--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: 'Wolf Hall' attempts to duplicate not the…" description: "\"'Wolf Hall' attempts to duplicate not the historian's chronology but the way memory works: in leaps, loops, flashes.\" — Hilary Mantel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7f/hilary-mantel-440_chronology_wolf-hall-attempts-to-duplicate-not-the_1165682.jpg" --- # 'Wolf Hall' attempts to duplicate not the historian's… ![“'Wolf Hall' attempts to duplicate not the historian's chronology but the way memory works: in leaps, loops, flashes.” quote by Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7f/hilary-mantel-440_chronology_wolf-hall-attempts-to-duplicate-not-the_1165682.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7f/hilary-mantel-440_chronology_wolf-hall-attempts-to-duplicate-not-the_1165682.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7f/hilary-mantel-440_chronology_wolf-hall-attempts-to-duplicate-not-the_1165682.jpg) > “'Wolf Hall' attempts to duplicate not the historian's chronology but the way memory works: in leaps, loops, flashes.” [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrative mimics memory’s fragmented, non‑linear nature rather than strict historical order. **In simple terms:** Memory is shown as jumps and loops, not straight timeline. Key Takeaway Embrace storytelling that reflects how we recall events. Themes memory history storytelling perception Mood reflective introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - teaching history - creative therapy - museum exhibits Key Concepts non‑linear narrative cognitive psychology historical fiction Questions to Reflect On - How does a fragmented narrative affect understanding of history? - Can memory‑like storytelling improve empathy? A Different Perspective May sacrifice factual accuracy for emotional truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chronology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chronology/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Leap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leap/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ## Related quotes > [I think it took me half a page of 'Wolf Hall' to think: 'This is the novel I should have been writing all along.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/i-think-it-took-me-half-a-page-of-wolf-hall-to-think-this-is-the/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [ To my astonishment, when Wolf Hall came out, people asked if I made it up - \[Thomas More\] burning of heretics. It was well… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/to-my-astonishment-when-wolf-hall-came-out-people-asked-if-i-made-it/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“It is not as if it is tales out of Boccaccio.' She laughs. 'They could tell Boccaccio a tale, those sinners at Wolf Hall.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/it-is-not-as-if-it-is-tales-out-of-boccaccio-she-laughs-they-could/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > ['Show up at the desk' is one of the first rules of writing, but for 'Wolf Hall' I was about 30 years late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/show-up-at-the-desk-is-one-of-the-first-rules-of-writing-but-for-wolf/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“But isn’t that the way it is with memory? Give it enough time and it will become worn down and covered in a patina…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mott/but-isn-t-that-the-way-it-is-with-memory-give-it-enough-time-and-it/) [Jason Mott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mott/) > [“Memory is the grid of meaning we impose on the random and bewildering flux of the world. Memory is the line we pay out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/memory-is-the-grid-of-meaning-we-impose-on-the-random-and-bewildering/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Nothing in the last few years has dazzled me more than Hilary Mantel's 'Wolf Hall,' which blew the top of my head straight off.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/nothing-in-the-last-few-years-has-dazzled-me-more-than-hilary-mantel/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [We are not telling Tudor history; we are creating ' Wolf Hall ' from novels, which are already a rereading of Tudor history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-lewis/we-are-not-telling-tudor-history-we-are-creating-wolf-hall-from/) [Damian Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-lewis/) > [Transactive memory works best when you have a sense of how your partners' minds work - where they're strong, where they're weak, where their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/transactive-memory-works-best-when-you-have-a-sense-of-how-your/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [“creativity is associative memory that works exceptionally well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/creativity-is-associative-memory-that-works-exceptionally-well/) [Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/) > [ “\[M\]any people believe that memory works like a recording device. You just record the information, then you call it up and play it back… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-loftus/m-any-people-believe-that-memory-works-like-a-recording-device-you/) [Elizabeth Loftus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-loftus/) > [Human memory works its own wheel, and stops where it will, entirely without reference to the last stop, and with no connection with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/human-memory-works-its-own-wheel-and-stops-where-it-will-entirely/) [William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/) > [Memory weaves and traps us at the same time according to a scheme in which we do not participate: we should never speak of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/memory-weaves-and-traps-us-at-the-same-time-according-to-a-scheme-in/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [...that's how memory works ... Things disappear without your permission, then come back again without your permission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/that-s-how-memory-works-things-disappear-without-your-permission-then/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [Memory works according to meaning, and when something is important to you, the Google in your brain brings it forward all of a sudden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-tobolowsky/memory-works-according-to-meaning-and-when-something-is-important-to/) [Stephen Tobolowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-tobolowsky/) ## More by Hilary Mantel > [People will identify with a persecuted minority without asking themselves what they are identifying with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/people-will-identify-with-a-persecuted-minority-without-asking/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“The hunter is among the most innocent of men; living in the moment makes him feel pure. When he returns in the evening, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/the-hunter-is-among-the-most-innocent-of-men-living-in-the-moment/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“But what would happen … I mean, what would be so awful … if they did meet up?” “Why, it would be like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/but-what-would-happen-i-mean-what-would-be-so-awful-if-they-did-meet/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [When you have committed enough words to paper, you feel you have a spine stiff enough to stand up in the wind. But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/when-you-have-committed-enough-words-to-paper-you-feel-you-have-a/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [At New Year's he had given Anne a present of silver forks with handles of rock crystal. He hopes she will use them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/at-new-year-s-he-had-given-anne-a-present-of-silver-forks-with/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“The story of my own childhood is a complicated sentence that I am always trying to finish, to finish and put behind me. