NON-AFRICAN DRAMA
ROBERT BOLT: A Man For All Seasons
Examine the play as a conflict between king Henry’s desires and More’s principles.
Explanation
It is quite evident in the drama that the King’s heartiest wishes are ones that More cannot endorse. Mare’s stand is that what the King wants to have are against his moral and religious principles. On the King’s part, he has married a queen who is unable to bear a son and so must be divorced. Meanwhile he has found a younger woman he wishes to marry.
The King, to make his self conviction strong, reasons that the setting aside of a church provision to make his marrying his late brother’s wife possible is also unlawful. He therefore wants to set matters right by having that marriage annulled. The King also considers the Pope as a mere archbishop who must not lord it over other people from his church in Rome. England can have its own church and its Archbishop.
To succeed in implementing his desires, the King must have More’s support as his Chancellor and friend. More will not co-operate. His reasons are ones based on principle and religion.
More strongly believes that it is wrong to give public approval for the divorce of Queen Catherine and the marriage of the King to Anne Boleyn. The Pope had been persuaded to set aside a biblical injunction on marriage between King Henry VIII and his brother’s widow. Asking the Pope to reverse that is not morally right as far as More is concerned. He also strongly opposes the King’s attacks on the abbeys and his policy of reformation.
The King’s disregard for the Pope shocks More. He thinks that breaking away from Rome is sacrilegious. He strongly believes that the Pope is God’s representative and must not be rebuffed. Therefore, he refuses to swear the Oath in support of the king’s desire and does not give reasons. He opposes the Act of Parliament that approves the legitimacy of the King’s marriage with Anne Boleyn.
At this point, More and King Henry VIII are on a collision course. In the end, the King has his way without More’s support. More resigns as Chancellor but he loses his life. If he will not agree with the King, More must die. He dies in the belief that he has lived and stood by his conscience and that he has been true to his moral and religious principles.