A Man For All Seasons Essays -- essays research papers

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 enlightening.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the main reasons that Robert Bolt probably chose 16th century Thomas More as his hero for A Man for all Seasons was that he liked his personality. By that I mean that as Bolt wrote about More, he discovered more and more things that he found admirable about the man. At the outset, Robert Bolt was looking for a person who had a strong idea of who he is because this is what Bolt thinks is necessary to be a hero and this is exactly the type of man that Thomas More is. More saw in himself something that was his only and he was that it was something that allowed him to live life with confidence in himself. Only when he was denied that way of life was he able to accept his fate of death. Robert Bolt comments on this on page 13 of the preface. â€Å"†¦who nevertheless found something in himself without which life was valueless and when that was denied him, he was able to grasp his death.† This shows that Thomas knew that he had a sense of identity that no one else and he knew how important it was.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After Robert Bolt selected this man, he began to write and realised many more things about Thomas More, which had drawn him to the 16th century character. One of the things that Bolt found out was More’s sense of self. He remarks on this on page 12 of the preface. â€Å"At any rate, Thomas More, as I wrote about him, became for me a man with an adamantine sense of his own self.† Robert Bolt went back to this era long past because of that trait but it was as he wrote about him that he discovered just how strong his sense of identity was.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  B... ...e me, Alice, that in silence is my safety under the law, but my silence must be absolute, it must extend to you.† (P56) He has found that so long he doesn’t give any indication to his opinion, hey cannot do anything to him legally. â€Å"MORE: There’ll be no trial, they have no case.† (P85) When he is asking his family to leave the country, he knows that he has protected himself to the best of his abilities. He should be safe except for the fact that he is dealing with a corrupt King who considers himself above the law.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Is there any way to do a play such as this in the 20th century? Evidently, Robert Bolt thought not and after analysing the story further, I have come to realise that he is right. The elements of the story, which were present in the 16th century, are not present in the 20th. There also may have been no one in this century that Robert Bolt liked enough and with the right characteristics. And of course, there is not enough conflict for one man to face as there was in that time. I believe that there are men (And women.) who would be able to face the problems that Thomas More had to face but we can all be thankful that there is no need for it.