Little Bilney Character Analysis

Little Bilney is a priest who questions some aspects of the Catholic faith, like the belief in purgatory and keeping fasts and vigils. Cromwell warns him that these are dangerous ideas to voice, but Bilney insists on being very vocal about them. Thomas More arrests him for heresy and has him imprisoned in the Tower of London. Cromwell appeals to Wolsey to try and get Bilney released. Wolsey says he will do his best, but he doesn’t succeed. Bilney is burned for heresy years after he is imprisoned. When Anne Boleyn gives Cromwell the news about this, she calls Bilney a fool for insisting on saying things that would get him killed. While people like Cromwell and Anne are careful to modulate their opinions to their audiences, Bilney represents the danger of sticking to one’s opinions without compromise. Rather than being heroic, he seems foolish, and he doesn’t accomplish his aim of changing anyone’s mind. After Bilney’s death, Thomas More floats a rumor around that Bilney recanted his heretical beliefs as he was burning, which Cromwell knows is untrue.