In Robert Bolt's A Man for all Seasons, Thomas More is a man whose self-awareness is set in stone. He does not die because he wants to become a martyr or become a hero, but because he finds himself incapable of compromising his integrity. Throughout the play, the characters who interact with More act as foils. When their priorities contrast with his, they more clearly define him as an individual. In this way, the reader achieves a deeper understanding of More by gaining insight into what he is not, rather than what he is. Furthermore, the “extraordinary man” is a singularly intact figure in a soiled and compromising context. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essay From More's first conversation, "the price of a man" is a question that the characters struggle to articulate and to understand. The ambitious and impressionable Richard Rich, whose malleable moral compass has been altered by reading Machiavelli, insists that "Every man has his price!" » (4). More, whose values ​​are much more deeply rooted, disagrees:MORE: No no no.RICH: Or pleasure. Titles, women, bricks and mortar, there's always something. MORE: Childish RICH: Well, in suffering, certainly. MORE: Buy a man with pain? RICH: To impose suffering, and to offer it – to escape. MORE: Oh. For a moment I thought you were deep. (4-5) Plus is the type of man who cannot be bought, neither by treasure nor by the threat of suffering. This first conflict of principles sets a precedent for the rest of More's interactions with the other characters in the play. His unyielding and frank sense of justice prevents him from submitting to injustice. More is a man of great understanding, but, as the steward predicts: “One day someone will ask him for something he wishes to keep; and he will lack practice” (17). When More meets Cardinal Wolsey, who has a surprisingly utilitarian outlook for a clergyman, Wolsey tells him: “You are a constant regret to me, Thomas. If only you could see the facts flatly, without this horrible moral gaze; with just a little common sense, you could have been a statesman” (19). Unlike many men, Thomas More's morality is not just a perspective that he can choose to wear or discard like a pair of glasses. On the contrary, his ideals are part of him, immutable and inseparable from his identity and personality. King Henry visits More at his home for dinner – an excuse to discuss the marriage issue with him. He wants More to approve his divorce from Catherine and his remarriage to Anne Boleyn, in order to appease the public and ease his personal conscience: MORE: So why does Your Grace need my poor support? HENRY: Because you are honest. What's more, you are known for being honest. . . There are those like Norfolk who follow me because I wear the crown, and there are those like Master Cromwell who follow me because they are sharp-toothed jackals and I am their lion, and there is a mass who follow me follows because it follows everything that happens. move – and then there’s you. (55) More does not follow a crown, or a lion, or anything else simply because he has pomp and “power,” but follows what rings true to his own heart. Henry and the English people know this, and so Henry believes that Thomas's approval will justify his fight for divorce. More wants to follow the king's orders, but his conscience simply won't allow him. When King Henry asksMore to give his blessing for his divorce, he forces More to choose one side of his opposing internal allegiances. More is the king's loyal subject, but also a man of deep and unwavering faith. Although his consideration for his family's well-being and his friendship with the king have kept him neutral regarding his marriage, Henry's request pushes Thomas to choose between loyalty to his king or his values ​​(and therefore his faith in God). . This core, this indivisible moral core that is More cannot be governed by a king, nor by any earthly entity; nor can he contradict himself, as the king asks him. He tries to explain this to Alice: ALICE: You're so nice, Thomas! MORE: Woman, take care of your house.ALICE: I take care of my house! MORE: Well, Alice. What would you like me to do? ALICE: Be governed! If you don't rule it, be ruled! MORE: I could not and would not rule my king. But there is a little. . . little, area. . . where I must govern myself. It's very little, less than a tennis court. (59) More stands firm and is ready for whatever might happen, but he neither expects nor wants to make any public statement regarding his refusal to accept the marriage. He avoids being confrontational about his beliefs in order to cause as little trouble as possible for himself and his family. He assures Alice: “Rest assured: this is not the stuff martyrs are made of” (60). Although he was a compassionate, forgiving and generous man, Thomas More's principles simply would not change. Men like Norfolk, Cromwell, Rich, and Roper have changing morality, allowing themselves to rise or fall with each fluctuation in King Henry's moral temperature. More, however, refuses to bow to the king's will, favoring purity of conscience over the preservation of physical comfort. Unlike William Roper's fickle theology, More's foundations are built on rocks and endure despite anything the world might throw at it: MORE: . . . Will, I would