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Summary
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Mirror & the Light, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Loyalty, Volatility, and Absolute Power
Nobility, Meritocracy, and the Aristocracy
Risk, Progress, and Downfall
Masculinity and Misogyny
Corruption and Injustice
Summary
Analysis
Thomas Cromwell witnesses the execution of Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn is the former wife of King Henry VIII, thus the former Queen of England, and she was sentenced to death after she was tried and convicted of adultery and conspiracy to kill Henry. Rumors say that she was guilty of incest as well. After the execution, Cromwell talks with his son Gregory. He warns Gregory that when they’re in public, all of Gregory’s actions will be scrutinized to determine if he will one day be worthy to take over Cromwell’s position serving the throne. Gregory says he doesn’t think he’s cut out for the work because he isn’t interested in the nuances and duplicities of politics.
Cromwell helped orchestrate Anne Boleyn’s downfall and execution by leveling apparently made-up charges of adultery and conspiracy against her. He helped arrange that downfall to curry favor with King Henry and to raise his own profile. That shows Cromwell’s loyalty to the king, puts his ambition on display, and also reveals his complicity in the king’s more ruthless schemes. Gregory’s comments underline the complexities of Cromwell’s political strategies and point out the ways that Cromwell must play a kind of chess match at all times to stay ahead in his work.
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Other people present at the execution gather around Cromwell. They are eager to learn when they’ll be able to see the new queen, Jane Seymour. Cromwell says he doesn’t think she’ll be seen in public until she and the king are officially married. Cromwell leaves the group with his nephew, Richard. They go to visit Tom Wyatt, who is a prisoner in the Tower of London. Wyatt is one of Cromwell’s closest friends, and he was also accused of sleeping with Anne Boleyn. Cromwell had to pull strings to ensure that Wyatt wasn’t executed with the other men accused of being her lovers. Cromwell looks out for Wyatt, though, because of a promise he (Cromwell) made to Wyatt’s father.
On the day of Anne Boleyn’s execution, King Henry has already found a new queen in Jane Seymour. Notably, Jane Seymour worked as a lady-in-waiting for Anne Boleyn, just as Anne Boleyn served as a lady-in-waiting for King Henry’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Henry discarded Katherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn when Katherine did not give birth to a male heir. To annul his marriage to Katherine, Henry split with the Pope and the Catholic Church. When Anne Boleyn also did not give birth to a male heir, Henry had Anne Boleyn executed. That execution underlines the misogyny and violence against women that King Henry perpetrates with help from Cromwell.
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After leaving Tom Wyatt, Cromwell and Richard return to Cromwell’s home. Cromwell is now 50. He is a commoner, meaning he was born with no social rank, but he has risen in his position to become the second most powerful man in England behind the king. He is well-known for his prodigious memory. He thinks, ruefully, that his principal job now is to secure new wives for the king and get rid of the old ones. It’s been seven years since his wife and daughter died. Sometimes, he considers remarrying, but he knows his lifestyle wouldn’t be amenable to married life.
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Cromwell’s chief clerk, Rafe, is waiting for him when he gets home. Cromwell and Rafe discuss Anne Boleyn’s execution. Cromwell insists that Anne Boleyn had been planning to take the king’s life and deserved to die for treason in addition to her numerous affairs. Rafe asks what will happen to Anne Boleyn’s daughter, and Cromwell says that she, like King Henry’s other two children, is now a “bastard.” Near evening, Mr. Wriothesley, who people refer to as Call-Me, arrives to see Cromwell. Call-Me passes on information about what others are saying regarding Anne Boleyn’s death. Call-Me says that Gardiner, the ambassador from England to France, wants to know what to tell the French court.
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Call-Me also says that Gardiner, who is the Bishop of Winchester, is wondering where Cromwell’s loyalties lie. The question is in the air because King Henry VIII previously accused Cromwell’s former mentor and close friend, Cardinal Wolsey, of treason after Wolsey failed to annul Henry’s first marriage. Wolsey died before he could be tried for his supposed crimes. Gardiner is wondering, Call-Me says, whether Cromwell might feel compelled to seek revenge against the king for what he did to Wolsey. Cromwell decides to send money to Gardiner to try and appease him. While the people who brought down the Boleyns certainly didn’t aim to empower Cromwell, Cromwell intends to take advantage of the situation to come out ahead. That night, Cromwell dreams of Anne Boleyn’s execution. It is May 20, 1536.
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