Loyalty In A Man For All Seasons

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In the eyes of Robert Bolt, author of A Man For All Seasons, Thomas More is a magnificent Catholic martyr and hero. Throughout the play, More is depicted as a humble, loyal servant to the King and God. We see him as a loving family man who wished no ill will to anyone he loves. When he is killed, he is killed for upholding righteous Catholic values, and becomes an example of loyalty to the Pope. A great issue, though, of More his struggle to determine where his loyalty should lie. Is he loyal to the King or is he loyal to the Church? Is there an alternative choice? The answer is yes, to all the questions asked. More is simultaneously loyal to the King, Church, and the alternative. The other option would be his loyalty to his own conscience. He stands firm in his beliefs and cannot be swayed regardless of anyone’s actions. Regardless of who he is loyal to, he is faithful and only does what will please his leader. This includes the visit…show more content…
More states that if “it were possible for me to do the thing that might content the King’s Grace without God thereby being offended, there is no man who has taken this oath already who has done so more gladly than I would.”4 He is loyal to the King and would gladly take the oath if his conscience allowed it. That being said, he would much rather rely on his own knowledge and conscience than to please the King and, in More’s eyes, damn himself. But because his conscience is against the ruling, he cannot allow himself to do so, which shows that More is loyal to himself and the Church. When More is eventually sentenced to die, one of the last things he does is ask the people to “pray to God to give the King good counsel,”5 and he did this with no malice. He continues to say that “he died [the King’s] good servant, and God’s first.”6 He was always loyal to Henry and never wished him any ill,

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