Examples Of Reason In A Man For All Seasons

A Man For All Seasons: The Belief in Reason The voice of reason and the desire of the heart are often two opposing forces. A Man For All Seasons illustrates this concept with its two most prominent characters: the impulsive young King Henry and the wise Lord Chancellor Thomas More. More seeks safety in his knowledge of the law, while Henry strives to alter whichever part of the ruling defies his intentions. Sir Thomas More's devotion to higher concepts like law and reason oppose much more changeable wishes of King Henry's. Thomas More is a very religious man; however, he puts his faith in law because it is a principal he can understand. "The law requires more than an assumption; the law requires a fact," More says during his questioning in
jail (Bolt 131). To him, there is nothing more concrete than law. In the preface, Bolt tells the reader that he used sea context for the unknown, whereas the land symbolizes the society and the concrete.
To More, God is the powerful but mysterious ocean, and the human law is his island upon which he can walk and build a shelter for himself and his family. In his quarrel with Roper, Margaret's beloved, More admits that God is "rather too subtle" and that he does not "know where he is nor what he wants" (Bolt 67). He argues that his power is in understanding the law, not the principles by which God rules. To Roper, using the sea metaphors to stand for religion, "The currents and eddies of right and wrong, which you find so plain sailing, I can't navigate ... But in the thickets of the law, oh, there I'm a forester" (Bolt 66). More believes that his expertise in the law will protect him, and intends to hide himself and his family in the "thickets of the
law" (Bolt 67). Man-made structure of ruling, courts, and justice is what provides safety to the people, Thomas More argues, abstract religious ideals. "This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast - man's laws, not God's - and if you cut them down ... d'you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?" (Bolt 66) Here, again, society is symbolized by land that stretches "from coast to coast." According to More, it is human law that protects people in their day-to-day life from injustice. Much like relying on law for guidance and safety, More reminds on the power of his mind to serve God. He places logic and reason above all else, as is evident during his address to his family during their visit in the jail. More says that God created angels for beauty and animals for innocence, but "man he made to serve him wittily, in the tangle of his mind" (Bolt 126). This emphasizes More's belief that intellect is greatest gift humans received from God, and only by using the abilities of their mind, like logic and reasoning, can they truly serve God in the way that he intended and in the way he deserves. By this belief, Sir Thomas considered himself to be safe from the charges of the court as long as he did not speak out his opposition. "'Silence gives consent.' If, therefore, you wish to construe what my silence 'betokened,' you must construe that I consented, not that I denied" (Bolt 152). This is the perfectly logical and lawful argument More uses in court to defend his position on not taking the oath of King's Supremacy. However, this time his unwavering commitment to reason is what ensures More's death rather than protects him. "I do none harm, I say none harm, I think none harm. And if this be not enough to keep a man alive, in good faith I long not to live" (Bolt 160). More accepted that his inability to speak against his conscience and the false evidence that had been presented against him will serve for a death sentence. He does not wish to continue to be part of the world in which people's corruption and caprices prevails solid principles of logic and law. King Henry, on the other hand, is led by his own motives and desires.
He thinks that basic laws can be stretched and modify to accommodate his needs. The fact that he asked for a dispensation to marry Catherine, his brother's widow, and then, again, for overturn of said dispensation illustrates how little regard Henry has for the Catholic law. "Is is my duty to put away the Queen ... How is it that you cannot see? Everyone else does," the King says in his conversation with More, attempting to appeal to him with public opinion rather than religious laws (Bolt 54). To King Henry, the people's position, however fickle and uneducated, is more important than the voice of reason and intellect. When More asks him why he so desires More's support, Henry answers, "because you are honest. What's more to the purpose, you're known to be honest" (Bolt 55). King Henry knows Sir Thomas's good reputation in the public's eyes, and understands that it is vital in acquiring support for his decision about Queen Catherine. If he could have More, a respectable honest man, as his ally, then his actions would also be deemed righteous. This is exactly the kind of manipulating of the truth that More is opposed
to. The climax of the conflict between More and Henry is the passing of the act that appoints the King as the head of the Church of England. Because Thomas More refuses to take the oath confirming Henry's supremacy, he is arrested, and later brought before court to be found guilty of high treason based on Rich's false testimony. Even though More's intellect and law did not provide him the protection he had counted on, he had not been conquered. He had died with honor, staying true to himself, his principles, and his conscience. Sir Thomas More, who was sainted centuries later, is still a symbol of incessant courage of staying true to his beliefs.