Bias in History
How Wolf Hall Comments on the Credibility of Recorded
History
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is a work of historical fiction regarding the
English reformation seen through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, a man of
common origin who rises through the ranks of the court of Henry the
Eighth. Many characters in Wolf Hall are important sources on the English
Reformation for modern historians. Wolf Hall shows how histories like this
one are altered by the recorders of it and how certain events are
mythologized over time; Wolf Hall is a commentary on the way history is
recorded.
Wolf Hall deliberately shows the reader how history is exaggerated and
mythologized. In Wolf Hall, the reader sees historical events taking place
in this fictional narrative and gets to know the characters of this history.
Later in the book, when these events have passed and the characters
have died, literature and plays about these events are shown that
contradict or exaggerate the facts. This way, Mantel implies that in the
actual world history is also crooked and misrepresented. This is most
notable in the multiple plays about cardinal Wolsey presented in the book:
“The cardinal lies on his back, a crimson mountain; he flails his
hands; he offers his bishopric of Winchester to anyone who can get
him on his mule. Some students, under a frame draped with donkey
skins, enact the mule, which turns about and jokes in Latin, and farts
in the cardinal’s face.” (p. 236, Mantel, 2009)
This play contradicts the view of the narrator, Thomas Cromwell, who sees
the cardinal as an intelligent and compassionate man. Wolsey indulges in
fancy clothing and implies to have several bastards, but he has done a lot
of good for Britain overall. After the cardinal’s death, plays about him
become more dramatic and exaggerated:
How Wolf Hall Comments on the Credibility of Recorded
History
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is a work of historical fiction regarding the
English reformation seen through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, a man of
common origin who rises through the ranks of the court of Henry the
Eighth. Many characters in Wolf Hall are important sources on the English
Reformation for modern historians. Wolf Hall shows how histories like this
one are altered by the recorders of it and how certain events are
mythologized over time; Wolf Hall is a commentary on the way history is
recorded.
Wolf Hall deliberately shows the reader how history is exaggerated and
mythologized. In Wolf Hall, the reader sees historical events taking place
in this fictional narrative and gets to know the characters of this history.
Later in the book, when these events have passed and the characters
have died, literature and plays about these events are shown that
contradict or exaggerate the facts. This way, Mantel implies that in the
actual world history is also crooked and misrepresented. This is most
notable in the multiple plays about cardinal Wolsey presented in the book:
“The cardinal lies on his back, a crimson mountain; he flails his
hands; he offers his bishopric of Winchester to anyone who can get
him on his mule. Some students, under a frame draped with donkey
skins, enact the mule, which turns about and jokes in Latin, and farts
in the cardinal’s face.” (p. 236, Mantel, 2009)
This play contradicts the view of the narrator, Thomas Cromwell, who sees
the cardinal as an intelligent and compassionate man. Wolsey indulges in
fancy clothing and implies to have several bastards, but he has done a lot
of good for Britain overall. After the cardinal’s death, plays about him
become more dramatic and exaggerated:
