A Man for All Seasons is the story of a man who knows who he is, expressing courage and faithfulness at all costs. In addition, every character has their own ends to meet, and the only distinguishable feature between them is how they go about it. Some characters disregard all sense of morality as they plunge into an approach, which primarily encompasses self-interest. In all, most of the characters in the movie personify selfishness in one way or another. Of course there are some whose selfishness is more noticeable than others; however, at some point they are all deficient in their consideration of others and live chiefly for personal profit. All except for one, Sir Thomas More he is a man who subconsciously is a slave to his own conscience. He executes selfless acts in order to do what he knows is legal, and what he thinks is right. He is one of very few people who have died with their integrity intact. Every other character sold themselves out to the king. To be honest, I think I would have sold myself out to the king to, if the consequence was to be beheaded if I did not. That is why I envy Sir Thomas because of his individualism, ethics, and courage he had during his stand against the King.
Sir Thomas More was a character who was faced with a number of difficult choices. 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.
He was Henry VIII’s chief minister and advisor and helped the king in his annulment to Catherine of Aragon. Cromwell was both a religious man and statesman. It is hard to determine which of these traits caused the most tension during the Reformation period. What is known of Thomas Cromwell’s past can help to better understand the leader he became. He did not come from a noble background yet he became the right hand to the king. He worked hard for everything he had and he was a self taught man. Thomas Cromwell’s life though notable was also very tragic way before he became famous. By understanding his past one can understand the man he became and why he made the decisions he did.
ideas. A reader of A Man for All Seasons, by Robert Bolt, may not be accustomed
Henry decided that if the Pope would not grant him a divorce then he would split. with the Pope and Rome. This meant that Henry would be head of the Church in England and the Pope would not be. This allowed him to gain the divorce he wanted, and allowed him to become wealthy and powerful. In 1533 the Act in Restraint of Appeals to Rome was recognised as Henry as the supreme head of the Church of England.
Sir Thomas More never had to die. He was the only person that really understood the implications that complying with the King’s desires would cause and yet he still ended up in the most undesirable position one could imagine. Many people caused the death of Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons, however those that are most guilty are King Henry, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich, and Sir Thomas More. Who of these is most guilty is a matter of opinion, but that these people are truly and completely guilty of ending Sir Thomas More’s life is a fact. From King to commoner each of these people played a vital role in the destruction of one man’s honest and righteous life.
When Henry VIII ascended to the throne in 1509, he became yet another English monarch without absolute power over his realm. Despite not having the same authority as his contemporary European monarchs, Henry was the recipient of two very important prerequisites for a successful reign. The first was a full treasury and the second was a peaceful transfer of power, which had been anything but certain in England since the War of the Roses. At first he was content to enjoy the fruits of his father’s labor, but ultimately he sought glory in his own name. Henry plunged into needless conflict in Europe, eliminated anyone who opposed him, and became so obsessed with securing a male heir that he engineered a split with the Catholic Church. It was this adventurous spirit that would lead to a decline in both of his key inheritances. Henry VIII may not have been an absolute monarch in the sense that his contemporaries were, but he often acted in a manner that resembled a supreme sovereign. Consequently, his reign seems to have been focused on his own ambitions instead of his subjects’ welfare.
Sir Thomas More, “The History of King Richard III” in Richard III A Source Book, Keith
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.
He was a human that had emotions, he experienced grief with the multiple miscarriages and deaths of his sons and the betrayals of his wife’s, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard. Also the death of Jane Seymour, the only wife to give him a male heir, brought him into a depression. These events changed Henry’s perspective of his own self, that he was without a legal heir, his health was horrendous and he was being betrayed by those closest to him. Lipscomb describes the transformation of Henry from the popular prince to the tyrant king know today. As shown, “the last decade of his reign, Henry VIII had begun to act as a tyrant. The glittering, brilliant monarch of the accession, toppled into old age by betrayal, aggravated into irascibility and suspicion as a result of ill health and corrupted by absolute power, had become a despot”. Henry is not thought of as the good Christian, but Lipscomb writes throughout this book that Henry was very serious about his religious affiliations. Lipscomb portrays Henry VIII as, “a man of strong feeling but little emotional intelligence, willful and obstinate but also fiery and charismatic, intelligent but blinkered, attempting to rule and preserve his honor against his profound sense of duty and heavy responsibility to fulfil his divinely ordained role”. In other words he was an emotional mess that did not know what to do with his feelings, so he bottled them up and south to seek
of the play. I will also explore the role the common man plays in the
Many would say that Thomas More was a fool because of his deep faith in the Church. He was scrutinized as being foolish due to the fact that he would rather die than give in to an oath, which even though against his beliefs could have saved his life. Most men, who might have been considered wiser, would have saved their own lives. Apparently, that was exactly what Norfolk did. He asked More once, “We’re suppose to be the arrogant ones, the proud, splenetic ones-and we all given in! Why must you stand out?
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.
...ral and resilient nature of Atticus. It took one person to make a difference and challenging situations typically reveals the true nature of what’s within the heart of a man. Will it be decency and honesty or hatred and wickedness?
When More died it sent a message to the public that the Kin was wrong in what he was doing. As More died in front of a lot of people, it certainly showed to the public that it was honorable and he put his point across in the clear way. “….but because I would not bend to the marriage” (pg. 78) More is simply stating that he wouldn’t agree with the King for the clear intention of staying alive.
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