“The Dyer’s Hands Are Always Stained”: Religion and the Clergy in The Tudors

Abstract

A poignant scene in the first season of The Tudors begins in the bright sunshine of a stable yard in Paris, where Thomas Wolsey and Thomas More discuss the price of a career in royal service. Wolsey insists a man must be prepared to compromise his principles. He declares, “The dyer’s hand is always stained by the elements he works with.” More refuses to accept this assertion. Dipping his own hands into a nearby bucket of water, he retorts, “Here is my element. The spiritual element. The higher element. Now, you tell me—am I stained by it?”¹ So ends an excellent exchange, underscoring the contrasting dispositions of Sam Neill’s Wolsey and Jeremy Northam’s More. While the former is invariably concerned with the demands of this world, the latter refuses to compromise his principles regardless of the cost. Like the ambitious Wolsey, The Tudors is also stained by the elements with which it works. Comprising a total of 38 episodes, the series has more than enough opportunity to explore the complexity of the Tudor era. Concerned with both attracting and keeping a popular audience, however, the script chooses to focus on the more gratuitous aspects of Henry VIII’s reign. The theme of religion—“the spiritual element”—is visible throughout, but it is undermined by a simplistic approach to difficult concepts and an obvious preference for entertainment.