A Man For All Seasons

The Common Man is a Brechtian character who provides omniscient narration throughout the play. He plays many roles, including More’s steward, Matthew, the Boatman, the Publican, the Jailer, the Foreman of the Jury, and the Executioner. The Common Man often breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience, providing insight into the position of society at large. The Common Man as the Boatman shows how those who make the laws in a country do not always understand how those laws affect working people. The Boatman remarks that ​​“[w]hoever makes the regulations doesn’t row a boat” (58), implying that if those who made regulations did row the boats, they would see how unfair the set rates are for the Boatman’s services. 

As Matthew, the Common Man often speaks directly to More’s flaws, suggesting that More is blind to the struggles of ordinary people when he asks Matthew to stay on as steward for less pay. Later, the Common Man as the Executioner demonstrates the way in which regular people are forced to get their hands dirty in service of the powerful. People like Cromwell make the decisions, but the common people are forced to carry out those decisions whether they want to or not, because it is the only way for them to make a living.

In A Man for All Seasons, Thomas More’s family consists of his wife, Alice (1474-c. 1546), his daughter, Margaret (1505-1544), and Margaret’s husband, William Roper (c. 1496-1578). Alice More, née Harpur, was first married to a merchant named John Middleton. She had several children with her first husband, but the only one to survive infancy was a daughter (also named Alice). Middleton died in 1509. Alice was More’s second wife, just as he was her second husband. More’s first wife, Jane Colt, died in 1511; they had three daughters and a son together. 

More and Alice married almost immediately after Colt died; the marriage was so rapid that More had to apply for a special dispensation to marry within 30 days of becoming a widower. More and Alice raised More’s children and Alice’s daughter together. More’s eldest daughter was Margaret. Like all of More’s children, Margaret received a high-quality education. She was noted for her intelligence; she translated works from Latin into English. Margaret married William Roper in 1521. Roper, a lawyer and politician, was a Lutheran at the time of the marriage, but Margaret and More converted him back to Catholicism. Some years after More’s death, Roper wrote the first authoritative biography of his father-in-law.

In the play, More’s closest relationship is with Margaret. The two of them understand each other’s perspectives, and Margaret is particularly sympathetic to More’s arguments and convictions. Alice often argues with her husband; unlike Margaret, she finds it difficult to understand his reasoning, and she resents him for sending the family into a spiral of poverty and danger. Despite her misgivings, Alice does ultimately respect her husband’s position, and the two have a loving relationship. More has a contentious relationship with Roper, initially (and anachronistically) refusing to let him marry Margaret because of his religious views. Their relationship improves when Roper converts back to Catholicism, but the two never really see eye to eye, and More’s attitude toward Roper is one of begrudging tolerance. Unlike More, Roper struggles to understand the political value of silence and discretion.

Thomas Cromwell (c. 1485-1540) and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (c. 1473-1530) were two important players in the court of Henry VIII. Despite Wolsey’s humble origins as a butcher’s son, he amassed a great deal of power and wealth over his lifetime, in part due to efforts by King Henry VII to limit the power of the nobility and uplift people from modest backgrounds. Wolsey became a cardinal in 1515 after serving as a chaplain and as a member of the Privy Council. While a cardinal, he also served as lord chancellor. When Henry wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon, Wolsey petitioned the Catholic Church for an annulment. He was ultimately unsuccessful, and he died on his way to the Tower of London to answer to charges of treason. A Man for All Seasons portrays Wolsey as a man desperate to fulfill the King’s wishes. His Catholicism is contrasted with More’s; while More is unwilling to bend the laws of God to suit Henry’s wishes for a divorce, Wolsey is more practical and able to put aside religious convictions to serve his king. 

Thomas Cromwell was a farrier’s son who became a member of Cardinal Wolsey’s household in 1524. He went on to become one of Wolsey’s most trusted advisers. He aided Wolsey in attempting to procure a divorce for Henry and continued this project after Wolsey’s downfall and death. Despite Wolsey’s downfall, Cromwell soon rose to prominence at Henry’s court, where he was one of Henry’s closest advisers. Unlike More, Cromwell was Reformation-minded and secretly Protestant. As the Reformation unfolded, he pushed for the dissolution of the monasteries. Eventually, however, his favor ran out. Following the fall of Anne Boleyn and a series of unsuccessful political maneuvers, the Duke of Norfolk and several other of Cromwell’s enemies pushed for his arrest in 1540. Cromwell was imprisoned and executed without trial; after his execution, his head was displayed on a spike on London Bridge. Henry later came to deeply regret Cromwell’s execution.

