Beliefs are a core aspect of life, but a true test of one’s principles is how far one is willing to go to defend and preserve those beliefs. In A Man for All Seasons, Sir Thomas More exemplifies just how strong his ethics are. A Man for All Seasons is a historical play, written in 1960 by Robert Bolt, which recounts the events of the 16th century surrounding Sir Thomas More, leading up to his death. In A Man for All Seasons, Sir Thomas More becomes Lord Chancellor of England during the time that King Henry VIII divorced his wife, remarried, and declared himself head of the Church of England by the Oath of Supremacy. Since More is a sincerely devout Catholic, he could neither, in good faith, bless the king’s remarriage nor swear to the Oath of Supremacy. As a result, Sir Thomas More is charged with High Treason and is executed, making him a martyr in real life and a tragic hero in the play. Throughout the play, Sir Thomas More proves to be a tragic hero because he possesses a tragic flaw and is a man of great noble stature.
In A Man for All Seasons, Sir Thomas More’s tragic flaw, his morality, eventually leads More to make decisions that cause his own downfall. Even though many characters do not concur with the king’s divorce, they ignore their conscience in order to remain in the king’s good graces. More’s friends and family attempt to persuade him to comply with the king’s wishes. However, More refuses to do so because he believes, “In matters of conscience, the loyal subject is more bounden to be loyal to his conscience than to any other thing” (Bolt 116). Even though More remains a loyal subject of the king, his first duty is to live according to his conscience. More tries to explain that he is not being treasonous in any way,...
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...onscience, More makes choices to preserve his morality, which ultimately lead to his death. Since More is unwilling to compromise his scruples, More brought his downfall upon himself. More’s downfall is also somewhat due to his position as Lord Chancellor. Since More is such an eminent figure, his actions against the king have prevalent effects, which only help the king target More as a traitor. Sir Thomas More lived his entire live based upon his beliefs and principles. Even though More meets death in the end of the play, More dies standing by what he believes in. By defending his faith and morals, More proves his virtue by demonstrating that nothing worldly is ever worth one’s eternal soul, thereby making More the paragon of a virtuous man.
Works Cited
Bolt, Robert. “A Man for All Seasons.” 2014. PDF file.
“Characteristics of a Tragic Hero.” 2014. PDF file.
... is done even at personal cost to himself. Justice is the defining royal virtue.
...nations of his thought processes, it is clear that the Pardoner does not practice what he preaches. It is ambiguous, however, as to whether the Pardoner believes what he preaches, but just doesn’t follow his preaches or whether he doesn’t believe what he preaches at all. It is evident, though, that the Pardoner has an astute mind. He is highly effective in what he does. Although he exploits the church for his own personal designs, he succeeds at obtaining that which he pursues. The efficacy of his strategy is confirmed by Chaucer’s description of the Pardoner as being a “noble ecclesiastic” and as being unmatched in his trade . Thus amidst all of his flatteries, there exists a spark of genius that complements his minimal level of ethics. This intellectual finesse is the riverbed from which all of the products of his mind flow.
Cardinal Wolsey had planned to send a letter to Rome to request for the Pope to agree to King Henry VIII’s divorce. Since Thomas More had violently opposed to that idea, Wolsey sent for him to read the letter first. More thought that Wolsey’s plan was “devious” but Wolsey felt that it was a “devious situation” so he had to use such a “devious” plan to solve it. However, More believed that there was some other simpler way to solve the problem. Wolsey then scolded More for being so moralistic and told him to be more practical instead.
After kissing one’s arse; or being harassed for money; or having someone demoralize another’s occupation, according to “The Miller’s Tale”, “The Friar’s Tale”, and the tension between The Summoner and The Miller, one might have the motive to cause harm to those who hurt them. This shows the level of maturity in the characters, as well as demonstrating human feelings such as hurt, anger, and animosity. In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer illustrates the pilgrims and characters within their stories as strong, clever, and sometimes even childish. They are often quick to react with revenge to solve their problems, instead of thinking about their actions. However, even if revenge does work to their advantage, it’s not always the most morally correct way for them to fix their troubles.
In the course of man's life he will have to make many decisions, and some will decide his future. Power, loyalty, and trust, are essential, yet obtaining them is only the beginning, managing them is a much harder task. For one to succeed he must realize how much power is beneficial and how much is dangerous. Loyalty helps one's cause immensely, yet one must not take the loyalty of his followers to the extreme. Trust is one of the most important assets a man can have, he must be careful, and not take it for granted. Man must always be prepared for these times when a decision must be made, because, as seen in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", one irrational decision can be man's last.
want to avoid suffering and are therefore attracted to the possibility of escape, and More instantly recognises this idea as one of Machaevelli's. As Machaevelli
Shakespeare’s ‘King Henry IV Part I’ centres on a core theme of the conflict between order and disorder. Such conflict is brought to light by the use of many vehicles, including Hal’s inner conflict, the country’s political and social conflict, the conflict between the court world and the tavern world, and the conflicting moral values of characters from each of these worlds. This juxtaposition of certain values exists on many levels, and so is both a strikingly present and an underlying theme throughout the play. Through characterization Shakespeare explores moral conflict, and passage three is a prime example of Falstaff’s enduring moral disorder. By this stage in the play Hal has ‘reformed’, moved away from his former mentor Falstaff and become a good and honourable prince.