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/the-story-of-my-own-childhood-is-a-complicated-sentence-that-i-am/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“He wants to say, because Anne is not a carnal being, she is a calculating being, with a cold slick brain at work behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/he-wants-to-say-because-anne-is-not-a-carnal-being-she-is-a/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Come to that, don't pay out good money for horoscopes. If things are going to go badly for you, is that what you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/come-to-that-don-t-pay-out-good-money-for-horoscopes-if-things-are/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“But my sins are my strength, he thinks; the sins I have done, that others have not even found the opportunity of committing. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/but-my-sins-are-my-strength-he-thinks-the-sins-i-have-done-that/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [Feminism hasn't failed, it's just never been tried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/feminism-hasn-t-failed-it-s-just-never-been-tried/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Mirabeau: “If you have been told to clear us from this hall, you must ask for orders to use force. We shall leave our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/mirabeau-if-you-have-been-told-to-clear-us-from-this-hall-you-must/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Cardinal Campeggio has implored Katherine to bow to the king's will, accept that her marriage is invalid and retire to a convent. Certainly, she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/cardinal-campeggio-has-implored-katherine-to-bow-to-the-king-s-will/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Sion calls Anne an eel, he calls her a slippery dipper from the slime, and he remembers what the cardinal had called her: my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/sion-calls-anne-an-eel-he-calls-her-a-slippery-dipper-from-the-slime/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [I spend a great deal of time on research, on finding all the available accounts of a scene or incident, finding out all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/i-spend-a-great-deal-of-time-on-research-on-finding-all-the-available/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“At the front, people die for their mistakes. Why should politicians be more gently treated? They made the war. They deserve a dozen deaths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/at-the-front-people-die-for-their-mistakes-why-should-politicians-be/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) [Explore all 559 Hilary Mantel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) ## More Chronology quotes > [“The question is, shall it or shall it not be linear history. I've always thought a kaleidoscopic view might be an interesting heresey. Shake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/the-question-is-shall-it-or-shall-it-not-be-linear-history-i-ve/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [ My chronology is terrible. \[Work with William Shawn\] must have some ago. It was after he was fired by Newhouse. After New - when… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/my-chronology-is-terrible-work-with-william-shawn-must-have-some-ago/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [“All that we call sacred history attests that the birth of a poet is the principal event in chronology.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-that-we-call-sacred-history-attests-that-the-birth-of-a-poet-is/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Sometimes indirect style and varying chronology is great, but quite often I've seen it be just something that gets in the way. It turns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/sometimes-indirect-style-and-varying-chronology-is-great-but-quite/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [“On the whole I try to keep Modesty and Willie in timeless settings, which is why I avoid all the latest slang and in-words.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-o-donnell/on-the-whole-i-try-to-keep-modesty-and-willie-in-timeless-settings/) Peter O'Donnell > [Of course the chronology of the books is a bit back- to - front, and books usually come out before movies. But happily, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fielding/of-course-the-chronology-of-the-books-is-a-bit-back-to-front-and/) [Helen Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fielding/) > [“Have you noticed how just trying to impose any sort of chronology on events makes it seem as though a lot of time has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hamilton-paterson/have-you-noticed-how-just-trying-to-impose-any-sort-of-chronology-on/) [James Hamilton-Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hamilton-paterson/) > [Particularly, the actors, to have analyzed the script in great detail from the point of view of their specific character. So that they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-nolan/particularly-the-actors-to-have-analyzed-the-script-in-great-detail/) [Christopher Nolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-nolan/) > [I have insane curiosity as to what happened in all these events. I will never know. I'm not a researcher. I don't possess that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ellroy/i-have-insane-curiosity-as-to-what-happened-in-all-these-events-i/) [James Ellroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ellroy/) > [History, if viewed as a repository for more than anecdote or chronology, could produce a decisive transformation in the image of science by which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-kuhn/history-if-viewed-as-a-repository-for-more-than-anecdote-or/) [Thomas Kuhn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-kuhn/) > [I am strongly of the opinion that chronology is very important. 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