ESTJ 6w7 Characters
Cardinal Wolsey in The Tudors, played by Sam Neill, is one of the most fascinating portrayals of Tudor politics on screen. As an ESTJ 6w7, Wolsey embodies the strong, commanding presence of a leader who thrives on structure, order, and authority. His ambition to control England’s political and religious affairs, his loyalty to Henry VIII, and his desperate attempts to maintain power all stem from the core motivations of this personality pairing. By examining his MBTI type and Enneagram, we can better understand Wolsey’s rise to immense power, his reliance on strategy and tradition, and the tragic unraveling of his career when his plans for Henry’s divorce fall apart.
Keeping a Kingdom in Order: Extraverted Thinking
Cardinal Wolsey “runs England” while Henry “plays.” He handles the diplomatic negotiations. He suggests and implements new policies. Decides which alliances are the most advantageous. Arranges trade negotiations. He is highly efficient in creating order out of chaos; he undertakes the keeping of the financial aspect of the kingdom, as well as managing all its resources. His skill goes unappreciated until others try to take up the task and fail miserably. Wolsey desires to measure his own success by obtaining higher positions of authority; he places great emphasis on that, and strives to improve his situation by taking immediate action in his own favor. His enormous success makes him one of the richest men in England. His massive accumulation of power, and the ease with which he wields it, are partly the reason people like Thomas Boleyn want to “take him out” – so they can step into his shoes.
Tradition & Power: Introverted Sensing
He is practical and based in the moment, aware of time-honored methods of church politics and dealing with impatient, impetuous, stubborn monarchs. Wolsey prefers predictability to the unknown, and is very detail-oriented both in his role as a cardinal and his personal books. He sets up power plays and arranges feasts, festivals, banquets, and sees to the practical matters of the court, including establishing Bessie Blount with an income after she gives birth to Henry’s child. He sees no reason to change aspects of the church, but ascribes to their tactics and belief systems. He does not like to be caught off guard. Wolsey trusts his own experiences a good deal; he thinks after Anne thwarts him that he can make Catherine of Aragon come to his side, because he relies on her to have proven herself to be a compassionate woman of faith, piety, and charity (alas, he is wrong and any help she might offer comes too late).
Visions of Opportunity: Extraverted Intuition
His ability to think of the dozen different ways something could go wrong and prepare an answer for each and every one of them is partly what makes him successful. (He admits to Thomas More that his job is to think of “everything,” but that it gives him anxiety.) Wolsey is very good at trying out first one idea, then going to another (once thwarted in some way, he has a backup contingency plan). A good example of this is, after his fall from favor, he tries to strike up alliances with various former friends and even enemies, one after another – finally, landing on Catherine of Aragon (“whom I trust to be kind”). His blind spot comes in failing to recognize the true intentions of those around him – his assumption that Anne Boleyn is just a “silly girl” and of no value to the king, and his belief Thomas Cromwell is on his side. He senses the connections between other people, and the ulterior motives, but sometimes is blinded to these things by his clinging to familiarity (he trusts that his long-term previous experience with Henry will be enough to belay his anger).
The Silent Confessional: Introverted Feeling
Cardinal Wolsey’s inability to arrange the king’s divorce is what undoes him – his usual tactics fail, and he becomes increasingly insecure, he feels persecuted and attacked by the queen, who blames him for Henry’s actions, and he becomes emotional and loses his usual self-control – even going so far as to slap a servant who drops something (his inferior Fi coming out of hiding). Like most Te-doms, he doesn’t see what he’s doing as especially cruel, just logical and efficient – so to have everyone attacking him constantly bothers him. Wolsey finally commits suicide, while admitting to God in his prayers that he knows it will damn him, and he is sorry for his many sins, but also by weighing his ethics against others, such as Thomas More, who fervently pray while committing immoral acts such as burning people at the stake for heresy. He seems to be pointing out to God that even though he’s damned for suicide, his sins are lesser than others by comparison.
A Most Loyal Servant: Enneagram 6
Wolsey is ambitious, driven, and loyal to Henry, desperate to give him whatever he wants and fearful of the consequences. He fervently needs and wants allies and tries to persuade the queen to give the king what he desires. When the Pope’s legate comes to interview everyone and arrange the court, it’s the cardinal who fears the consequences if he lets them down and warns him that Henry may turn against the Church if he does not get his divorce. He becomes increasingly fearful as his plans get thwarted, and is humiliated and shaken to receive no honors at court, to be disrespected, and then stripped of most of his offices. It upsets him for Henry to reassure him of his favor and good standing, and plant ideas about the Boleyns in his head, only to ride out the next morning without allowing the cardinal to speak with him and plead his case.
Pomp, Palaces, & Piety: The 7 Wing
The cardinal has a reputation for amassing wealth and pomp for himself; Boleyn mentions that he is ostentatious and proud. He has built a magnificent palace that upon seeing it, the king remarks on how fine it is; and Wolsey instantly gives it to him to curry favor (6 core). He is good-natured, and it doesn’t take him long to swing from despondency over his fallen state of affairs (the loss of his income, respect, and position) into a more idealistic, even naïve perspective, that he can convince Catherine (his sworn enemy) to come to his defense and create an alliance that could get him restored to his former thinking. It is delusional optimism, since he has no cards left to play and no one to stand up for him.
From the Altar to the Jail: The Tragic Cardinal
Sam Neill’s Wolsey is an interesting character, both at times dislikable for his treatment of underlings and ultimately empathetic at the end. I think it’s a fair portrayal of him, and one that gives him great sympathy at the end of his life (if there’s one thing this series does well, it’s death scenes). I always cry at the end of his story arc, because I feel bad for him. He was ambitious, loyal, and deserved better than to have everyone unfairly turn against him and leave him in ruin.
