A Man For All Seasons Essay In the play "A Man For All Seasons," by Robert Bolt, Thomas More is a man working as a scholar, a statesman, and eventually, the king's Chancellor, in early 1500's England. One of More's friends, Richard Rich, is a lowly official who desires a higher rank within society. Though both of these men are companions, they are extreme, and polar opposites to each other. More is an upright man who holds morality in higher regard than earthly joys and relevence in society, meanwhile Rich mainly troubles himself with worldly gain instead of acknowledging virtue. The differences between the two men escalates through the play as More loses all of his physical goods for the sake of …show more content…
More encourages Rich to take the job of a teacher where temptation cannot reach him, since Rich is very easy to tempt, especially if it involves a job of a higher rank, where he will feel important. This is why Cromwell has no problem coaxing Rich to be his little spy; he dangles a potential job that will give Rich respect in society, and Rich barely hesitates, even though it isn't morally right, he thinks little to nothing about this. More on the other hand, refuses to be tempted by anything even when the opportunities to give in show themselves to More on multiple occasions. Even when his luxurious living is threatened, More allows it all to go; he feels that it is better to give up earthly possessions than to sell his soul for the finer things in life. Though Rich becomes such a traitor, with such great vice that he bluntly lies against More in court, More doesn't stoop to a level, though his life is literally on the line. More choses death over behaving as a sheep, and encouraging something with little care or thought towards it. Though Rich dies with riches, and very prosperous in his earthly life, his soul has given in to these things, and is worthless, whereas More is executed as he has lost everything in his worldly life, but gains greatness in his benevolence and
ideas. A reader of A Man for All Seasons, by Robert Bolt, may not be accustomed
The definition of a martyr is a person who willingly suffers death rather than renounce his or her religion. When Sir Thomas More died in July of 1535, he became a martyr. In the play A Man for All Seasons, author Robert Bolt shows us his views on how More came to his death . In this play, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich, King Henry VIII, and Sir Thomas More himself are responsible for his death. Although it could be argued that many more people in Sir Thomas More’s life had a part in contributing to his death, these four characters had the greatest part in eventually bringing him to his death.
Reason to defend Sir Thomas More: More is just thinks that his private conscience is more important than his public duties and will do what he thinks is right, not what is convenient. This is not considered High Treason as More is not attempting to betray his country in any way.
Perhaps a brief history of More’s struggle is needed. Sixteenth century England: Henry VIII’s brother, Arthur, dies. Arthur was to be king and had already married Catherine of Aragon. A husband must be provided, so at the prodding of the Spanish and English monarchies, the Pope threw out the doctrine that stated a man may not marry his brother’s wife and Henry and Catherine wed. They rule happily — for a while — until Henry falls in love with Anne Boleyn, finds out Catherine cannot bear him any sons, and desires to divorce her. The Catholic Church does not support his requests, and Henry attempts to persuade them otherwise, claiming the marriage should be annulled based on its original religious illegality. The Church and More do not buy this claim, considering Henry caused the problem in the first place. More was Henry’s Lord Chancellor and resigned the position when Henry split with the Church in 1531. In 1534, Parliament passed a bill requiring all subjects to take an oath (Oath of Supremacy) acknowledging the supremacy of England’s king over all foreign sovereigns — including the Pope. More refused, was imprisoned, and then executed in 1535. The play presents his dilemma to stay true to his friends, country, and God.
In this quote (pg.4) it shows that Rich can be bought and he is trying to tell More that this is normal because everyone “has his price”. However, More, being the kind and charitable man he is, tries to explain that being able to be bought is not normal and it is a moral weakness in someone’s character and tries to help him get a job as a teacher where there is no temptation of bribery. Another example of how Rich’s moral character is weak is when he is talking to Cromwell and Cromwell tells him that he is to become Secretary to the Council, which he asks Rich not tell anyone about it. However when Cromwell repeats the question over and over, Rich, finally, says he would but it would depend on the bribe.
of the play. I will also explore the role the common man plays in the
When one reads the story, initially they would consider More as a wise and religious man, who wouldn’t even harm a fly. He was deeply respected for he was quite intelligent, in the aspect that he was a lawyer and knew the business of politics well. More was considered wise. He had his own ideas of things, and he seems to know what is best for everyone. However, it was his philosophies and his strong faith in the Church, the King, and in God that got him prosecuted.
Thomas More and King Henry VIII played two significant roles in the film, A Man For All Seasons, and both characters had their differences and shared their own similarity as well. Thomas More was a scholar and a very respected figure in England, at the time of King Henry’s reign. More was also a devout Catholic and was a true, moralistic person. King Henry VIII was also a Catholic and was intent on having a son to inherit his place as the king of England. As the result of King Henry’s wife, Catherine, not being able to have a male child, King Henry called for an annulment, or to declare that a marriage had no existence, so that King Henry could marry a new woman, to have a male heir.
In conclusion, what Robert Bolt is exposing in A man for all seasons is that even though those of lesser status are looked down upon they are still the same as those who are of higher status. Even though those of higher status have sometimes lack a moral footing does not mean that those of the lower status will also lack moral footing. Bolt is exposing the fact that universally society treats everyone differently based on appearance or what their parents do for a living, when really he is trying to expose the fact that no one should be looked down upon, all though we differ in some things we are still the
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, [society is a] community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and interests (Society def. 3). For one to feel supported and content, they must be admitted into a society. This is evident in All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury and Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. It is imperative for society to be the most highly valued as should one desire happiness, then the society must accept their actions, words, and identity though it may take time, and a society's consensus produces peace.
Another method that is used by the channel is the various film seasons that are aired on the channel/Film4/ Film on Four. Laura Mayne and Justin Smith discuss this further in their article for the British Film Council titled Film for all Seasons (2009). The initiation of the film seasons on channel 4 began in 1982 and was titled Film on Four and became a popular feature which developed having two features/ seasons a year until 1985, where after these international films were incorporated into the seasons, giving way to air some of the co-produced European films and projects (2014). The Channel 4 press packs ‘Programme Highlights’ from 1987 state “Film on Four remains the flagship of Channel 4’s fiction output, and is now accepted internationally as a major force in British cinema, with over 25 films in production each year…
“A Man For All Season” Predicament is what we regularly confront. It can be relatively straight forward, but it can also be complicated. The story A Man For All Season depict a real historical figure, Thomas more, facing one of the most challenging moral dilemma that soon result in his death. After the death of Wosley; the Lord Chancellor of England. Thomas More was promoted to Wosley’s position, and as the Chancellor of England King Richard the third, the king of England, request for a divorce.
In most books, small roles are never very significant, but in A Man For All Seasons one of the characters proves this wrong. The common Man is an ordinary person who the audience can relate to. This ties in with one of the main idea of the play, human nature. The audience learns that the Common Man can jump into different roles and assume that characters identity. The roles he plays although modest, are still very important to the development of the plot. The speeches that he delivers help keep the audience informed on past events and upcoming conflicts. In addition, the personality of the characters gives the audience insight into the story. The common Mans roles however minor still contribute greatly to the development of the story and, prove the importance of this character.
In the story a man for all seasons it shows us the struggle of Sir Thomas and the morals he holds for himself. He is constantly being tested by the king all throughout the movie. Yet he is able to remain poised and not draw away from the character he first started as. He did not become more radical throughout the movie.
Although both the plays come across to be immensely different, the common thread of choices and their implications comes across well in both the plays, and leaves us with the morals that firstly, we must gather courage and make choices in our life; and secondly, we must always be ready to bear the consequences of our choices rather than live with the horrific illness of self denial.