Sir Thomas More's "A Man For All Seasons"
A Man For All Seasons was written about Sir Thomas More and his
relationship with the more powerful members of the country in the
sixteenth century. It is a recreation of history, dramatised to
enhance the experience. Written in the 1960's in a world coming out of
global depression, a time of peace, love and drugs, it was a thorn
amongst the rose coloured glasses. When people were used to a more
relaxed establishment, with much more equality than the decades
leading up to it, A Man For All Seasons confronted an immoral, strict
and spineless monarch that was Henry VIII. The play was a strong study
of moral integrity versus corruption and selfishness, which both
contradicted and enforced what the world was like in the 1960's.
Bolt's intention was to influence the present by portraying the past.
A Man for All Seasons has a slow build up; the first three quarters of
the book lays the foundations of the plot in a linear fashion before
gradually advancing to a much more meaningful climax. This climax is
split into four main sections: "In The Tower", "More Sees His Family",
"The Trial" and "The Execution". I will proceed to analyse these in
turn.
The beginning of the end is where More is in the tower. This starts
with the entrance of the Common Man. He speaks and there is no one
else on the stage, and he is facing the audience. This indicates that
he is a modern device, he is a character in the play, but he acts as a
kind of narrator to break the audience's suspension of disbelief. This
is ironic; because we know it's not real, it makes us more poignant,
and the audience knows things the characters don't. This is needed, as
the play is very emotional, the audience need someone to remind them
that the play isn't real, yet it is based on a true story, which the
Common Man reminds us of as well. "Now look…" shows that he is funny,
cheeky and much less formal. The fact that he plays small characters
throughout the play, and none of the other characters notice also
breaks the audience away from the seriousness of the play. This is
important as the play is based on a true story, the audience are more
likely to get emotional about the events in the play, and need to be
relieved of this tension if they are to filly appreciate, understand,
and enjoy the play. "Better a live rat than a dead lion" shows that
the Common Man is almost the complete opposite of More, as More is
have not seen in previous parts of the play. We find out that he is
the play. It looks at the person he is and the person he becomes. It
character is illustrated is in Act 1 scene 1. He is willing to lose a
shall firstly do a summery of the play and give a basic image of what
can see his importance in the title of the play; he is named in the
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.
By denying us a context for understanding this magical moment, Kushner disables our ability to judge these moments, and once Kushner has denied our ability to repudiate the elements of magic in the play as distinctly fabricated and separate from reality, he continues to build the blurring between fantasy and reality through the inclusion of magical details and events more directly intertwined with
Lies play a central part in the play as the story is based around lies
Let’s begin by talking about how Shakespeare uses other characters in the play as foils to Hamlet’s character. There are three distinct characters that are used as...
not very complex as he is not a major character in the play as a
his life is morally wrong. This contributes to the theme or themes of the play
The play is based loosely on fact but more importantly it is set in a
piece a modernist one. The play’s dialogue, technology, and the fragmentation of the piece, are
of the play. I will also explore the role the common man plays in the
In the play he takes on the role of a character as well as taking on