47 pages • 1 hour read
Bring Up The Bodies
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Themes
The Precarious Nature of Favoritism
Content Warning: The novel and the guide reference pregnancy loss and domestic abuse.
Cromwell is depicted as a powerful man, who can navigate shifting allegiances and predict the future political landscape. Nonetheless, he is aware that his position and power have been achieved because of the king’s favor: “Henry has turned to him; Henry has sworn him in” (34). Cromwell is forced to capitulate to Henry’s whims and desires because the king’s good graces are the only thing that cements his position. Not only is Henry’s affection paramount to maintain, but his displeasure is necessary to avoid. Cromwell is haunted by memories of Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas More, both of whom were men he respected. They both fell from grace, and their deaths are either directly or indirectly connected to their failure to please Henry. Cromwell imagines Wolsey warning him, “[I]f [Henry] wants a new wife, fix him one. I didn’t, and I am dead” (66). Cromwell’s willingness to do whatever it takes to maintain his position is not driven solely by his own ambitions; it is a basic instinct for self-preservation in a potentially life-threatening situation.
The requirement of obeying the king’s whims is particularly arduous because Henry is so capricious and demanding. He changes his mind quickly, exemplified by his willingness to discard Anne, even though he went to such great lengths to marry her and pursue Jane instead. Henry is also self-absorbed and indulged: “[A]ny pain, any delay, frustration or stroke of ill-luck seems to him an anomaly, an outrage” (207). Obeying his whims means not only achieving his desires but also achieving them quickly, on terms Henry finds acceptable. Henry is not depicted as inherently a cruel man, but his character reveals the consequences of having absolute power. Everyone around him becomes subservient, and their success is determined by their ability to satiate his desires.
Cromwell is particularly invested in serving the king’s whims because he is a self-made man. He admits that “he has no ancestors, […] not the kind you’d boast about” (10). Cromwell was born into a working-class family at a time when class position almost always determined someone’s course in life. He rose to power and influence because of his intelligence, ambition, and foresight, but his status has always been tied to the goodwill and patronage of more powerful men. Because Cromwell is aware of his dependence, he becomes particularly adept at negotiating these relationships and succeeds in ways that characters born into higher status cannot. Some of the individuals who fail by offending or disappointing Henry have not spent their whole lives leveraging obedience to achieve security. Though Cromwell is beheaded in 1540 after arranging yet another marriage for Henry VIII, in Bring Up the Bodies, Cromwell succeeds through his ability to deftly meet Henry’s needs and desires.
Ambiguity Between Truth, Lies, and Rumors
The Tudor court is a world where objective reality matters little, and throughout the novel, characters repeatedly blur the distinctions between truth, lies, and rumors. As Cromwell muses, “[W]hat is the border between truth and lies? It is permeable and blurred because it is planted thick with rumor, confabulation, misunderstandings and twisted tales” (159). The conflation of these categories is striking given that people’s reputations and lives rest on claims of “truth.” As a lawyer, Cromwell is skilled at bending facts to suit the story he is trying to create; He can also compartmentalize his qualms and refuse to dwell on whether something is strictly true. There are numerous examples of Cromwell blurring the line between truth and lies. For instance, prior to the start of Bring up the Bodies, Cromwell pressured Henry Percy to state that he and Anne neither had a sexual relationship nor were formally promised to one another, as these conditions would have made it impossible for Henry to contract a legal marriage to Anne. Later, when Cromwell wants to dissolve the marriage between Henry and Anne, he pressures Henry Percy to retract these claims and say instead that he was contracted to Anne: “I put it to you, my lord, that you are married to Anne Boleyn” (355).
Truth, lies, and rumors play a vital role in the novel’s central conflict as Cromwell schemes to leverage accusations of adultery against Anne and various courtiers. Rumors have swirled about Anne’s possible promiscuity for a long time, and these rumors mean that it is relatively easy for Cromwell to advance claims that Anne has been involved with other men. Cromwell doesn’t care whether these claims are true because he sees them as a way to advance his goals. He also knows that anything can move from the status of rumor to truth if it is presented correctly. When Anne asks Cromwell whether he believes that she has been unfaithful, “he finds himself on the edge of something unwelcome: superfluous knowledge, useless information” (343). Cromwell maintains his ability to forge ahead by refusing to examine his conscience and interrogate the categories of truth and falsehood.
Blurring these categories is facilitated because the Tudor court is abuzz with gossip, rumors, and fake accounts from individuals trying to cement their own influence. For example, after Anne loses her pregnancy, individuals try to claim, “I was there […] I saw the trail of blood left on the ground as she walked” (180). The blood, which may or may not ever have existed, symbolizes the ghoulish interest people take in the misfortunes of others, especially those in power. Because of this interest, rumors and false narratives rapidly spiral out of control.
The exploration of this theme is noteworthy in a work of historical fiction. The genre often explores questions of fact, fiction, and omission in historical records. While many facts are known about important historical figures like Thomas Cromwell and King Henry VIII, novelists like Mantel take artistic license to imagine additional events and speculate on these figures’ motivations and emotions. In doing so, Mantel underscores the constructed nature of history. For example, after Henry’s jousting accident, the king confirms with Cromwell, “[Y]ou know this never happened?” (175). Ironically, the incident that Henry hoped to expunge did make its way into the historical record, and then secondarily into works of historical fiction. Truth, lies, and rumors may be mutable, but they are also impossible to ultimately control.
Rivalry and Cruelty Between Women
The world of the Tudor court is depicted as tense and dangerous, but Mantel draws special attention to rivalry and cruelty between women. In a time when women largely lack power and agency, they respond by fighting one another for the small amount of influence they can wield. Although Jane Seymour never expresses any ill will toward Anne Boleyn and waits for events to unfold around her, her position implicitly pits her against Anne. Only one woman can occupy the position of Henry’s wife and the queen, and because the laws around marriage and divorce were so restrictive in this era, Anne must die for Jane to take her place. This zero-sum game repeats the dynamic that existed between Anne and Katherine; however, Anne is much more vengeful and cruel. Anne believes that Katherine “should die inside, when she thinks of the lies she has told” (77), and she celebrates Katherine’s death by throwing a lavish party and wearing a flamboyant yellow gown. The rivalry between Anne and Katherine spills across generations, leading to hatred between Anne and Katherine’s daughter, Mary; Anne explains to Cromwell that “we are condemned to fight till the breath goes out of our bodies” (147).
As Cromwell begins to gather evidence against Anne, other women betray her by claiming that they have seen her engaging in suspicious activities with other men. These women are motivated by spite and jealousy, but they also face pressures because of the patriarchal world in which they live. Lady Worcester, for example, provides Cromwell with incriminating information about Anne because she is in debt and there are rumors that she is pregnant due to adultery. She needs help from a powerful man like Cromwell because she doesn’t have the agency to solve these problems herself. Lady Rochford, Anne’s sister-in-law, levels some of the most shocking accusations by claiming she has seen evidence of incest between Anne and her brother; she makes these accusations because she is bitter, unhappy in her marriage, and resentful. Lady Rochford decries the lack of control over her life when she complains that her father “paid less mind to contracting me to Boleyn than he would selling a hound puppy” (264). The comparison to an animal shows that women’s agency and feelings are often not respected, and they respond by grasping for what little power they can. Cromwell observes “the peculiar cruelty of women” (296), but he fails to draw the connection between this cruelty and their systematic disenfranchisement.
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By Hilary Mantel