And where there is no legal punishment for his father’s death, he must stoop, driven by the universal wrong, and “being thus be-netted round with villainies”, to revenge. He must share the corruption of others in spite of his nobility, and recognize in himself the common features, "we are arrant knaves all." (53)
...oncerned for the honesty of mankind. There are several points throughout the play where characters offer their insight on the topic. “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; / They kill us for their sport,” (Scene 4.1, Lines 37-38) Gloucester makes this statement when he believes that social and moral goodness do not affect things like justice. While his son Edgar, believes the opposite, “the gods are just,” (Scene 5.3, line 170), insinuating that people who do wrong will eventually get what they deserve and that justice will prevail. In the end, we find that although the morally unjust die, the morally just will die alongside them. It is hard to tell which side of the moral ladder emerges as the victor in the end of this play, but there is no doubt that the deceptions served on both of these fathers were the beginning of the end for each of their families.
"A Man for All Seasons" by Robert Bolt, deals with a famous man suffers death rather that swearing on an oath which ran against the dictates of his conscience. He is a man of complete integrity and strength. More has an extremely brave mind, loyalty for his king, and a love of his religion. He is a man of strong faith and deep trust in himself when dealing with one of the difficult many situations he is placed in. One of the biggest political issues dealt with King Henry the 8th is that he needed a son. After nearly twenty years of marriage to Queen Catherine, Henry never got a son and therefore, had a divorce. Unfortunately, a papal dispensation was necessary. This dispensation is not easily obtained especially since Catherine the wife of Henry's older brother who had died. Therefore; the marriage had never been valid and the request for a second dispensation is refused. This is the time when Henry had asked More for his approval but More does not agree with the situation because it is against the law and his moral beliefs. As a consequence, more is sent to jail because these beliefs go against Henry orders. More is pressured by many people in this play but always tries his best to keep his beliefs and principles which makes him a "Man for All Seasons".
We have all heard the common adage “Practice what you preach.” Another version of this sentiment can be found in the saying “You cannot just talk the talk; you must walk the walk.” In other words, it is commonly considered useless for one to talk about doing something or living a certain way if he does not actually live out those words. It is overall a sentiment that denounces hypocrisy. This idea is explored by Geoffrey Chaucer in his “Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale,” as well as the Introduction to the tale. Chaucer identifies a pardoner as his main character for the story and utilizes the situational and verbal irony found in the pardoner’s interactions and deplorable personality to demonstrate his belief in the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church during this time.
One character that seemed to fall into the social trap of hypocrisy is Judge Danforth. When questioning Mary Warren about her sudden decision to tell the truth, Danforth ridicules Mary when saying, "How were you instructed in your life? Do you not know that God damns all liars?" (94). The Judge sees himself as part of the "elect" which is why he believes everyone else to be ignorant. For this same reason, is unable to see his error in forcing people to lie to save their lives. When Reverend Hale fails in his attempt to pardon the accused, Danforth states, "I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just," (119). Danforth sees himself as high enough in society that he has the God-given gift to decide what will benefit the community. The Judge believes he is showing compassion in deciding what is "just" but is ignorant to the fact that this "justness" only causes unneeded deaths. Danforth's pride causes him to be blind toward his blatant hypocritical accusations.
Sir Thomas More wrote this story exactly in the time when Europe was religiously being torn apart by conflicts and revolutions such as the reformation, that caused “the separation of the Christians of western Europe into Catholics and Protestant” (khanacademy). Religion as a whole was as a consequence, an important and hot topic to discuss at the time considering all that is going on. I wonder why Hythloday spent so much time and effort discussing that matter with the narrator. It was rather dangerous to talk too controversially about religion during that period. The Author, by expressing himself through a fictional monotheist but laic polity in which the inhabitants all believe in a single Power, God and governed by specific moral code laws
The path one takes to seek a personal reward may result in the treacherous acts that causes devastation for others. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the moral corruption that occurs between family members causes animosity that results in their downfall, and eventually their ultimate demise. More specifically, the tainted view of an individual in a family may result in the downfall of the other family members involved. Evidence of the tainted view of a family member causing undue harm can be found in the relationship between Hamlet and Claudius, Hamlet and Old King Hamlet, and Hamlet and Gertrude
...e for more. Although the presence of this cancer-like corruption may seem inevitable, it can be combated through the use of the virtues of truth, self-control, and, most importantly, love, as demonstrated by the character of Horatio, the only main character survivor at the conclusion of the play.