The Mirror & the Light Literary Elements

Historical Fiction, Novel.

The setting of the book is England in the mid 16th century.

The narrator of the book is an unnamed person and the story has been narrated from the author's point of view. She has four years of Cromwell's life.

Revealing, Thoughtful, Moralistic.

The protagonist and the antagonist of the book is the same person i.e. Thomas Cromwell. He is the protagonist of this book because he ascends from poverty to royal status but he is the antagonist because he executed the queen and the aristocratic families and tried to make himself as equal to the king.

The major conflict in the book is between the aristocrats and Cromwell. The aristocratic families assisted Cromwell in his plans but he started removing them from their statuses.

The climax in the book comes when King Henry marries Ann of Cleves despite of Cromwell's unlikeliness.

King Henry's marriage with Ann of Cleves foreshadows the powerlessness of Cromwell before the king. Although the king agrees to Cromwell's suggestions but he does not considers his denial regarding his marriage with Ann of Cleves.

The understatement in this historical account is that a man has to bear the burden of his sins. Cromwell executed Ann Boleyn and the aristocratic families, who helped him in achieving his aims so, he had to suffer the injustice that he employed on others. He used to become happy at the deaths of his enemies so his enemies also cherished his death. He used to put allegations on others so he also put into trial because of the false allegations. Another understatement in the book is that the real ruling power is the king, not his employers. Cromwell considers himself as equal to the king and he believes that he can control the decisions of king but he was helpless before the decisions of king. The king did not even trust him and beheaded him.

There are allusions to historical figures, assassination, trials, aristocrats, politics, murder, trials, allegations, marriage, punishment and death.

There are images of the assassination of Ann Boleyn, Marriage of king Henry, execution of aristocrats, trial of Cromwell, allegations by the enemies of Cromwell and his death. The book also portrays the violence on Cromwell and his punishment by the king.

The paradox in the story is that the king keeps Cromwell in high regard and agrees to his suggestions but when it comes to the trial of Cromwell, the king does not trust him and orders to torture him and then to behead him.

There is a parallelism between Cromwell's ruin and the third marriage of king. As the king marries Ann of Cleve, the deterioration of Cromwell's life begins.

An example of metonymy is Cromwell, who represents all the people who ascend to power but forget that they are just employees and they do not have the authority.

Power and death have been personified in the book.