Mirrors

Mirrors are a complex symbol, representing identity, misunderstanding, and distortion. Henry is delighted when Cromwell calls him "the mirror and the light" of all princes: here, the image suggests that he is a model to all, reflecting true kingly glory. But if mirrors reflect the truth, they also reverse and distort it. Cromwell's downfall puts him in a house of mirrors. His interrogators turn all his careful actions against him; his genuine (if complex) loyalty is reversed into treason.

Cats

Cats often represent Cromwell himself. He meets any number of them over the course of the book: the long-lived Marlinspike (a fugitive gift from Cardinal Wolsey), the Damascus cat who calmly evades a horde of young men trying to capture her, the mysterious leopard who turns up in a crate at Cromwell's door and immediately recognizes him as her master. These cats—competent, implacable, animal, and...