Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of antigay bias, pregnancy loss, child death, death, and gender discrimination. 

The sibling rivalry between Mary and Anne that frames the book illustrates the consequences of when one’s loyalties or obligations put conflicting demands on a character or run counter to that character’s wishes. Several of the characters feel torn by obligations that place competing demands upon them. Likewise, the novel examines what subservience is required to established authorities—especially one’s family and king—and what this service costs when the commands of those in authority are capricious, tyrannical, or cruel.

George is the purest example of the cost of sacrificing personal inclinations to the obligations due to established authorities. Where it serves his interests to support his sisters, George provides companionship and humor in private moments and facilitates both Anne and Mary’s sexual relationships with Henry. He is rewarded for this with special favors and the trust of the king. His loyalty to his family in obeying the commands of Uncle Howard and George’s father is repaid by his secondhand enjoyment of their awards and elevations of title. But his loyalty to Anne puts George at odds with Henry when the king begins to regard his second wife with suspicion, evident when George fails to be awarded a knighthood that instead goes to a friend of the Seymour family.