For more information
Call 1-800-351-0222
Call 1-800-351-0222
SIR THOMAS MORE.
Term Paper ID:30326
Get This Paper Free! or
Essay Subject:
Discusses More's refusal to change the law to allow King Henry VIII to divorce.... More...
3 Pages / 675 Words
4 sources, 9 Citations,
MLA Format
$12.00
More Papers on This Topic
Paper Abstract:
Discusses More's refusal to change the law to allow King Henry VIII to divorce. Baes analysis on the 1966 film A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS. Contends essence of the movie is true to history, but several film elements are not. Clash between More and the King, and More's imprisonment for treason.
Paper Introduction:
Sir Thomas More, also known as Saint Thomas More (because of sanctification by the Catholic Church) is probably best known for his confrontation with King Henry VIII, for which he lost his life. He was a statesman as well as a political and social philosopher. His most famous work is his Utopia, a book in which he created his version of a perfect society and gave his name to such conceptions ever after as "utopias." The film A Man for All Seasons (1966, Fred Zinnemann) recounts the story of More's refusal to change the law to allow King Henry VIII to divorce. The essence of the film is true to history, but there are elements in the film which are not.
The law and the Church clashed under Henry VII, who had a sense of himself as absolute monarch, able to do whatever he wanted in order to accomplish what he desired. When the laws
Text of the Paper:
The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper.
New York: Alfred A. Marius says that the film also reviles Cromwell, whose role in theaffair is even more unclear than that of Riche, and even Roper as notunkind to him. Thomas More. Charles dominated Italyduring this period, and because of his influence Pope Clement VII could notgrant Henry's request. Marius says that the least truthful element in the film is the wayMore himself is portrayed. Having come tothis belated decision, Henry ordered his chief minister, Cardinal Wolsey,to approach the papacy for a decree that the marriage was invalid and thatHenry was free to marry again. This mayalso derive in part from the fact that Roper idolized his father-in-law: Roper's More is a saint, although Roper, like Erasmus, is free of the crude miracle-mongering found in conventional saints' legends . Marius says that the film gives us aMore who died heroically out of conscience but "robs him of the dubiouscontent of that conscience and thus robs us of the tragedy of the realThomas More" (Marius, "A Man for All Seasons" 73). New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995.Marius, Richard. The law and the Church clashed under Henry VII, who had a sense ofhimself as absolute monarch, able to do whatever he wanted in order toaccomplish what he desired. More depended on Wolseyfor position and advancement and so was careful not to give offense untilafter Wolsey fell from disgrace because he failed to gain papal approvalfor Henry's divorce. A Man for All Seasons. Henry VIII was king of England from 15 9 to 1547, and he instigatedthe Reformation of the English church in order to secure a divorceCatherine of Aragon. 1966. Works CitedDawson, Ian. Carnes (ed.), 7 -73. Marius finds that the worst misinformation in the film concernsMore's religion and his furious hatred of the Protestants. In fact, there is evidence that Roper and the rest ofMore's family was friendly with Cromwell long after the execution (Marius,"A Man for All Seasons" 72). . Catherine opposed the annulment, as did her nephewCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. Theessence of the film is true to history, but there are elements in the filmwhich are not. From that book, the ultimate betrayal of RichardRiche is taken, and in the film he is made into a slimy villain. A divorce trial was held in London in 1529, but itwas adjourned without a decision. The new marriage seemed happy for a number of years,but Henry became concerned because Catherine had borne no male heir tocontinue the Tudor line. When the laws stood in his way, he changed thelaws or destroyed those (like Sir Thomas More) who challenged his right todo so. Riche testified at More's trial, and Marius says thathis testimony "was far less malicious" (Marius, "A Man for All Seasons"72). His aim throughout was to prove that his father-in- law was "a man or singular virtue and of a clear, unspotted conscience" (Marius, Thomas More xv-xvi).Contemporary evidence shows that More was a docile servant to Wolsey, whilethe film shows More railing against the Cardinal. Knopf, 1984.Zinnemann, Fred. He decided that his marriage displeased God, andhe found justification for this in a biblical text (Leviticus 2 :21) whichheld that marriage to a dead brother's widow is forbidden. Mariussays Riche's actual role is more ambiguous, based on a reading of the fewavailable records. First, Bolt tends to idolize More, while Mariustakes a more reasonable view of the man as a flawed human being. The Tudor Century. Much ofthe religious hatred expressed by More is missing, as is the motivationthat this hatred gave him for the actions he took. "A Man for All Seasons." In Past Imperfect, Mark C. The necessary legislation was passed by Parliament in 1533.Henry was now free to marry Anne, and the Church of England was alsoestablished as an independent national church, no longer in communion withthe Roman Catholic church or the pope (Dawson 153-16 ). . Richard Marius, a biographer of More, says that thefilm's errors are largely "harmless concessions to theatricality" (Marius,"A Man for All Seasons" 72), and he further notes that one of the mainreasons for the errors is that Bolt depended on Life of More by WilliamRoper, who was also More's son-in-law. London: Nelson, 1993.Marius, Richard. He speaks a good dealabout the primacy of the law, but his reason for opposing the divorce wasalso a matter of religious belief and hatred of Protestantism, whichallowed divorce. He was astatesman as well as a political and social philosopher. Sir Thomas More, also known as Saint Thomas More (because ofsanctification by the Catholic Church) is probably best known for hisconfrontation with King Henry VIII, for which he lost his life. The book was written two decadesafter More was executed. His most famouswork is his Utopia, a book in which he created his version of a perfectsociety and gave his name to such conceptions ever after as "utopias." Thefilm A Man for All Seasons (1966, Fred Zinnemann) recounts the story ofMore's refusal to change the law to allow King Henry VIII to divorce. Henry was angry and dismissed Wolsey,replacing him first with More, and in 1532 with Thomas Cromwell, whoproposed that England break with the papacy so that the archbishop ofCanterbury, the highest officer in the English church, could grant thedivorce. Also missing from the film is "the More who after hisresignation as chancellor went on pouring out works against heresy--evenwhen the king was trying to negotiate an alliance with Protestants"(Marius, "A Man for All Seasons" 73). In the film,More will not allow Roper to marry his daughter until Roper has cast offhis flirtation with Lutheranism, but More is relatively reasonable aboutit, while in life he "produced hundreds of pages of ugly polemics shriekingfor the blood of Protestants" (Marius "A Man for All Seasons" 73). While More did later write with ironic wit aboutthose who had flattered Wolsey, Marius says it is clear that More offeredjust as much flattery as the others (Marius, "A Man for All Seasons" 72). The film, based on the play by Robert Bolt, tells of the clashbetween Henry and More, leading to More's imprisonment in 1534 for treasonbecause he had refused to swear an oath supporting the king in his desireto divorce his wife. By this time the king had in fact fallen inlove with Anne Boleyn.
If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again:
or
We can write a Custom Essay just for you.
Browse Essays by Subject