In A Man for All Seasons, Cromwell is a character foil for More. They are opposites in every regard, most notably in their beliefs about the law. More sees the law as a natural, intrinsic thing that comes from God, while Cromwell sees the law as a tool created by humans that can be used to pursue one’s goals. The play does not mention Cromwell’s religious beliefs or his religious motivations for pursuing Henry’s divorce. In fact, it specifically positions Cromwell as a man without religious faith, further contrasting him with the Catholic More.

Richard Rich (1496-1567) was a lawyer. As a young man starting out his career, he petitioned many great men for patronage, including Cardinal Wolsey. He eventually became a member of Parliament (MP) and in 1533 was made solicitor general for England and Wales by Thomas Cromwell. During this period, he aided Cromwell in securing Henry’s divorce and passing the Act of Supremacy. He also helped dissolve the monasteries. Rich played a key role in giving evidence against More during More’s trial. Many historians agree that his evidence was either exaggerated or fabricated. He went on to have a very successful political career working for Henry VIII’s three successors, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. Rich left behind a legacy of corruption. 

A Man for All Seasons portrays Rich’s journey toward corruption. More attempts to dissuade Rich from pursuing a career as a statesman, saying that he would be better off as a teacher. Dissatisfied with this idea, Rich sells information to Cromwell about More in order to secure positions for himself, spitefully using More for his own advancement. At one point, the Common Man as Matthew ironically predicts that Rich will “come to nothing” (49). Later, the Common Man as the Jailer contradicts this prediction, revealing that of all the players in the events unfolding, Rich is the only one who never experiences a political downfall. Instead, he dies in his bed after enjoying a career as “a Knight and Solicitor-General, a Baron and Lord Chancellor” (150).

The Duke of Norfolk, also known as Thomas Howard (1473-1554), enjoyed a successful political career. He was made lord admiral in 1513, then lord deputy of Ireland in 1520. In 1522, he was made lord treasurer. In his career, he was often opposed to Cardinal Wolsey due to Wolsey’s preference for diplomacy over aggression and war; the two men had an antagonistic relationship, and Norfolk directly benefited from Wolsey’s downfall. 

Norfolk also benefited when his niece, Anne Boleyn, caught Henry’s eye. Norfolk seized this opportunity and began actively working to secure Henry a divorce from Catherine in order advance Anne’s position at court, as well as his own. A Man for All Seasons does not mention this motivation behind Norfolk’s actions and instead positions him as an unwilling agent against Thomas More. While Norfolk was a Catholic, like More, his religious convictions were not closely linked to his political motivations and desire for influence over the country. The play does mention this contradiction: More accuses Norfolk of not caring about the religion of England, despite his personal beliefs. 

The play gives few details about the rest of Norfolk’s life. Eventually, after the fall of More, Anne Boleyn, and Thomas Cromwell, Norfolk offered up another of his nieces to the King in the hopes of gaining political favor. Catherine Howard became Henry’s fifth wife when she was 17. At the age of 19, she was executed for treason and adultery, leaving Norfolk politically isolated. He was eventually charged with high treason and only escaped being executed because of Henry VIII’s death. He remained a prisoner in the Tower of London during the six-year reign of Edward VI and was only released when Mary I ascended the throne in 1553.

Eustace Chapuys was a diplomat who served King Charles V of Spain as an ambassador to England from 1529 until 1545. He was an influential player in English politics during the reign of Henry VIII. Like most Spanish subjects at the time, he was a devout Catholic. Catherine of Aragon requested that Chapuys replace the previous ambassador in England, as Chapuys’s background in law meant that he was an excellent advocate for her when Henry petitioned for a divorce. Despite their bitter religious differences and opposite sides in the matter of Henry’s divorce, Chapuys and Cromwell eventually became friends. Though he failed to prevent Henry from divorcing Catherine, Chapuys remained loyal to Catherine’s memory and was a staunch advocate for Catherine and Henry’s daughter, Mary I. 

A Man for All Seasons depicts Chapuys as the strong defender of Catherine of Aragon that he was. He is often frustrated by More’s unwillingness to defend the Queen and the Catholic faith outright. The end of the play depicts Chapuys’s developing friendship with Cromwell but does not state why these two men were able to find a common ground after being spiritual and political enemies. The play does suggest, through staging, that Cromwell and Chapuys both “know what the world is and how to be comfortable in it” (186). Like Cromwell, Chapuys is able to adapt to new political situations even when they are counter to his religious beliefs.