Conflict in A Man for All Seasons Sample Essay

In England. during the Renaissance. Henry XIII wants to disassociate his married woman.

Catharine of Arigon. To look good in-front of his people. Henry asks Sir Thomas More. a good respected attorney and citizen. to back up the divorce. This presents Sir Thomas More with an interior struggle.

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In Robert Bolt’s drama. A Man for All Seasons. Thomas More resists force per unit areas exerted by Henry XIII through Thomas Cromwell. The Duke of Norfolk.

and Alice More. These force per unit areas involve Thomas More in a conflict of will. in which he faces a moral quandary. Thomas Cromwell. More’s clever enemy. pressures Thomas More to yield to King Henry’s demands. More’s lost friend. The Duke of Norfolk.

“for friendly relationships sake” besides wants More to yield to the king’s demands. Last. Thomas’s ain married woman. Alice More.

wants him to give in to the king’s demands. so that they may return to their normal lives. and non hold to worry every twenty-four hours for eachothers’ safety and wellbeing. These three people. though for different grounds.

exert force per unit area on Thomas More to yield to King Henry’s demands.Though More resists these force per unit areas. and keeps his moral unity. he is executed. Throughout the drama. Cromwell pressures Thomas More to travel against his ethical motives.

and succumb to King Henry’s demands. When More is called to Cromwell’s office. to hear the “charges” that have been brought against him.

More is told that siding with the King would be good to him. “Yet do you know that even now. if you could convey yourself to hold with the universities. the bishops. and the Parliament of this kingdom. there is no award which the male monarch would be probably to deny you.

” ( p. 114 ) . Cromwell attempts to acquire More to hold with the male monarch by stating. every bit long as More agrees with Henry.

he will allow More many favours. However. More explains to Cromwell that he merely can non make this and. by turning down Cromwell. he sticks to his scruples and ethical motives. Cromwell pressures More with decease when he. Cranmer. and Norfolk are in the gaol.

seeking to promote More to subscribe the Act of Succession.More does non believe that they can make anything more than gaol him ; nevertheless. Cromwell replies “Yet the province has harsher penalties. ” ( p. 133 ) .

Until this point. More feels that if he keeps silent he will be safe. even though he’s in prison. However.

Cromwell’s menace emphasizes to More the willingness of the King to hold him killed. if he does non carry through his wants. Finally. Cromwell besides tries to coerce More at the terminal of the test. After More realizes that the test has been rigged. and that he is at the clemency of the King. Cromwell says the following.

“Now I must inquire the Court’s indulgence! I have a message for the captive from the King. Sir Thomas. I am empowered to state you that even now- . ” ( p. 158 ) .

Cromwell is reminding More. that even though he has been convicted. he can still subscribe the Act and be exonerated of all the charges. However. More answers “No no. it can non be. ” turn outing that More has strong ethical motives. Even though he knows that he is traveling to be killed for it.

he would instead lodge to his ethical motives and dice. than be a ‘live rat. ’ Though Cromwell would instead see More dead.

he gives More many opportunities to populate. when he pressures More to travel against his ethical motives and side with the male monarch.Similarly. the Duke of Norfolk pressures Thomas More to travel against his ethical motives. and succumb to King Henry’s demands. When Thomas More is seeking to acquire a boat and Norfolk joins him. the two work forces get into an statement over their friendly relationship. Norfolk merely says to More.

“give in. ” ( p. 121 ) . Norfolk’s effort of acquiring More to give in fails because More argues. “I can’t spring in. Howard- You may every bit good rede a adult male to alter the colour of his eyes. I can’t. Our friendly relationship is more changeable than that.

” When More says this. he wants Norfolk to recognize the place he is in ; being the friend that he is. Norfolk should recognize what he is inquiring of More. and that it will non go on. Norfolk besides pressures More when Cromwell. Cranmer. and he are in the gaol seeking to acquire More to subscribe the Act of Succession. Norfolk says.

“Oh. confuse all this…I’m non a bookman. as Master Cromwell ne’er tires of indicating out. and honestly I don’t know whether the matrimony was lawful or non. But damn it. Thomas. expression at those names…You know those work forces!Can’t you do what I did.

and come with us. for family? . ” ( p. 132 ) . Norfolk is seeking to state More that many other respectable work forces signed the Act. and that it truly does non count whether it was lawful or non.

but that he should subscribe it anyhow for ‘fellowship. ’ More answers to this stating “And when we stand before God. and you are sent to Paradise for making harmonizing to your scruples. and I am damned for non making harmonizing to mine. will you come with me for friendly relationship? ” Here. More cleverly throws Norfolk’s ain logical thinking right back at him stating that he can’t travel against his ethical motives and merely will non subscribe. Finally. Norfolk pressures More to disregard his ethical motives.

when Cromwell has merely finished depicting the scene in the tribunal. “Sir Thomas More. you are called before us here at the Hall of Westminster to reply charge of High Treason.

