Despite its title, Henry the Eighth deals with three other, more important stories: the fall of Cardinal Wolsey, the fall of Queen Katherine, and the raising of Anne Bullen (Boleyn). For Elizabethans, the culmination of the play was, of course, the birth of Elizabeth, heralding their queen and her successor, James. Full treatment of Henry VIII would have to be dealt with by historians. The machinations of court life under Henry were to be continued under Elizabeth but, unlike her father, to much greater political success. James, unfortunately, is another story altogether.

Despite its title, Henry the Eighth deals with three other, more important stories: the fall of Cardinal Wolsey, the fall of Queen Katherine, and the raising of Anne Bullen (Boleyn). For Elizabethans, the culmination of the play was, of course, the birth of Elizabeth, heralding their queen and her successor, James. Full treatment of Henry VIII would have to be dealt with by historians. The machinations of court life under Henry were to be continued under Elizabeth but, unlike her father, to much greater political success. James, unfortunately, is another story altogether.

Troilus and Cressida retells the epic story of the Iliad, but with an altered focus. The tale of these lovers (and Pandarus) was told earlier by both Homer and Geoffrey Chaucer. In Shakespeare, however, the epic proportions are reduced to the quotidian details of human passion, including quarrels and misunderstandings, which reduce the protagonists to a pitying level, including "calculation and manipulation" (Mowat, xv). The result has been called satire; unfortunately, it is satire without bite or humor.