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Mark Smeaton
John Seymour is the head of the household at Wolf Hall. His name is disgraced in court because he has an incestuous affair with his daughter-in-law. Old John’s disgraceful behavior underlines the idea that people are not very different from wild, uncivilized beasts. He is father to Jane Seymour, who seems embarrassed and angry about her father’s behavior.
John Seymour Quotes in Wolf Hall
The Wolf Hall quotes below are all either spoken by John Seymour or refer to John Seymour. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 4: Chapter 2 Quotes
“Look,” she says. She holds up her sleeves. The bright blue with which she has edged them, that kingfisher flash, is cut from the silk in which he wrapped her present of needlework patterns. How do matters stand now at Wolf Hall, he asks, as tactfully as he can: how do you ask after a family, in the wake of incest? She says in her clear little voice, “Sir John is very well. But then Sir John is always very well. […] Why don’t you make some business in Wiltshire and ride down to inspect us? Oh, and if the king gets a new wife, she will need matrons to attend her, and my sister Liz is coming to court. […] I would rather go up-country to the queen, myself. […]”
“If I were your father…no…” he rephrases it, “if I were to advise you, it would be to serve Lady Anne.”
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John Seymour Character Timeline in Wolf Hall
The timeline below shows where the character John Seymour appears in Wolf Hall. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 3: Chapter 2: Entirely Beloved Cromwell, Spring-December 1530
...speak in French at his next meeting with Anne Boleyn, and she introduces herself as John Seymour ’s daughter from Wolf Hall. Cromwell is surprised because he thought the Seymour girls were...
(full context)
Part 4: Chapter 1: Arrange Your Face, 1531
...from court since her family has been the subject of gossip and disgrace. Her father, John Seymour , was caught sleeping with his daughter-in-law Catherine Fillol, who is married to his son...
(full context)
Part 4: Chapter 2: “Alas, What Shall I Do for Love?”, Spring 1532
At the celebration afterward, Cromwell spots John Seymour ’s daughter, the pale, quiet girl he is so taken with. She holds up her...
(full context)
