47 pages • 1 hour read
Robert BoltA Man For All Seasons
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1960A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Act II, Pages 107-149Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Act II, Pages 107-114 Summary
It is now May 1532. More and Roper are waiting to hear the results of the Convocation of Bishops in Canterbury. If the bishops submit and make Henry the supreme head of the Church of England instead of the Pope, More will resign as chancellor. He and Roper argue over whether Henry can be the supreme head of the Church. They also discuss Henry’s Act of Supremacy. Chapuys enters and expresses his disbelief that More allows himself “to be associated with the recent actions of King Henry” (112). He says that More has a responsibility for what has happened. There is a rumor that More will step down as chancellor if the bishops submit to Henry; Chapuys would applaud this rumor if it were true. He believes that More’s resignation would signal that he was unwilling to go along with “wickedness.” He points out that the North of England is ready for rebellion, if necessary.
Act II, Pages 114-123 Summary
Norfolk arrives and is suspicious of Chapuys’s presence. Chapuys insists that he is on a personal visit, looking to borrow a book from More. He leaves. Norfolk announces that the bishops have submitted to Henry and that England is going to break from the Catholic Church in Rome. Only Bishop Fisher resisted. More is unhappy and asks for help taking off his chain of office; he will resign. Margaret is the only one willing to remove the chain from his neck. Norfolk remarks that More’s resignation will look like cowardice. Angrily, More insists that the Reformation is an act of war against the Church and that Henry is doing this simply because the Pope will not grant him a divorce. Norfolk inquires whether More believes that Catherine is Henry’s wife; More refuses to answer that question to anyone but the King.
Norfolk points out that the Pope is corrupt, and More agrees but argues that the Pope is in theory “the Vicar of God, the descendant of St Peter, [their] only link with Christ” (116). Norfolk is not moved and asks why More would throw away his position over a theory but acknowledges that Henry will accept More’s resignation. More warns Norfolk that Chapuys thinks that there might be trouble in the North. Norfolk assures him that Cromwell has things under control. Norfolk leaves.
Alice wonders what they will all do now that More has given up his position. Roper is proud of More’s gesture, but More takes offense at his resignation being called a mere “gesture” when he considers it a necessary political move. Alice worries that More’s resignation will put the family in danger, but More assures Alice, Margaret, and Roper that as long as no one speaks of their opinions, they are safe. He has said nothing to them about the King’s supremacy or divorce that could incriminate him. He believes that his silence will also protect his family from having to testify against him.
Matthew enters and tells More that the servants all want to know what will happen to them now that More has resigned. More admits that since there will be much less money, they will all have to go. More assures Matthew that he will find positions for the servants at other households. He asks Matthew if he will stay on for less pay; Matthew says that he cannot. More remarks that he will miss Matthew, then leaves. Matthew/the Common Man observes that there is nothing in him for More to miss and wonders that he almost fell for More’s guilt trip.
Act II, Pages 123-130 Summary
Norfolk and Cromwell discuss More. Norfolk insists that More has not given his opinion and should be left alone. Cromwell explains that More’s silence speaks volumes and that he needs to make a declaration of his loyalty to Henry, lest his silence be misconstrued. Cromwell has evidence that More accepted bribes while working as a judge and calls in Richard Rich. Rich enters with a woman named Catherine Anger; she is the woman who gave More the silver cup. When she confirms that she sent the cup and that More accepted it, Cromwell sends her out again.
He tells Norfolk that More gave the cup to Rich. Norfolk remembers the incident, and he insists that More got rid of the cup the moment he realized that it was a bribe, putting him above reproach. Cromwell is not bothered and says they will find better evidence if necessary. He explains that the King wants Norfolk to help him force More into making a declaration of loyalty. Norfolk wants no part in it, but Cromwell threatens him, and he leaves. Rich apologizes to Cromwell for not remembering that Norfolk was there the day that More gave him the cup. Cromwell says that they will need a better net to catch More. Rich must help him find, or make, the right law to do so. Cromwell leaves.
Act II, Pages 130-149 Summary
Chapuys visits More and Alice. He has a letter for More from King Charles of Spain. More refuses to even lay a finger on it, despite Chapuys’s insistence that the letter contains no discussion of affairs of state. It is merely a commendation of More’s stand against the divorce between Henry and Catherine. More insists that he has taken no stand against the divorce and that he is loyal to King Henry. Margaret arrives with a bundle of bracken that they will use to build a fire; they have no more wood. More asks Margaret to confirm that he has refused the letter and that the seal is unbroken. Chapuys leaves, dissatisfied.
