47 pages • 1 hour read
Robert BoltA Man For All Seasons
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1960A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Catholic and Protestant Beliefs
A Man for All Seasons is set during a deeply turbulent time in English history. Over the course of relatively few years, Thomas More saw his country make a dramatic shift from Catholicism to Protestantism. The theological differences between Catholics and Protestants at this time were not especially large, but they had vast implications for England’s government structure. Before the Reformation, More’s Catholic conception of government was validated. In his view, power flowed from God to the king via the Pope. Even if the Pope was corrupt, he was still an essential part of the existing power structure. More structured his life around his staunch Catholicism, and he was unwilling to alter his beliefs even when the personal and political consequences for doing so became extreme.
When England became officially Protestant, the dynamic of power shifted. Catholicism became heretical, which was particularly ironic for More, who had spent much of his career persecuting Protestants for heresy. Protestants had several main grievances against the Catholic Church, including the number of sacraments, the role of the Pope, and the practice of selling indulgences. More is the most pious character in A Man for All Seasons, and there are no characters who clearly and rationally describe the Protestant viewpoint from a religious lens. In reality, there were many people in England who were just as pious and sincere in their Protestant faith as More is in his Catholic beliefs. Because religion and politics were so tightly intertwined in England at this time, people had to take their political positions into account when choosing whether to convert to the prevailing religion or keep their beliefs a secret.
In A Man for All Seasons, the Protestant Reformation represents a disintegration of the solid foundation on which More built his life. As More becomes increasingly unable to maintain both his faith in God and his loyalty to the King, the title of the play takes on a bitter irony: More may once have been a man for all seasons, able to adapt himself to any changing circumstance, but that is no longer the case. The Protestant Reformation brings with it the end of More’s season and the beginning of his downfall. Despite More’s efforts, it becomes impossible for him to maintain his position as a Catholic in a Protestant country. Just as Protestants experienced violent persecution in England before the Reformation, Catholics had the same experiences after Henry broke with Rome.
The Power of the Law
In many ways, A Man for All Seasons is a play about the legal process. Several of the main characters are lawyers, and the climax of the play takes place in a courtroom. Both Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More do their best to get what they want within the constraints of the law, but the approaches that they take could not be more opposed. More does everything in his power to obey the law at all times. He believes that obeying the law is the best and only way to be sure of doing God’s will. More bases his morality on the law, refusing to say anything against Rich for being “bad” so long as he has not broken the law. Right and wrong, in More’s view, are far less important than the rule of law. They are too nebulous and too easy for the Devil to co-opt; the law is solid and certain.
Even when the law starts to change, pulling away from the Catholic certainty More is used to, he feels confident that he can avoid danger through his silence because he has not technically broken the law. As a lawyer, More is well aware of the legal precedent for his defense. He feels confident that he will be safe because he believes that the law, which comes from God, is necessarily immutable and just. Cromwell, on the other hand, sees the law as a tool. It is made by people, and it can be remade as needed. Cromwell understands that he can interpret or even ignore some parts of the law if doing so allows him to do the King’s bidding. He believes that the law is not an expression of God’s will, but of the King’s. God may not change, but kings do, and lawyers like Cromwell need to be prepared to adapt. By the end of the play, Cromwell, not More, emerges as the man for all seasons.
There is one complicating factor in More and Cromwell’s dual interpretations of the law, and that is the Boatman. More agrees to pay the Boatman a higher fare than the law stipulates. Cromwell is the one who insists on the fare as written in the law. This moment undermines what the rest of the play says about More and Cromwell. More insists on doing what is legal instead of what is right, except in this instance, when he acknowledges that the law is not always just or rational. On the other hand, Cromwell insists that the law is mutable, but he insists on the legal fare instead of allowing for nuance based on the Boatman’s labor practices. This wrinkle in the play’s themes may be explained by Bolt’s desire to put More forward as a sympathetic character.
The Role of the Common Man
The Common Man is quite an unusual character who changes the tone and ultimate meaning of the play. Played by a single actor, the Common Man takes on many roles, all of whom are ordinary working people. Through his repeated appearances, he reminds the audience that although this appears to be a story about wealthy and important people, it is actually a story about everyone in England. Henry’s divorce did not just affect his closest advisers; it also affected his ordinary subjects, many of whom had to reckon with major changes in their lives.
Throughout the play, the Common Man shows how those in power consign ordinary people to suffer. For example, the Boatman is not fairly compensated for his labor, because those who set his wage have no idea what his work actually entails. Matthew, meanwhile, loses his job when More, his employer, runs afoul of the King. Although More is generally portrayed as a sympathetic character, when he tries to persuade Matthew to stay on for less pay, he inadvertently reveals his ignorance of what it’s like to be an ordinary person. This scene underscores how even the most principled leaders can be woefully ill-equipped to understand the needs of those they govern.
In his various roles as Foreman of the Jury, Jailer, and Executioner, the Common Man also draws attention to societal inequity and injustice. Specifically, the Common Man illustrates how those in power use regular people to do their dirty work. The Foreman of the Jury finds More guilty, though he resists playing the part; the Jailer refuses to allow More to spend a few extra minutes with his family, saying that he is just following orders; and the Executioner is the only one who commits an act of physical violence in the play, though again he tries to refuse his task. In each of these roles, the Common Man has no say in the decisions being made, but he is forced to carry them out.
The Common Man is a character in the tradition of Bertolt Brecht. Brecht’s philosophy of drama can be very effective on stage but less so on film. Interestingly, in the 1966 film adaptation of A Man for All Seasons, the Common Man is entirely absent, and all his roles are played by different actors. When the play was first adapted for film, more radical storytelling devices were common on stage but uncommon in cinema. As such, the thematic role of the Common Man is restricted to the stage production.
