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Part 5, Chapter 3: Pages 618-632
Themes
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
On Monday, January 5, two officials from Anna of Cleves’s party come to see Cromwell. They take an oath that Anna is free to marry and say that they’ll commit to finding original documents that attest to that within three months. Anna of Cleves takes a similar oath, stating that she is free to marry. Privately, King Henry asks Cromwell if there’s any way to stop the marriage, but he asks rhetorically, knowing the matter has already been decided.
King Henry continues to act petulantly while Anna of Cleves and her party try to ensure the wedding will still happen. Notably, King Henry has been in control of every aspect of the wedding—nothing would have happened without his approval—while Anna of Cleves has had almost no control over her own marriage. With that in mind, the disparity between Henry and Anna of Cleves’s reactions in this passage deepens the novel’s portrayal of Henry as a petulant, egotistical, and volatile person.
Themes
On Tuesday, the king’s council meets at 7 in the morning. The council discusses the new developments in the marriage and King Henry’s apparent aversion to Anna of Cleves. Cromwell reiterates that England still needs alum and political allies more than ever. The marriage will help them secure both. Finally, the marriage ceremony commences. It’s short and to the point. After King Henry says his vows, he kisses Anna of Cleves once on each cheek. Anna of Cleves waits for a kiss on the lips, but it doesn’t come. A reception follows the ceremony, during which King Henry and Anna of Cleves struggle to talk through various translators. At one point, Anna of Cleves asks if Gregory is present and remarks on how well he took care of her in Calais. Eventually, the king and new queen retire to their room.
Previously, Cromwell has repeatedly shown that he understands that one of the most important rules of his position is that he should never directly go against the king, or, as he wrote in the “Book Called Henry,” engage in a contest of wills with the king. In this instance, though, Cromwell finds himself pushing through a marriage that the king clearly doesn’t want, raising the question of whether Cromwell might pay a price for doing so. Notably, Cromwell pushes for the marriage to go ahead on political, rather than personal, grounds. That is, Cromwell seems to ignore the personal issues at the heart of the marriage in favor of prioritizing the marriage’s political importance, highlighting Cromwell’s tendency to ignore the personal side of matters because he feels more comfortable dealing with politics.
Themes
At dawn, Cromwell and Riche talk. They both wonder if King Henry and Anna of Cleves consummated their marriage the night before. A messenger brings a letter to Cromwell from Tom Wyatt. The letter says that the Emperor is troubled by the marriage between King Henry and Anna of Cleves, which Cromwell takes as a good sign. Later, Cromwell speaks with Henry. Henry says that he liked Anna of Cleves fine before, but when they went to the marriage bed, he found her repulsive and was unable to consummate the marriage. Cromwell then speaks with King Henry’s doctor, Dr. Butts. The two discuss the fact that Henry and Anna of Cleves did not consummate the marriage. Cromwell asks if Butts has heard anything from Anna of Cleves’s camp, and Butts says no, perhaps because Anna of Cleves believes that the poor start to the marriage can still be corrected.
Again, King Henry’s “revulsion” to Anna of Cleves seems to have begun when Anna of Cleves involuntarily recoiled in disgust when she first saw him. While Anna of Cleves has tried to make the best of the marriage and seems to hope the situation can be mended, in this passage, Henry shows that he is apparently incapable of overlooking the blow to his ego. That underlines Henry’s fragile sense of his own masculinity. He is accustomed to being coddled and flattered at every turn, and when he sees for an instant how people actually see him when they are not acting in deference to his power, he can’t bear it and lashes out at Anna of Cleves in a misogynistic way to avoid facing the truth of who he is.
Themes
The king’s council meets and discusses King Henry’s inability or unwillingness to consummate his marriage to Anna of Cleves. Some criticize Cromwell for pushing through the marriage, but Cromwell says he didn’t do anything without King Henry’s permission. Cranmer says that perhaps something is inhibiting the king and suggests that maybe it’s the lack of paperwork attesting to Anna of Cleves’s free marriage status. King Henry then enters the room, and the group discusses the possible marriage between Mary and Duke Philip.
Cromwell points out that King Henry approved of every aspect of his marriage to Anna of Cleves. However, while Cromwell has previously shown in his work that he is an expert in putting together successful political plans, it seems that in this instance he’s hit a snag that can’t be easily overcome: the king’s fragile ego and fragile sense of masculinity, which results in the king’s petulant response to Anna of Cleves.
Themes
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Mary and Duke Philip recently met for the first time, and the meeting seemed to go well. Cromwell then speaks up during the king’s council meeting. He says that right now, all of King Henry’s enemies believe that the marriage between Mary and Duke Philip is as good as settled. Since it’s never a good idea to do what one’s enemies expect, Cromwell recommends that they stop pursuing that marriage. King Henry ultimately agrees. Norfolk then says that Mary will never marry because Cromwell finds reason to call off any possible marriage with her involved.
Again, Cromwell stresses the political advantages of the king’s marriage to Anna of Cleves in the apparent hope that the king and the king’s council will be won over by reason. While that may be a sound strategy when approaching the king’s council, Cromwell seems to overlook the fact that King Henry is in an emotional state where reason won’t easily reach him.
Themes
King Henry sleeps alone that night and then goes to Anna of Cleves’s bedroom the two following nights. After those two nights, Cromwell talks to Henry’s doctors. King Henry has told them that he finds Anna of Cleves repulsive and hasn’t been able to consummate the marriage. Cromwell is embarrassed to have the conversation.
This passage underlines King Henry’s fragile sense of masculinity. He can’t handle Anna of Cleves’s apparent slight of him and is unable to perform sexually as a result. Meanwhile, Anna of Cleves remains in a position she never asked to be in. With that in mind, Anna of Cleves’s position in the marriage reveals the systemic misogyny of the time period, while King Henry’s remarks about Anna of Cleves show that he is also personally misogynistic.
Themes
