Johane Character Analysis in Wolf Hall

After Liz Wykys’s death, her sister Johane comes to live in Cromwell’s house to help him with running the household. She is very similar to Liz in the way she looks and speaks, and she and Cromwell have an affair, despite Johane already being married. However, they both decide to end it and realize they probably started sleeping with each other out of their grief at losing Liz. Cromwell is courteous and kind to Johane when he breaks off their relationship, which is proof not only of his compassionate nature but also shows his powers of persuasion, since Johane agrees with him completely and harbors no ill will toward him.

Johane Character Timeline in Wolf Hall

The timeline below shows where the character Johane appears in Wolf Hall. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Children and Human Connection Theme Icon

...should move into Cromwell’s household to help Liz’s mother Mercy with the girls. Liz’s sister, Johane, is there too, and Cromwell thinks that she looks just like Liz. Her husband, John... (full context)

Power, Ambition, and Deception Theme Icon

Johane moves into Cromwell’s house at Austin Friars with her husband, John Williamson, and their daughter,... (full context)

...wonders if he can train him to be a businessman instead of a scholar, but Johane says that Cromwell must “marry him well” because Gregory is a gentleman. (full context)

...will take the dogs, and when Gregory worries that people might laugh at him, too, Johane says that no one will “dare laugh” at Cromwell. (full context)

...lute player: people imagining what they cannot know,” since he is sure that he and Johane have been very secretive. He asks Gardiner if he thinks of marrying, to which Gardiner... (full context)

...Gardiner whispering together. Wriothesley diligently helps Cromwell and is a better assistant than even Rafe. Johane’s daughter sews an “awkward backstitch” that would be hard to imitate, and Cromwell has her... (full context)

...awakened late one night by someone knocking at the gate. Cromwell comes down to find Johane, Richard, and Rafe facing William Brereton of the privy chamber, who has come there with... (full context)

Dogmatism vs. Open-Mindedness Theme Icon

...ask him to appeal to either the king or Anne Boleyn on behalf of John. Johane tells Lucy that the Petyts were “the first to throw calumnies at the cardinal,” and... (full context)

Meanwhile, Cromwell knows that nothing good can come out of “the piece of folly” with Johane and thinks that it has to stop. While she used to make excuses to be... (full context)

...Henry wants is “Anne [Boleyn] in his bed,” and he’s used to having his way. Johane is surprised that Henry will “take the money of Christian people,” since he is rich.... (full context)

...“that weight [to] shift from inside his chest.” He realizes that he never thinks of Johane anymore—while her body once had “special meaning” for him, “that meaning is now unmade.” He... (full context)

...to see the king, who is kind and gallant with them. After the king leaves, Johane sits by Cromwell and says that “the whole household did well.” She says she is... (full context)