Henry Viii A Controlling And Opportunistic Indivi

Essay, Research Paper

Henry VIII A Controlling and Opportunistic Individual What comes to mind when people think of Henry VIII? Was he loyal, greedy or controlling? Most people say that Henry VIII was controlling. Some people might even say that Henry VIII was even self-indulgent to the extreme. Whatever he wanted he would get because he was controlling. He ended up with six wives, so that shows that he gets what he wants. Four of the five professors I have written responded “he was a very demanding or hard to please man.” (Robert Y. Eng, Professor of History; Jennifer D. Keene, Assistant Professor of History; John Bender, Professor of English; Mike Peters, Professor of English; Daniel Barth Peters, Professor of European History) Henry VIII was a controlling, opportunistic individual.Most people remember Henry VIII as a big guy who started his own church. Well he was more than just that. He was very interested in hunting, games, music, and mistresses than in government, his ambitious Minister, Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, who started in 1515, helped Henry through many policies, including the triumph of European peace, made official in the Treaty of London in 1518. Most men these days can’t do that or they don’t have the time and their wives won’t let them. If Henry VIII lived in today’s society, he would be in jail for beating his wife or killing them. In these days the wives would not take the nonsense from their husbands. He would be known as a controlling husband. Henry VIII was so controlling he killed his wives. He could not get rid of them so he would have to kill them. He was really smart if we think of it. He could not divorce his wife so he started his own church. It was called the Church of England/Anglican Church. Henry VIII was a controller. He bossed people around to get what he wanted. He would be Bill Clinton in today’s society. He would be a Bill Clinton because he has a wife that he loves, but on the other hand he has some other woman like Monica Lewinsky. Henry VIII responded differently with the situation. Bill Clinton covers it up without letting anybody know about it. When Henry VIII lets everybody know about it and he kills his wife. Another way Henry VIII is like Bill Clinton is he controls everybody in the White House. They are all scared of him. He can sort of do anything he pleases to do. They caught Bill with Monica Lewinsky and they are trying to impeach him and get him out of office, but Bill Clinton does something to slow down the process. Henry VIII is the same way. He was so controlling and powerful. Was Henry VIII a bully? No, Henry VIII was not a bully because he was also a nice person to be around. He excelled in athletics, hunting, and dancing. He would promise England the joys of life. Henry VIII was a very active and interesting man. He was not a man who would go around and bully people around or kill them for fun. He was a man that other people could hang around with and have fun. They didn’t want to mess with him because he was six feet tall and big with that. Henry VIII was not a bully. He was a best friend at times. Was Henry VIII a controlling husband? Yes and no because he actually treated his wives with respect. It is just when he was tired of that wife he would chop off her head. Most people when they hear that will think he was a cold-blooded murderer. Another reason why Henry VIII was a controlling husband was he would not let his wife do anything late in the marriage. In the first part of the marriage when they would get married he would be a reasonable man. He loved them at first. That is why I say he was not a controlling husband because he was a reasonable and compassionate husband. He may have killed his wives, but he did it for a purpose. He tried to get rid of them but he couldn’t.Was Henry VIII like a new athletic coach going to a new team? Yes he was because Henry VIII liked to change things around the way he liked it. He was very opportunistic. He took the opportunity to change things around the way he liked it. Henry VIII and his ministers exploited the dislike inspired by his father’s energetic pursuit of royal rights by sacrificing some of the unpopular institutions and some of the men that had served his predecessor. This is exactly like a new athletic coach going to a new team. His church was his football team. He goes in and picks his own coaches that he likes or has worked with and uses them instead of the ones he already had. He plays the players he likes and can do the job successfully. That is what Henry VIII is like. He went in and changed the system by started his own church. He was very opportunistic and a very intelligent man. He had an opportunity to change the system and he did by starting his own church.Most people would say that Henry VIII was a cruel and troubled man because he would chop off his wives heads. About everybody who has heard of Henry VIII see him as a cruel and troubled man. Most people think killing somebody is not right but if I lived in the times he did I would of probably have done the same thing he done but in a different way. That is just how people were back then. Henry VIII had different morals than most people. Like I said before about Henry VIII, he excelled in athletics, hunting and dancing. He seemed to be a normal human being. He was just sick and tired of living the same life with the same wife. He needed psychiatric help but they did not have that in those days. He wanted to live life to the fullest. Imagine if we put ourselves in the times when Henry VIII lived. We are the King of England, and we have a wife that looks all right. We are sitting at our throne eating a big drumstick and out of nowhere comes this other attractive lady who looks like Cindy Crawford. Remember we are the King of England. First thing that comes to our mind is “I wish she was my wife.” We can’t divorce the wife we have now because they won’t let you. Would we kill our wife to be able to marry the Cindy Crawford looking lady or would we stay with the wife we have now? Remember we are living in the times of Henry VIII. I know we are suppose to love and cherish your wife, but if I lived in his times I would kill my wife or do something to get rid of her so I could be with the good-looking lady. This was going through Henry VIII mind every time he saw an attractive lady, but he was never satisfied.

