A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt

England as Protestant by 1547 In some ways England was heading towards Protestantism in 1547, however in others ways it was still Catholic. Henry VIII was married to Catherine of Aragon, however he met a new women at court named Ann Boleyn. Anne promised Henry that she would marry him and give him sons, something which Catherine could not give Henry. Henry decided he wanted to a divorce form Catherine, however they were hard to obtain and only the Pope could grant a divorce. However the Pope refused Henry the divorce he wished.

"A Man for All Seasons" by Robert Bolt: More's Moral Dilemma During the English renaissance in the 1500's, King Henry VIII wants a divorce from his wife for various reasons, but divorce is against the Catholic religion. This is why he wants Sir Thomas More's consent, because More is a highly respected Catholic, but he is such a good Catholic that he goes against divorce. In the play, A Man for All Seasons, by Robert Bolt, King Henry VIII applies pressure on Thomas More to support the divorce in many ways. He exerts it both directly and indirectly in forms of threats and intimidation from various people. Henry forces Meg, More's "renaissance woman" daughter, to take an oath in order to see him, so she tries to influence his decision about the divorce by using her intellect and by begging.

Henry VIII wanted to get a divorce with Catherine of Aragon and get married to Anne Boleyn. In the eye of the Catholics he could not divorce Catherine of Aragon. Henry VIII wants his children inherited the throne; he introduced the act of succession and made himself head of the Church of England. When Henry VIII made Thomas More the Lord Chancellor, Henry VIII expected Thomas More to support him but Thomas More did not support him. Thomas More did not like the idea of Henry VIII getting divorce.

The King's Great Matter The Spanish-English marriage alliance of Catherine of Aragon and Prince Arthur was arranged when the children were very young. Catherine traveled to England only to face tragedy when her young husband, Arthur died in 1502.Henry VII wanted to marry Catherine to his younger son, who would be, Henry VIII so that he did not lose the dowry money from Catherine's parents and to secure some other agreements between the two countries. In the Catholic Church, it was forbidden to marry the wife of a deceased brother. A papal dispensation was required for the marriage. It was easily obtained from Pope Julius II.

The major one being, when Henry VIII's first wife was unable to produce an heir to the throne, he used that as an excuse for the pope to grant him a divorce, so he could marry a new wife. The King is backed by everyone on this request except the highly regarded and religious Sir Thomas More. When the old Chancellor of England, named More his successor, it became important for Henry to get More's support, but More could not be swayed. He made his decision to oppose the marriage early on, but even though it was something he did not waver from, he still had trouble with it. More made a very difficult decision in opposing the King and his family, but regardless of the consequences, he felt that he was morally correct and for him to choose any other path would have been impossible for he could not oppose the church and God.

Elmire rejects him and then tries to make a deal with him: if he backs out of the marriage with Marianne, she will not inform Orgon of what happened. Just as Tartuffe agrees to this, Damis comes out of hiding and confronts Tartuffe of his wrongdoing. Orgon then walks into the room, and Damis tells him what happened. However, due to his fondness for Tartuffe, Orgon does not believe him! Orgon then goes as far as to disinherit Damis and make Tartuffe his sole h... ... middle of paper ... ...gracious and forgiving King, the whole family would have lost everything.

The only thing left to make Gertrude unhappy is Hamlet’s refusal to forget the death of his father or to forgive her for remarrying so quickly. In order for her to completely bury the past, she must convince Hamlet to accept her new marriage and forget his father’s death.

Therefore, Joan's whole mission revolves around King Charles, and as a result, she needs his encouragement in order to succeed. King Charles does provide this encouragement in the beginning of Joan's mission. However, after Joan succeeds in putting Charles on the throne, he abandons her. The reasons Charles abandons Joan are debatable and can be seen as political decisions to save face, because Joan's power and influence starts to die down. The Church also plays a vital role in Charles abandoning Joan, because the influence of the Church is so powerful in deciding the destiny of France and the King.

Holy roman emperor Charles V, Catherine’s nephew, strongly opposed the divorce, and pope Clement VII, who Charles had made a prisoner, could not disprove the marriage without displeasing his captor. In 1529, the pope released the case to Rome. When the prospect of securing a papal annulment seemed hopeless, Henry dismissed Wolsey and appointed Sir Thomas More. In 1532 Henry married secretly married Anne Boylen, who was crowned queen after Thomas Cranmer, declared the marriage with Catherine void and that with Anne valid. Although Henry was immediately excommunicated, he repudiated papel jurisdiction in 1534 and made himself the supreme ecclesiastical authority in England.

Wolsey then scolded More for being so moralistic and told him to be more practical instead. After that, Wolsey asked More how he planned to give the king a male heir. More said that he would “pray for it daily” but Wolsey wanted to “secure a divorce” so that King Henry VIII could marry Anne Boleyn and most likely produce a male heir, which he felt would solve the issue immediately, since he was making the effort to do something, unlike More, who would rather pray for help. Area of dispute: More believes that it is not right to ask the Pope to dispense with his dispensation of the Christian law (a man cannot marry his brother’s widow) just for state affairs. However, Wolsey places the country’s interests above his own personal conscience as he feels that it is his job to ensure that the king will have a male heir to ascend the throne in future.