A Man for All Seasons More’s Moral Stature Essay

A Man for All Seasons: More’s Moral Stature In some literature, a character’s moral stature plays an important role. In the play, A Man for All Seasons, by Robert Bolt, no other character comes close to More’s moral reputation. Thomas Cromwell and Richard Rich do not compare to More’s moral stature because both Rich and Cromwell lie, while Rich accepts bribes and Cromwell does anything King Henry VIII tells him to no matter what it is, and they will do whatever it takes to get what they want. More on the other hand, would not lie no matter what the consequences would be, he would not accept a bribe under any circumstance and he would never go against his morals. Sir Thomas More†¦show more content†¦Norfolk’s comment â€Å" . . . he was the only judge since Cato who didn’t accept bribes!† (Bolt 58) confirms More’s friends know that he is not the type of man that can be bought. Sir Thomas More will not accept bribes because he is a moral person. Furthermore, More has a better moral reputation because he would not go against his beliefs no matter what anyone threatened to do to him. Sir Thomas feels that his beliefs are most important and need to come first. More resigns due to his beliefs, â€Å" . . . If the Bishops in Convocation submitted this morning, I’ll take it off† (Bolt 48). Also, More tells Cromwell that he is going to follow his conscience even thought he knows that he is going to be killed for it. More states this when he says, â€Å"And when we stand before God, and you are sent to Paradise for according to your conscience, and I am damned for not doing according to mine† (Bolt 78) This shows that he is putting his conscience and beliefs above all. He also believes in staying true to his conscience, â€Å" . . . yet God exists. In matters of conscience, the loyal subject is more bounden to be loyal to his conscience than to any other thing.† (Bolt 92) This is More’s way of saying that he will be true to his conscience to the bitter end. More will not change his mind and go against his principles and he will not be