Seal. The Great Seal is used to seal important documents, and is in his possession as a symbol of his authority from the King.

(The DUKES OF NORFOLK and SUFFOLK, the EARL OF SURREY, and

the LORD CHAMBERLAIN are speaking with CARDINAL WOLSEY.)

CARDINAL WOLSEY: That seal You ask with such a violence, the

king Mine and your master, with his own hand gave me;

Bade me enjoy it, with the place and honors,

5 During my life; and, to confirm his goodness,

Tied it by letters-patents* Now, whotll take it?

EARL OF SURREY: The king, that gave it.

CARDINAL WOLSEY: It must be himself, then.

EARL OF SURREY: Thou art a proud traitor, priest.:

10 CARDINAL WOLSEY: Proud lord, thou liest.

Within these forty hours Surrey durst better

Have burnt that tongue than said so.

EARL OF SURREY: Thy ambition,

Thou scarlet sin,*** robbed this bewailing land

15 Of noble Buckingham,**** my father-in-law.

The heads of all thy brother cardinals,

With thee and all thy best parts bound together,

Weighed not a hair of his. Plague of your policy!

You sent me Deputy for Ireland;

20 Far from his succor,* from the king, from all

That might have mercy on the fault thou gav'si

Whilst your great goodness, out of holy pity,

Absolved him with an axe.

CARDINAL WOLSEY: This, and all else

25 This talking lord can lay upon my credit,

I answer, is most false. The duke by law

Found his deserts. How innocent I was

From any private malice in his end,

His noble jury and foul cause can witne,ss.

30 If I loved many words, lord, I should tell you

You have as little honesty as honor,

That in the way of loyalty and truth

Toward the king, my ever royal master,

Dare mate** a sounder man than Surrey can b~

35 And all that love his follies.

EARL OF SURREY: By my soul,

Your long coat, priest, protects you; thou shou

My sword i' the lifeblood of thee else. My for,

Can ye endure to hear this arrogance?

40 And from this fellow?

CARDINAL WOLSEY: All goodness

In poison to thy stomach.

EARL OF SURREY: Yes, that goodness

Of gleaning all the land's wealth into one,

45 Into your own hands, cardinal, by extortion;

The goodness of your intercepted packets

You writ to the pope against the king. Your goodness,

Since you provoke me, shall be most notorious.

My Lord of Norfolk, as you are truly noble,

50 As you respect the common good, the state

Of our despised nobility, our issues,***

Who, if he live, will scarce be gentlemen,

Produce the grand sum of his sins, the articles****

Collected from his life.

55 CARDINAL WOLSEY: How much, methinks, I could despise this man,

But that I am bound in charity against it!

DUKE OF NORFOLK: Those articles, my lord, are in the king's hand;

But, thus much, they are foul ones.

CARDINAL WOLSEY: So much fairer

60 And spotless shall mine innocence arise,

When the king knows my truth.

EARL OF SURREY: This cannot save you.

I thank my memory I yet remember

Some of these articles, and out they shall.

65 Now, if you can blush and cry "guilty," cardinal,

You'll show a little honesty

CARDINAL WOLSEY: Speak on sir; I dare your worst objections. If I blush, It is to see a nobleman want* manners.

70 EARL OF SURREY: I had rather want those than my head. Have at you!

First that, without the king's assent or knowledge,

You wrought to be a legate;** by which power

You maimed the jurisdiction of all bishops.

DUKE OF NORFOLK: Then that in all you writ to Rome, or else

75 To foreign princes,*** "Ego et Rex meus"****

Was still inscribed; in which you brought the king

To be your servant.

DUKE OF SUFFOLK: Then, that without the knowledge

Either of king or council, when you went

80 Ambassador to the emperor, you made bold

To carry into Flanders+the Great Seal.

EARL OF SURREY: Item, you sent a large commission

To Gregory de Cassado, to conclude,

Without the king's will or the state's allowance,

85 A league between his highness and Ferrara.

DUKE OF SUFFOLK: That out of mere ambition you have caused

Your holy hat++to be stamped on the king's coin.

EARL OF SURREY: Then that you have sent innumerable substance+++

(By what means got, I leave to your own conscience)

90 To furnish Rome and to prepare the ways

You have for dignities, to the mere undoing

Of all the kingdom. Many more there are,

Which, since they are of you and odious,

I will not taint my mouth with.

95 LORD CHAMBERLAIN: O my lord,

Press not a falling man too far: 'tis virtue.

His faults lie open to the laws; let them,

Not you, correct him. My heart weeps to see him

So little of his great self.

100 EARL OF SURREY: I forgive him.

DUKE OF SUFFOLK: Lord Cardinal, the king's further pleasure is-

That therefore a writ be sued against you:

To forfeit all your goods, lands, tenements,

Chattels, and whatsoever, and to be

105 Out of the king's protection. This is my charge.

DUKE OF NORFOLK: And so we'll leave you to your meditations

How to live better. For your stubborn answer

About the giving back the Great Seal to us,

The king shall know it, and no doubt, shall thank you.

110 So fare you well, my little good Lord Cardinal.

Exceunt all but WOLSEY.

CARDINAL WOLSEY: So farewell to the little good you bea

Farewell! A long farewell to all my greatness!

This is the state of man: today he puts forth

115 The tender leaves of hopes; tomorrow blossoms,

And bears his blushing honors thick upon him

The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,

And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely

His greatness is aripening, nips his root,

120 And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured

Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,*

This many summers in a sea of glory, '

But far beyond my depth. My high-blown pride

At length broke under me and now has left me,

125 Weary and old with service, to the mercy

Of a rude** stream that must forever hide me.

Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye.

I feel my heart new opened. O, how wretched

Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors!

130 There is betwixt that smile we would aspire to,

That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin,

More pangs and fears than wars or women have.

And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,

Never to hope again.

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The questions are multiple choice, my answers are at the bottom.........

a. In lines I to 8, Cardinal Wolsey responds to the demand to forfeit the seal with an

attitude of

A. alarm

B. sarcasm

C. apology

D. confidence

b. The Earl of Surrey's most cutting use of irony is

A. "Thou art a proud traitor, priest" (line 9)

B. "Whilst your great goodness, out of holy pity, / Absolved him with an axe

(lines 22-23)

C. "Your goodness, / Since you provoke me, shall be most notorious" (lines 47-48)

D. "Now, if you can blush and cry 'guilty,' cardinal, / You'll show a little honesty"

(lines 65-66)

c. Cardinal Wolsey suggests that he is absolved from responsibility for Buckingham's death when he states

A. "This, and all else... is most false" (lines 24-26)

B. "The duke by law / Found his deserts" (lines 26-27)

C. "You have as little honesty as honor" (line 31)

D. "All goodness / Is poison to thy stomach" (lines 41-42)

d. The Earl of Surrey's words to the Duke of Norfolk in lines 49 to 52 imply that Cardinal Wolsey's continued power will result in

A. Norfolk becoming one of the defenders of the people

B. Wolsey becoming more powerful than the king

C. the nobility being undermined and eliminated

D. the nobility living in fear

e. Cardinal Wolsey's remark that he is "bound" to be charitable (lines 55-56) is a reference to his

A. vows as a priest

B. Ioyalty to the king

C. duties as a statesman

D. gentleman's code of honor

f. In lines 68 and 69, Cardinal Wolsey states that rather than blush from guilt upon hearing the charges against him, he would blush from

A. fear for himself

B. indignation for the king

C. regret for being careless

D. embarrassment for Surrey

g. The Earl of Surrey's comment, "I had rather want those than my head" (line 70), is an indirect reference to the

A. fate of Wolsey

B. powerlessness of the king

C. emotional aspect of Wolsey

D. necessity for calm reasomng

h. The accuser who clearly expresses compassion toward Cardinal Wolsey is the

A. Lord Chamberlain: "Press not a falling man too far: 'tis virtue" (line 96)

B. Earl of Surrey: "I forgive him" (line 100)

C. Duke of Suffolk: "Lord Cardinal, the king's further pleasure is" (line 101 )

D. Duke of Norfolk: "So fare you well, my little good Lord Cardinal" (line 110)

i. The accuser who is most antagonistic toward Cardinal Wolsey is the

A.Duke of Norfolk: "Those articles, my lord... are foul ones" (lines 57-58)

B.Duke of Suffolk: "That out of mere ambition" (line 86)

C.Earl of Surrey: "since they are of you and odious, / I will not taint my mouth with"

(lines 93-94)

D.Lord Chamberlain: "His faults lie open to the laws" (line 97)

j. Cardinal Wolsey acknowledges the basis of his downfall with the words

A. "A long farewell to all my greatness!" (line 113)

B. "My high-blown pride" (line 123)

C. "Weary and old with service" (line 125)

D. "Never to hope again" (line 134)

k. The theme of Cardinal Wolsey's soliloquy (lines 112-134) is the

A. futility of the pursuit of glory

B. stages of human development

C. vulnerability of old age

D. inevitability of despair

My answers are

D

D

A

C

A

B

A

A

C

C

Are my answer's correct? Please add explanations for each one, if my answer is right or wrong.