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Publication detail

Wolf Hall and moral personhood

Authors: Hämäläinen Nora Fiona Karolina

Year: 2019

Type of publication: článek v odborném periodiku

Name of source: Ethics and Bioethics (in Central Europe)

Page from-to: 197-207

Titles:

Language	Name	Abstract	Keywords
cze	Wolf Hall 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 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.	etika; filosofie a literatura; charakter; Hilary Mantel; Wolf Hall
eng	Wolf Hall 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 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.	ethics; philosophy and literature; character; Hilary Mantel; Wolf Hall; Bring up the Bodies