Thomas More: Preserving Self in Society in A Man for All Seasons

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are still considered two of the most influential writers of their time. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was a lecturer, essayist, and poet, Henry David Thoreau is his student, who was also a great essayist and critics. Both men extensively studied and embraced nature, and both men encouraged and practiced individualism and nonconformity. In Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Self Reliance" and Henry David Thoreau's book "Walden" and essay "Resistance to Civil Government ("Civil Disobedience")", both thinkers speak about being individual and what reforms and changes need to be made in society. Thoreau stayed with Emerson for a while and was affected by his ideas, especially relating to the individual and

This shift from promoting an ideal 'Utopia ' in his work to openly and aggressively defending the Catholic Church is one of the first examples of the Reformations affect on changing political discourse from criticisms to open violent outbursts and pleas of aggression. Adding to this further is More 's response to Tyndale in 1531, where More states the Reformation is a genuine danger to all of Catholic society4. More was eventually executed but stated “I die the Kings faithful servant, but Gods First”5 revealing although More hated the Reformation, he had stood by his religious values, including his King, making his political writing still plausible in terms of how an authority, such as a monarch, could work hand in hand in a religious society. More 's response to Tyndale and final words shows how much his own way of political discourse had shifted through the years of the reformation, as he had called for violence in the early years 1517, aggressively insulted protestant philosophers such as Luther, but had now consorted to reason. Therefore it can be concluded that many of the philosophers actions during the early years of the Reformation were shock reactions to this shift in power and apparent attack on the perceived 'Catholic state ' rather than a true change in political discourse, as many of the underlying religious opinions in political writing has been retained.

the audience may agree with this as they may feel More does not take a

In the play A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt the audience learns about the extraordinary life of Sir Thomas More. Sir Thomas is faced with a moral dilemma that will determine the outcome of his life. More, chancellor of England , and a strong Christian believer is forced to choose between his close friend, King Henry VIII, and the supreme lord his God. More is a man of moral integrity because he refuses to submit to external pressures to sign the oath condoning the Act of Supremacy. He follows his heart and soul in doing what he believes to be right no matter what the consequence.

“In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments and, common sense.” (Common Sense, Thomas Paine) Thomas Paine is seen as one of the most influential and outspoken igniters of the American Revolution. In his pamphlet commonsense he addresses all the ideas of government and constitutional pragmatism. William Hogeland in his article Thomas Paine’s Revolutionary Reckoning. Hogeland describes Paine’s life in great detail as well as showing the conflict between Paine and President George Washington. The connection between Paine and Washington is one that really brings into perspective how much Paine’s writtings meant in defining how America took up arms against England. What is most interesting about Hogelands

In the beginning of A Man for All Seasons, Sir Thomas More is introduced as a profoundly religious man focused on adhering to the laws of his country and faith. As the play progresses the audience sees More putting further faith into his belief that by abiding to the present laws and withholding his opinion about King Henry VIII’s divorce he will be protected from prosecution. The issue starts when the King wishes to divorce his brother’s wife, who initially he had taken as his own through a special papal dispensation, in order to wed Queen Anne and produce a male heir. More, being a devoutly religious man, realizes this goes against the laws of the Church. He refuses to give his willing approval based on the fact it is not morally or

St. Thomas Aquinas argues that an “an unjust law is no law at all.” (Aquinas in Dimock, ed., 2002, p.19) However, Aquinas also acknowledges that a human lawgiver may promulgate a command that has the form of law, and is enforced like a law, yet is unjust. This observation leads to the realization that these are two inconsistent claims. Yet Aquinas believes that these inconstancies can be reconciled. In Aquinas’ view an unjust law is not a law but yet is also able to be issued as law and imposed as law.

Christian initially accepts this suggestion, for he is told by Mr. Worldly-Wiseman that Legality is a man who is known for his good works (Bunyan, 19). Christian them embarks on the trip to the Village of Morality, but in transit he encounters a hill that proved an insurmountable obstacle, along with the reappearance of Evangelist who shames him for trusting in the earthly qualities of morality and legality (Bunyan, 20-22). Therein we see confirmation of the notion that justification is by faith alone. For Christian, via the instruction and teachings of Evangelist, discards the knowledge and virtues of the concepts of morality and legality as nothing more than a fruitless diversion in comparison to seeking the Celestial City (Bunyan, 22).

The 16th century was a time of political upheaval, a time of conflict and corruption … and a time of heroes? All these elements are visibly present in Bolt’s book, A Man for All Seasons. As I was reading this story I was thinking that it could probably apply to our day and age but that begged the question. Why did Robert Bolt decide to use a 16th century character rather than a present time period character and setting? I believe that Bolt chose this man and his era because there things that he liked abut the man, there was no shortage of conflict and the he was worthy of being a hero. He fits into one of the archetype heroes. These three things I will touch upon in my seminar and I hope that my ideas will prove to be informative and

Sir Thomas More was born in London to Agnes and John More a lawyer in 1477. Tomas after being a page in the Morton Household was sent to Oxford University and became a successful lawyer. After becoming an MP for the Under-Sheriff of London he started writing the book Utopia and finishing it 1516. After writing the book he was appointed as the privy councilor to King Henry VIII in 1518. He was latter executed in 1535 for refusing King Henry VIII to be the head of the church. Utopia is a fictional book about Mores talk with Raphael Nonsenso and his travels to Utopia.

In Hart’s eyes, though there may be a congruence between law and morality, it is by no means a necessary connection. (Hart, DATE)

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.

divorce. In the play, A Man for All Seasons, by Robert Bolt, King Henry VIII

The "Middle" Ages were followed by the Renaissance, a time in which art and literature flourished. Thomas More, the first English humanist of the Renaissance, was born in London during this period. More's style is simple because of its colloquial language but a deeper look into his irony hints at deep dissatisfaction with the current thought and desire for change. "Utopia" (which in Greek means "nowhere") is the name of More's fictional island of perfected society. Thomas More's "Utopia" was the first literary work in which the ideas of Communism appeared and was highly esteemed by all the humanists of Europe in More's time. More uses the main character, Hythlodaeus, as a fictional front to express his own feelings he may have feared to

When the boundary between Church and state is clouded, men may begin to “believe they are performing a bold action in killing anyone who does not accept its gods”