A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt

A Man for All Seasons is a politcal play that deals with the common man. It was published in 1960 and while it takes place in England during the reign of Henry VIII, the themes still ring true today.

Sir Thomas More is a man who sticks to his morals despite the threat of alienation and death. He believes that morals are the thing that make a person who they are and they should never be compromised. To compromise them is to lose a bit of who you are.

Every man believes More a fool for not saying what he has to say to stay alive. More's main argument is that morals are what keep people from becoming bad. By sticking to your guns no matter what you become closer to God than doing something you don't truly believe in and asking for forgiveness later. While there are religious themes in this play, even if you are not a believer, the circumstances in which More finds himself in are what make this play relatable.

You can find a brief history of the play in the preface written by the playwright, Robert Bolt. Henry VIII was to wed his brother's widow, but Christianity forbade them from doing so as Christian law stated that it was a sin to marry your brother's widow. As England and Spain wanted to keep their connection, they turned to the head of Christianity, the pope, for help. The pope agreed to dispense of the Christian law and allowed them to marry. When it was found the Catherine was barren and Henry VII had his sights set on Anne Boleyn, he once again turned to the pope to have his marriage annulled. He was refused and he began saying that the pope was nothing more than a Bishop of Rome and not the actual representative of God. Since bishops were under his rule he appointed an Archbishop who began the Church of England.

Thomas More refuses to accept the king's acts and decides to stand by what he knows as the law of God. While people try to get him to say that he accepts Henry VIII's while not actually believing in them, he sticks to his guns saying that would be a worse offense than going against the king.

This is an extremely political play and one of its main characters is the common man. He takes on the roles of different common men and serves as the narrator to the audience. His main purpose is to show the audience what can happen if commoners don't speak up for what is right.

A Man for All Seasons follows Thomas More as he stands by beliefs regardless of the outside pressures and threats he faces. He is a great example for the audience as to what the playwright thinks we should do in our day to day lives. We should stand up for our beliefs despite what others say and we should never sacrifice those beliefs as to do so would be to lose a piece of our identity.

If anyone else has read this play feel free to comment below and let me know what you think! I would love to discuss the events of the play in more detail.