Man For All Seasons

A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt, 163 pages

Sir Thomas More, councillor to King Henry VIII, stubbornly refuses to approve of the conduct of his king.  In return, the ministers of that king force him first into retirement and finally to the scaffold.  Sir Thomas alone, amid a crowd of vain, greedy, and ambitious men, remains true to himself and his principles, and this earns him persecution and death.  The story is a familiar one, but here beautifully and movingly told.

Part of the story's familiarity is due to the classic 1966 movie version of this very play, adapted by Bolt himself.  The play differs from the film primarily in the part of the Common Man, who plays various minor roles and offers sporadic commentary to the audience.  If this is a stagy artifice, there is a certain value in the character precisely as he represents our own practical natures against the very impractical sanctity of Sir Thomas.  Of course, Bolt hollows out that sanctity by presenting St Thomas as a martyr, not for the truth, but rather for what he believes.