A Man For All Seasons

In the play A Man For All Seasons, the main character is Sir Thomas More. Sir Thomas is the Chancellor of England and a very religious man. Once, during a conversation with Wolsey (Chancellor at the time) about the King needing a son, Wolsey asks if Sir Thomas would like to govern the whole country by prayer and Sir Thomas agrees. This shows how strong his faith was. Sir Thomas is a friend of King Henry VIII, but when he disagreed with the King’s opinion on marriage, he was beheaded. King Henry was married to Catherine of Argon, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Catherine was Henry’s brother’s widow. King Henry and Catherine were married “for State reasons”, but although Catherine was pregnant many times, only one child survived—Princess Mary. King Henry needed an heir to his throne, so he wanted a son. He thought Catherine could never get him a son, because she had already failed so many times, so he wanted to have a child with Anne Boylen, but he couldn’t because he was already married to Catherine. Therefore, he wanted the Pope to divorce him and Catherine also, for “State reasons.” When Sir Thomas didn’t agree with the divorce, many people turned away from him. His wife, Lady Alice, begged Sir Thomas to agree with the King, just to make life simpler, but Thomas refused. He believed the he wouldn’t go to Heaven if his conscience was not clear, and his conscience told him not to just tell the King what he wanted to hear, but to tell the King the truth. This is just a basic overview of what happened in A Man for All Seasons.

In Act I Scene 1, the book introduces you to some of its’ main characters. Sir Thomas and Master Richard Rich are first to be introduced. Rich is offered a job as a school teacher, but he wants to be in office. Sir Thomas gives Rich a silver cup that was given to him as a bribe by a woman who put a lawsuit into the Court of Requests. After giving Rich the cup, Sir Thomas tells Rich of all the temptations you have when you are in office—money, manors, villages, mills, etc. Then enter the Duke of Norfolk and Lady Alice, Sir Thomas’s wife, and Margaret More, Sir Thomas’s daughter. The Duke of Norfolk, who is Earl Marshall of England, is in his late 40’s, a sportsman, a soldier, and a great nobleman. Lady Alice is in her late 40’s, born into merchant’s class, but now a great lady. Margaret is in her middle 20’s, beautiful ...

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...he last time she sees her husband, and she forgives him. In Scene 8, More is at the Hall of Westminster to answer charges of High Treason. They say that More denied King Henry the title of Supreme Head of the Church in England. Sir Thomas never denied this, but since he refused the oath, they assume that he is denying the King his title. This is considered High Treason, and punished by death. Sir Thomas basically gets no trial—he is guilty no matter what he says, unless he signs the Act and takes the oath. The jury doesn’t even retire to think of the judgement. They pronounce Sir Thomas guilty. More asks if he can say something before he is put to death. They grant him this, and he says that he is the King’s true subject and has always been loyal to him. Scene 9 is the closing scene of the play. In it, Sir Thomas is to be beheaded. Margaret is there, and she is deeply grieved. Her father tells her that death comes to everyone, and it is the course of nature and the will of God. Sir Thomas tells the Headsman to send him to God, and not to be afraid of his office, and the Headsman beheads him, and says “Behold—the head of a traitor.” This is what happened in “A Man for All Seasons.”