The Old Lady, or All is Not True

Summary

The third scene of Act 2 of All Is True rewards particular consideration as it is almost literally, and certainly symbolically, central to the play. The scene is described by R. A. Foakes as follows,

For her [Katherine's] divorce follows the brief scene between Anne and an Old Lady - the only scene in the play devoted to Anne - in which Anne, as it were, is 'queened': it is a scene of rich and complex meaning, of bawdry and high spirits, in which Anne's promotion as Marchioness of Pembroke foreshadows her further elevation. Out of Anne's pity for Katherine grows the Old Lady's series of quibbles, playing always on the idea of Anne becoming queen (or 'quean')

anne By my troth and maidenhead, I would not be a queen.

old l Beshrew me, I would, And venture maidenhead for't, and so would you For all this spice of your hypocrisy. (2.3.23-6)

The placing of this gay little scene of Anne's rise before the trial lends added poignancy to Katherine's refusal to yield.

Foakes's synopsis is of an innocuous and amusing exchange; he regards Anne Boleyn's expression of sympathy for Queen Katherine, soon to be supplanted by Anne herself, as genuine despite the Old Lady's allegation of Anne's hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is not a word which Shakespeare uses without deliberation. How seriously then are we to take remarks of the Old Lady whose speech is riddled with ambiguous ironies?