trust you with my life. But not your principles. You see, we talk about being grounded in our principles. But if the weather gets bad, we raise an anchor and throw it where there is less wind, and the fishing is better. And “Look,” we say, “look, I’m grounded in my principles!” » (69) More, as malleable in his morality as a diamond, cannot be changed. He truly is a man for all seasons. Richard Rich, yet another of More's flagships, is a man who has a price and knows it. In his conversation with Cromwell, he demonstrates his willingness to sacrifice his integrity:CROMWELL: Do you believe that...that you would never repeat or report anything et cetera?RICH: Yes!CROMWELL: No, but seriously.RICH: Why, yes!CROMWELL: Rich; seriously.RICH: It depends on what I'm offered. (72) The rich person is the type of person whose conscience means little to him. There is a fundamental disconnect between his priorities and those of More. Integrity means a different thing to each of them. While More is a man whose mind is capable of transcending his worldly attachments, Rich fails to view his soul as sacred and is willing to sacrifice it for a fee: CROMWELL: You look depressed. RICH: I lament. I lost my innocence.CROMWELL: You lost it some time ago. If you just noticed it, it must not be very important to you. RICH: It's true! Why is this true, it’s not possible! CROMWELL: We feel a sense of liberation, don't we, Master Rich? An unknown freshness in the head, like in the great outdoors? (74) More's identity, and therefore his entire existence, revolves around his principles. His beliefs are important to him because without them, More ceases to be More. It's not their logic that countsfor him, but rather the fact that they are an integral part of who he identifies as himself. Changing or compromising one's values ​​would be like trying to re-sculpt something already set in stone. He tries to explain this to Norfolk:NORFOLK: Does that make sense? Will you lose everything you have – which includes respect for your country – for a theory? MORE: The apostolic succession of the pope is . . . Well, it's a theory, yes; you cannot see it; you cannot touch it; it's a theory. But what matters to me is not whether it is true or not, but that I believe it is true, or rather, not that I believe it, but that I believe it. . . I hope I'm making myself obscure? (91) King Henry's request calls More to do what he cannot: compromise his allegiance and silence his conscience. Although he is a loyal subject of the king, More's loyalty is first and foremost to his G-d. He cannot and does not want to give it up, because that would mean giving up his very essence. When he refused to sign a document acknowledging his consent to the king's divorce, he was accused of treason and thrown in prison. The ordinary man, dressed as a jailer, allows More to be locked up, even though he knows he is innocent. He uses an old expression to justify his inaction: COMMON MAN: "I would let him out if I could but I can't, not without moving in myself." And it's already there, so what's the point? You know the old saying? “Better a living rat than a dead lion,” and that’s all” (127). The Ordinary Man is “plain and simple.” He would rather save his life than take a stand for what he knows is right. More hides in "the forest of the law", refusing to state definitively his opinion on the king's marriage. By remaining silent, he is blocking the proceedings against him. Rich, whose prize turns out to be Wales', is eventually called upon to give false testimony against More in order to speed up the process. With his false account of More's actions, More is convicted of high treason and sentenced to death. In his final informal conversation with Norfolk, Norfolk reprimands More for his refusal to give in to King Henry's orders. More attempts, one last time, to make Norfolk understand what drives him to be so adamant about his beliefs: NORFOLK: Oh, it's immutable, isn't it? The only fixed point in a world of changing friendships is that Thomas More will not give in! MORE: For me it has to be, because it's me. Affection runs as deep in me as you think, but only G-d is love all the way, Howard; and it's myself.NORFOLK: And who are you? Damn, man, this is disproportionate! We're supposed to be the arrogant, the proud, the sluggish – and we've all given in! Why do you need to stand out? You're going to break my heart. (122) Norfolk is deeply troubled by what he sees as a painful and illogical sacrifice on More's part. Unable to see beyond the immediate physical impact of things, he is frustrated with Thomas, as he cannot find a direct or tangible justification for his friend's actions. Although he is undeniably a good man, Norfolk has a spiritual superficiality and fails to understand the ultimate meaning of actions. His decision to succumb to the king's will is not, for him, morally compromising. He simply doesn't see any obvious reason to take the risk, so he chooses to keep quiet. In this way he is another foil for More, who goes on to say to Norfolk:MORE: And what would you do with a water spaniel who is afraid of water? You would hang it! Well, what a spaniel is to water, so is man to himself. I will not give in because I oppose it – I do – nor out of pride, nor rage, nor any other of my appetites.