Nevertheless. and though you have monstrously offended the King’s Majesty. we hope if you will even now forthink and repent of your stubborn forgivenesss. you may still savor his gracious forgiveness.

” ( p. 149 ) .Norfolk still wants More to ignore his scruples. and delight the male monarch. even though he has heard ‘no’ from More many times. More responds by once more stating no. and that God will protect him. Ironically nevertheless.

it is More’s trust in God that finally gets him killed. Though Norfolk is More’s friend and should back up how More feels and what he believes in. as most friends do of each-other. he tries to acquire More to travel against his better judgement and ethical motives. and O.K.

the divorce and the Act of Succession. Finally. Alice More force per unit areas her hubby to travel against his scruples and ethical motives. and succumb to King Henry’s demands. After Henry impolitely leaves the More family.

Alice tries to carry More to yield to his demands. “Thomas. remain friends with him. ” ( p. 59 ) .

Alice has some foresight. and she knows that if More were to traverse Henry. that he would be killed.

It is because of this that she wants More to stay loyal to him. However. Alice clearly does non understand the interior struggle that More is confronting. and More is frustrated with this.

More answers by stating “whatever can be done by smiling. you may trust on me to make. ”The “tennis tribunal. ” in which More must govern himself. will non be changed or altered for anyone. even a King. However. More is stating Alice that anything outside this “tennis court” he will alter or change to suit Henry’s desires.

if need be. Besides. Alice tries to acquire More to change his ethical motives when More hears from Norfolk that England has ‘severed their connexions with Rome. ’ It is at this point that More resigns from his place. and asks for person to take off his necklace. Alice replies “Hell’s Fire- God’s Blood and Body. no! Sun and Moon.

Master More. you’re taken for a wise adult male! Is this wisdom- to bewray your ability. abandon pattern. bury your station and your responsibility to your family and behave like a printed book? .

” ( p. 90 ) . Alice is stating to More that you are a wise individual. and that you should utilize this wisdom to retrieve your ‘kin’ and non roll from the norm. Alice eventually tries to acquire More to travel against his scruples and alter his ethical motives when he.

Roper. Alice. and Margaret are speaking about More’s surrender. Alice points out that his life is threatened. by his willingness to yield to Henry’s demands. when she says “Poor silly adult male. d’you think they’ll leave you here to larn to angle? .

” ( p. 95 ) .Alice has realized that despite More’s statement.

that he will be safe every bit long as he is soundless. is non genuinely the instance any longer. Husbands and married womans should be able to back up and swear each other. However. Thomas and Alice have a difficult clip making this.

which consequences in turning tenseness. Thomas More resists legion force per unit areas exerted by Henry XIII through Thomas Cromwell. The Duke of Norfolk.

and Alice More. Cromwell exerts force per unit area on More to yield to King Henry’s desires. Though Cromwell would instead see More dead. he gives More many opportunities to populate when he pressures More to travel against his ethical motives and side with the male monarch.

Norfolk besides pressures More to disregard his scruples. Though Norfolk is More’s friend and should back up how More feels and what he believes in. as most friends do of each-other. he tries to acquire More to travel against his scruples and ethical motives. and O.

K. the divorce.Finally. Alice pressures More to disregard his scruples and ethical motives and succumb to King Henry. We see that Alice truly wants More to travel along with Henry. because she likes her nice apparels.

good nutrients. and other daintinesss. However.

as the Moress are get downing to lose these amenitiess. Alice truly wants Thomas to subscribe the Act ; non because her household will remain together. but because she wants her daintinesss back. Throughout the drama. A Man for All Seasons. More is pressured to travel against his ethical motives and side with the King ; in the terminal of the drama. we realize all the unexpected and dry elements. It is dry that Norfolk and Cromwell.

who did side with the King. and were purportedly making the right thing. were charged with high lese majesty. Likewise. More believes that there is safety in following the jurisprudence ; in More’s caution to lodge to the jurisprudence. he finds himself in an insecure and tense state of affairs. which consequences in his decease.Furthermore.

and yet once more dry. is More’s belief that he has security. and hence remains true to himself. his ethical motives. and to God ; but however he is executed. More’s character can be compared with a modern twenty-four hours figure. Martin Luther King. Both work forces.

though they had strong ethical motives and were true to themselves. had a ruin. Thomas More was executed and Martin Luther King was assassinated. Today.

it is rare. yet particular and alone. when people really stand up for what they believe ; yet for standing up in what they believed in. they were killed. Peoples like Thomas More and Martin Luther King are rare in today’s society. However. the more people in the universe that are like them.

the better a universe we will all unrecorded in.

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