This is why Henry VIII was opportunistic. He had the opportunity to get hooked up with this attractive lady and he did any way he could. Henry VIII was also a Renaissance Man. He cultivated his innate capabilities to his fullest potential. He wanted to have the best of everything. He would sacrifice what ever he could to be the best. He ran his life like a business. He sacrificed things to make his business or life reach its goal. Make the biggest profit that you can reach. Henry VIII wanted to make the biggest profit he could reach in life. Live life to the extreme, you never know when you are going to die.Do people today see Henry VIII a hero or role model after what he has done? No, Henry VIII was not a hero. He was not a hero because he was not courageous in a hero’s perspective. We would see him as brave to kill his wives and not worry about the wives family killing him, but we would not see him as sacrificing his own life for another’s. He was not that kind of person. He was not a warrior who did good deeds or a fireman who saved a little girl from a burning building. Was Henry VIII a role model? No, some troubled people today might see Henry VIII as a role model because they are sick and need a lot of help. The only way people can see King Henry as a role model is if they are athletic and they want to be like him athletically. Besides that, if people see Henry VIII as a role model, go to a doctor and get some help. In the book “A Social History of England” it states that Henry VIII was involved in a revolution. The revolution consisted of the decision that the English Church should separate from Rome, becoming effectively a spiritual department of state under the rule of the king as God’s deputy on earth. The revolution gave Henry VIII his wish and he married Anne Boleyn. This proves again that Henry VIII was very opportunistic and will sacrifice his life and others to get what he wants. Anne Boleyn was the mother of the future queen Elizabeth I. He ended up chopping off her head also and ended up marrying another wife. Henry VIII wives were very ugly. I would not blame King Henry for getting rid of his typical, displeasing wives to marry another. People in those days were not very attractive.Everybody sees Henry VIII in his or her own perspective. If he is a murderer, corrupt, or even athletic, Henry VIII took advantage of his time. He had opportunities that most people could not have back then. He was just an opportunistic person. He knew that life does not last forever so he took his life and spiced it up. He made it very exciting with a lot of twists and turns. Much like a roller coaster. He did not let someone else make his life. He had a chance to change his fate and he did it. I know he killed his wives by chopping their heads off, but he controlled his life and used the opportunities that he had and took advantage of them. We never know, Henry VIII might have heard from three witches like Macbeth that he was not going to accomplish anything in his lifetime. That is probably why Henry VIII made his life the way it was. All I know is, is that Henry VIII was a controlling, opportunistic individual that lived life to the extreme. How many people do we know that has had more than five wives in their lifetime? He was also not a follower. He was a leader. He did not look at how everybody else is living his or her lives. He had his own weird, unique way of life that nobody had. This is what fascinates me of Henry VIII. He lives his own lifestyle. I think everybody should live their life the way they want to. I am not saying that we should kill people to get what we want, but we should live our own life. Don’t let anybody get in the way of our lives. Have fun while you are still alive. We should all be controlling, opportunistic people like Henry VIII. The world would be a better place. Cited Page McElwee, William “A Short History of England” From The of King Alfred To Present 1969, pages 123-130. 111 Fourth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10003Briggs, ASA “A Social History of England” 1983, pages 107-108. 40 West 23rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10010Professor Robert Y. Eng, Professor of History. University of Redlands (18 December 1998) Phone (909) 793-2121, ext. 4273 email eng@uor.eduProfessor Jennifer D. Keene, Assistant Professor of History. University of Redlands (18 December 1998) email keene@jasper.uor.edu Professor Angel R. Smith, Distinguished Professor of English. University of Redlands (19 December 1998) email angel@uor.eduProfessor Mike Peters, Assistant Professor of English & Creative Writing. University of Redlands (19 December 1998) email peters@uor.eduProfessor John Bender, Professor of English, Stanford University (19 December 1998) email bender@leland.stanford.edu Internet “History & Pictures of Henry VIII” (22 December 1998) n:page. Online Available www:http://www.ctbw.com/henry8.htm Bibliography McElwee, William “A Short History of England” From The of King Alfred To Present 1969, pages 123-130. 111 Fourth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10003Briggs, ASA “A Social History of England” 1983, pages 107-108. 40 West 23rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10010 Professor Jennifer D. Keene, Assistant Professor of History. University of Redlands (18 December 1998) email keene@jasper.uor.edu (December 1998) Internet “History & Pictures of Henry VIII” (22 December 1998) n:page. Online Available www:http://www.ctbw.com/henry8.htm