<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Can a good man do evil things? This paper offers a moral philosophical reading of Hilary Mantel’s novels <italic>Wolf Hall</italic> and <italic>Bring up the bodies</italic>, focusing on Mantel’s fictional portrayal of Thomas Cromwell as a good person, in spite of his growing involvement in the dirty work of Henry VIII. The narrative resists interpretations of Cromwell as someone corrupted by power. It also thwarts attempts to read his deeds as results of a deficient capacity for sympathetic imagination, which has been a focalized moral flaw in contemporary moral philosophical discussions of literature. By thus resisting moralized readings of his character, the novels invite intensified attention to the complex dynamics of character and circumstance.</p></abstract>

Can a good man do evil things? This paper offers a moral philosophical reading of Hilary Mantel’s novels Wolf Hall and Bring up the bodies, focusing on Mantel’s fictional portrayal of Thomas Cromwell as a good person, in spite of his growing involvement in the dirty work of Henry VIII. The narrative resists interpretations of Cromwell as someone corrupted by power. It also thwarts attempts to read his deeds as results of a deficient capacity for sympathetic imagination, which has been a focalized moral flaw in contemporary moral philosophical discussions of literature. By thus resisting moralized readings of his character, the novels invite intensified attention to the complex dynamics of character and circumstance.

<italic>Wolf Hall</italic> and moral personhood

Centre for ethics as study in human value

Ethics & Bioethics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":{"italic":"Wolf Hall","content":"and moral personhood"}}

Can a good man do evil things? This paper offers a moral philosophical reading of Hilary Mantel’s novels Wolf Hall and Bring up the bodies, focusing on...

Wolf Hall and moral personhood

Published Online: Dec 11, 2019

Page range: 197 - 207

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2019-0021

Keywords
ethics, philosophy and literature, character, Hilary Mantel,

© 2019 Nora Hämäläinen, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Wolf Hall and moral personhood

Published Online: Dec 11, 2019

Page range: 197 - 207

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2019-0021

Keywordsethics, philosophy and literature, character, Hilary Mantel,

© 2019 Nora Hämäläinen, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
ethics, philosophy and literature, character, Hilary Mantel,