Alt er sandt!

Abstract

David Hasberg Zirak-Schmidt: “All is true! Memory, Oblivion and History in Shakespeare and Fletcher’s Henry VIII”
 In this article I examine the dialectic of memory and oblivion in Shakespeare and Fletcher’s history play Henry VIII. Taking off from a close reading of the ambivalent apotheosis of Catherine of Aragon, the article argues that Henry VIII questions the relationship between fiction and historical truth. Through this process, I argue, that the play self-consciously reflects on the theater’s role and ability as a transmitter of historical knowledge and truth.