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Part 3: Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Wolf Hall, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power, Ambition, and Deception
Poor Leadership and Violence
Children and Human Connection
Dogmatism vs. Open-Mindedness
Myth and Storytelling
Summary
Analysis
The household at Austin Friars is 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 an armed escort. Cromwell’s first thought is that they have come to arrest him. Alice and Jo appear, and Jo begins to cry. Gregory comes fully dressed, and he tells Cromwell he is there for him.
This scene shows the precarious position Cromwell occupies under King Henry. Though Cromwell has committed no crime that he is aware of, he thinks it is entirely possible that he has angered the king in some way and will have the pay the price for it.
Themes
Brereton tells Cromwell that the king is at Greenwich and wishes to see him. Cromwell tells his family to go to bed since the king wouldn’t order him to Greenwich to arrest him, even though he isn’t sure that this is true. Richard looks like he wants to hit Brereton, and Cromwell thinks he himself would have once been like that, but that now he is “as sweet as a May morning.”
Cromwell is concerned that his family is worried about him, and generously attempts to console them even though he is still nervous about his fate. Cromwell’s thoughts about Richard emphasizes that he has now become very good at hiding what he truly feels; he, too, would like to hit Brereton, but he doesn’t let it show at all.
Themes
Cromwell, accompanied by Richard, Rafe, and Gregory, boards Brereton’s barge, and they begin the journey down the Thames. Henry Norris is waiting for them with torches at the pier, and he takes Cromwell up to the king’s chamber, where he also finds Cranmer.
Richard, Rafe, and Gregory seem to still be worried about Cromwell, which is why they accompany him on this cold, late journey. Cromwell loves these young people, and they reciprocate his concern and affection.
Themes
As soon as Cromwell walks in, the king tells him that his “dead brother came to [him] in a dream,” and Cromwell stays quiet because he has no idea what a “sensible answer” to this might be. The king says that God permits the dead to walk in the 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany. Cromwell notices that Henry is wearing a “russet velvet, sable-lined.” The “lining creeps down over his hands, as if he were a monster-king, growing his own fur.”
The king’s outburst about seeing his dead brother in a dream catches Cromwell completely off-guard, but he manages to stay sensibly quiet. Henry in his velvet, fur-lined cloak looks like a “monster-king” to Cromwell—which hints that he is essentially an irrational creature who demands subservience from all who surround him. His hidden hands also symbolize the way that his intentions are mysterious to Cromwell at this point.
Themes
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Henry says that Arthur seemed sad that Henry had “taken [his] kingdom, and […] used [his] wife.” Cranmer seems impatient as he tells the king that it was God’s will that Arthur died before he could rule, and though they acknowledge there was a sin in Henry’s marrying Katherine, “with God there is mercy enough.” Henry disagrees, saying his brother will plead against him when he goes to judgment, and that he is coming back to shame him. When Cranmer seems about to speak again, Cromwell signals to him to stay quiet. He then asks Henry if Arthur spoke to him. When Henry says he didn’t, Cromwell tells him that there is then no reason to think Arthur meant “anything but good,” which he admits “is a mistake we make with the dead.”
Henry is filled with irrational fears after the dream. Cranmer seems impatient as he tries to console Henry based on his own study of theology, but his words have no effect on Henry. However, Cromwell seems to know how to calm the king down even though others have failed.
Themes
Cromwell puts his hand on Henry’s arm and tells him that power passes from the living to the dead at the very time of death, and Arthur visited Henry to tell him to “examine his kingship” and “exert it.” Cromwell reminds Henry that the words written on Arthur’s tomb say, “The former king is the future king.” He says that if “[his] brother seems to say that [Henry has] taken his place, then he means for [Henry] to become the king that he would have been.”
Previously, Henry had been shocked when Norfolk, a duke, had his hand on Cromwell’s shoulder because it implied too much familiarity with a commoner. However, Cromwell makes the bold move to reach out and touch the king now, and Henry seems fine with it, which shows that his esteem for Cromwell has grown enough that it trumps Henry’s previous reservations concerning Cromwell’s background.
Themes
When Henry wonders why Arthur comes to him now with this message after he has been king for 20 years, Cromwell “bites back the temptation to say, because you are forty and he is telling you to grow up.” Instead he tells Henry that it is now time for him to be the ruler he should be—“to be sole and supreme head” of the kingdom. He tells Henry that Anne Boleyn will say the same thing, and that if his father should appear to him in a dream, it is for the same reason. Henry is satisfied with this explanation and relaxes. He says he understands everything now, and that he was right about whom to call.
Cromwell cleverly uses Henry’s concern about his dream to further his own agenda. Cromwell interprets the dream as meaning that Henry must exert his kingly powers further. This would be the means to what Cromwell wants, which is for Anne Boleyn to be crowned the queen. While Cromwell thinks that the king’s concerns are trivial and silly, he hides his feelings well, and that restraint is a big part of what makes Henry trust him.
Themes
As Cromwell and Cranmer walk out of the king’s chambers, Cranmer says, “Neat work,” and Cromwell fights the urge to laugh. Cranmer says it was “a deft touch” to say that even if the king’s father appears in his dreams, it would mean the same thing, and Cranmer guesses that Cromwell doesn’t “like to be roused too often in the small hours.” Cromwell says it worries his household. Cranmer says that Cromwell’s words were “perfect in every way,” and as if he had “thought of it in advance.” He calls him “a man of vigorous invention,” and recounting the way he gripped the king’s arm, he says he is “a person of great force of will.”
Cranmer seems to share Cromwell’s opinion that Henry’s anxiety was a bit of a joke, but they don’t openly admit it to each other. As courtiers, they never openly criticize the king’s actions since they know it is dangerous to do so. Cranmer failed to console Henry with his religious consolations, and he is in awe of Cromwell’s quick mind since he seemed to know exactly what to say to Henry.
Themes
Rafe, Gregory, and Richard rush to Cromwell when he heads outside, asking what happened. Rafe is shocked that the king got them all out of bed for a bad dream, and Brereton says that “he gets one out of bed for less than that.” The boys hug each other, “wild with relief,” and Gregory says they thought that the king had thrown Cromwell in some dungeon. Cranmer is amused at this scene, and says to Cromwell, “Your children love you.”
Rafe, Richard, and Gregory clearly treasure Cromwell, which again demonstrates that his devotion to them leads to positive outcomes.
Themes
Later that same day, Cromwell returns to Greenwich to be sworn in as one of Henry’s councilors. The king “does not want to wait” to do this and seems to feel a sense of “personal triumph” at this decision. Warham, the Archbishop of Canterbury, wonders what the world has come to for Cromwell to join the king’s council.
Cromwell’s words of consolation to Henry have been such a success with the king that he has decided to make Cromwell an official member of his council. Henry knows that he is breaking with tradition in doing this since Cromwell isn’t from nobility, but Henry seems to enjoy asserting his power in this manner. Perhaps Cromwell’s words to him earlier that morning—saying that his brother Arthur means for Henry to be “sole and supreme head” of the kingdom—have given Henry the courage to make this unorthodox move.
Themes
Cromwell spots Thomas More and notices that “he is more disheveled than usual.” More tells Cromwell that his father died, and he begins to cry as he talks of it. Cromwell starts to tell More about how he felt after his wife’s death—and then thinks of “[his] daughters, [his] sister, [his] household decimated, [his] people never out of black, and now [his] lord cardinal lost” and decides not to admit “that sorrow has sapped his will.”
Despite Cromwell seeing sudden and big successes in his career, he thinks of how his personal tragedies have “sapped his will.” He comes close to admitting this to More, but he decides not to at the last minute. Cromwell is always wary that if he exposes his true feelings, he will be taken advantage of.
Themes
Instead, Cromwell tells More that “feeling will come back,” and More says that he knows that Cromwell, too, has had his losses, and that they should put all that aside and move on to do this “necessary thing.” He begins to read Cromwell the oath. Halfway through, he begins weeping again, and Warham says that he feels sorry for More, but that “death comes to us all.” Cromwell thinks that he could do a better job than the Archbishop of Canterbury at comforting More. After Cromwell has been sworn in, he thinks back to the day when the cardinal’s York Place was wrecked and about how he and Cavendish had stood by and watched as the cardinal’s luxurious clothes were pulled out of his trunks.
Even though Cromwell is making a huge leap in his career, this exciting moment is clouded by the specter of death. Cromwell’s promotion to councilor came about because of the king’s dream about his dead brother, and even the oath that Cromwell has to take is interrupted by Thomas More weeping over his dead father. Cromwell, too, is troubled my memories of Wolsey, who was the one who gave Cromwell his start in his career. The cardinal’s crimson clothes were a symbol of his power, and when they were pulled out and discarded carelessly, they symbolized the end of Wolsey’s supremacy. By thinking back on that moment, Cromwell seems to be reflecting that power and dignity can be taken away at a moment’s notice. Even though Cromwell has successfully—and quite surprisingly—made his way into the council, he is aware that he is not truly safe and probably never will be.
Themes
