Home > A Man for All Seasons Summary & Study Guide > A Man for All Seasons Group > Discussion Board

Robert Bolt's "A Man for all Seasons"

Not everyone.  Because his conscience cannot be bought, Sir Thomas More is "A Man for All Seasons."  Saint Thomas More was unwilling to compromise the salvation of his soul and refused to concur with King Henry VIII's break from the Roman Catholic Church because the Pope would not annul his marriage to Catherine of Spain, a marriage that he allowed earlier because of acquiescing to political power.

Before his beheading, Sir Thomas More is subjected to pressure to go along with the king.  His wife urges him to "be ruled" by the king, and, while More admits that he would resort to legal hairsplitting if it would save his life, in the situation regarding a violation of the sacrament of matrimony, there is no hairsplitting or compromise.  When Henry VIII breaks from the Pope and the Catholic Church, More cannot obey the king, for to do so would mean the ruin of his immortal soul.  For his integrity, Sir Thomas More loses his head.  This head is impaled on London Bridge for all to see.  For Sir Thomas More, there was no price that could cover his soul.

No. If every man had a price, then the King would have gotten the annulment he wanted, would not have broken with the Church, and the history of England would have been changed dramatically. Also, A Man for All Seasons would never have been written because there would have been no story to tell!