Compare and contrast what is identified as the key problem by King Henry VIII and Thomas More. In Robert Bolt's, "A Man for All Seasons," the key problem between King Henry VIII and Sir Thomas More arises when King Henry decides he wants to divorce his barren wife, Catherine of Argon, to marry Anne Volley. King Henry sees Mores approval on the matter both publicly and privately as a matter of utmost importance.Mores disapproval is quite obvious.
"That you should put away Queen Catherine, Sire? Oh, alas as I think of it I see so clearly that I cannot remain with Your Grace that my endeavor is not to think of it at all. " (Bolt 53) More reminds Henry that, "When I took the Great Seal your Majesty promised not to pursue me on this matter (the divorce). " (Bolt 54) Again, Henry exclaims, "you have my word?I'll leave you out of it. But I don't take it kindly, Thomas, and I'll have no opposition! (Bolt 56) Despite his promises, King Henry began harassing Sir Thomas to expedite the affair. The badgering and erratic behavior was becoming violent towards More as he repeatedly declined to comment on the divorce.
The king became so obsessed with trying to gain Mores acceptance that it was said he, "wants either Sir Thomas More to bless his marriage or Sir Thomas More destroyed. " (Bolt 119) King Henry VIII has effectively made himself God, Judge and Jury with absolute power and no checks and balances.In the end, Sir Thomas himself sums it up quite nicely, "Nevertheless, it is not for the Supremacy that you have sought my blood?but because I would not bend to the marriage! " (Bolt 160) 2. What relevance does this screen play have to a course in U. S.
Government & Politics? In the centuries since Sir Thomas Mores death, civil law has en established and refined so that individuals are able to live and exist in everyday life protected from the misuse of power by others and the government.Mores death marked the beginning of a change to end the system of absolute power and bring in a system of checks and balances. Sir Thomas More was ultimately unwillingly drawn into a situation where he had to choose between power and principles. Mores decision was consistent throughout the entirety of the play as he remained intensely loyal to his conscience and unable to abandon his religious beliefs, even if it meant his own tragic end.
