Bring Up The Bodies

Content Warning: The novel and the guide reference pregnancy loss and domestic abuse.

The Tower of London is a castle on the banks of the Thames River. The oldest parts of the structure date back to the 11th century. By Henry VIII’s era, the castle served ceremonial functions (a king or queen traditionally spent the night there before their coronation) and was also used as a prison for high-ranking prisoners. In the novel, the Tower symbolizes an inevitable reckoning with fate and the lack of control individuals have over their destiny. It is presented to evoke fear since torture was common there; when Cromwell and his associates are questioning Mark Smeaton, they warn him that “we can take you to the Tower where there is a rack” (276). For others, being transported to the Tower is a death sentence; it begins a process that almost always has the same outcome. When Cromwell and other high-ranking men escort Anne to the Tower, she collapses just before entering, knowing “the next thing they will do together, which is kill her” (298). Wolsey, whose fate is referenced throughout the novel, died before reaching the Tower, but the assumption is that he would have been executed, had he reached it.