Alice laments her family’s poverty. More wishes that he could have accepted money from the bishops, who wanted to help support More, but if he takes money from them, it will be seen as him taking payment from the Catholic Church for his writing. Alice points out that More does not write against the King, and More warns that writing in general is dangerous in times like these. Roper arrives and announces that Cromwell has called More to Hampton Court to answer to certain charges. More remains calm.
More arrives at Cromwell’s office. Cromwell assures him that he is not being charged with anything; he simply has questions about More’s behavior. Rich is there to take notes. Cromwell asks More about his involvement in helping Henry with The Defence of the Seven Sacraments and accuses More of writing the whole book. More insists that he did not, and that he and Henry know the truth. He says that the King will not give evidence against him in this matter. Cromwell asks More about his opinion on Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn and More refuses to answer. Cromwell tells More that the King is angry with him and feels that he is a traitor. He dismisses More, then tells Rich that they will do what is necessary to force More to bless Henry’s marriage to Anne, or else to destroy him.
More tries to call a boat to take him home. He meets Norfolk, who tells him that he is acting foolishly. More advises Norfolk that it is time for them to end their friendship, for the sake of Norfolk’s safety and reputation. Norfolk appeals to More to give in to the King’s wishes, but More cannot give in, because to do so would require him to compromise his principles. He insists that they part as strangers, but Norfolk resists. More picks a fight with Norfolk and insults their friendship. Norfolk is offended and leaves.
Margaret and Roper arrive with news of a new Act of Parliament. The new act will require subjects to swear an oath recognizing Henry and Anne’s marriage; to refuse to do so will be considered treason. They do not yet know the exact wording of the act. More suggests they go home to study exactly what it says.
Act II, Pages 107-149 Analysis
The second act of the play opens with a few errors in the timeline. The Common Man says that “the interval started early in the year 1530 and it’s now the middle of May 1532” (107). This cannot be true: Cardinal Wolsey died in November 1530, as the first act of the play makes clear. The interval either began at the very end of 1530 or at some point in 1531, picking back up in May 1532. At this time, the divorce between Henry and Catherine had not yet been finalized, and Henry and Anne were not yet married, though they would marry secretly in November 1532. There is another error slightly later in this act when More and Roper discuss the Convocation of the Bishops and the Act of Supremacy. Both the Convocation and the Act of Supremacy gave Henry VIII more formal power over the Church of England, moving England into the Protestant Reformation. However, the events did not happen at the same time. The Convocation of the Bishops did take place in May 1532, but the Act of Supremacy did not pass until 1534. The play collapses both events into a single moment because they had a similar effect on Henry’s leadership.
It is true that More was accused of taking bribes, though the details of those bribes are obscure in surviving sources. Catherine Anger is an invented character, as is the story of the silver cup. It is also true that there were allegations that More was the real author of The Defence of the Seven Sacraments, and the play implies that these allegations are correct. When More says that Henry will not testify against him on this matter, he likely means that it would be embarrassing for Henry to admit that his Latin was not good enough for him to have penned the work.
As always, The Role of the Common Man underpins the action of the play, drawing attention to societal injustice and the plight of ordinary people. The powerful characters like More do not recognize the Common Man’s contributions to their lives. More tries to guilt-trip Matthew into staying in his service for less pay instead of recognizing him as a complete individual with his own needs and desires. More and others in his social class have never questioned their belief that the common people owe their loyalty, their labor, and their lives to the rich. They are the ones who lose their livelihoods when their employers fall out of favor, regardless of their own political views, their religion, or their loyalty to the King.
Though England is changing fast, More still firmly believes in The Power of the Law. His survival strategy relies on a legal precedent known as qui tacet consentire videtur, meaning “he who remains silent appears to consent.” If he does not actively speak out against the King, he reasons, he cannot be convicted of treason. This legal precedent was real and did apply in England at this time, but it was not a watertight strategy. As Cromwell points out, More’s silence in this matter strongly implies his viewpoint, even if More has not said his opinion out loud. Because More sees the law as the practicable manifestation of God’s will, he trusts that justice will be done, and he will be safe. Cromwell, on the other hand, sees the law as mutable. It is a human creation, and it can be adjusted or creatively interpreted to suit human interests.
More and Cromwell’s understandings of the law reflect their opposing Catholic and Protestant Beliefs. While the play does not portray Cromwell as religious (the real Thomas Cromwell was a passionate supporter of the Protestant Reformation even before Henry brought Protestantism into the mainstream), he nonetheless takes a Protestant perspective, endorsing the King’s legal supremacy in defiance of the Catholic Church. For More, on the other hand, standing with the King is increasingly pushing him to stand against God. He tries to hold on to his position as chancellor despite Chapuys and Roper’s criticisms, hoping to balance his beliefs and his duties. Ultimately, as Henry shifts further and further away from the Catholic Church, More is put in the impossible bind of maintaining his religious principles and his loyalty to the King at the same time.
