Sir Thomas More's Tragic Hero In A Man For All Seasons

History books tell those reading that Sir Thomas More’s greatest historical achievement is his writing of Utopia, however, those books don’t tell much more. In A Man for All Seasons, both the movie directed by Fred Zinnemann, and the play written by Robert Bolt, one learns that Sir Thomas More is “a character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction” (Bainbridge High School). More fits the definition of a tragic hero and has the qualities and characteristics to make him one, as well. The first characteristic of a hero ‘tragic’ is the judgement error they make. More was a close friend of King Henry V, whom history knows as the English monarch who wanted an annulment from his wife, so he could have an heir to his throne. King Henry asks More for his blessing on a new marriage, directly telling More he desires it, “Because you are honest” (Bolt 55). More then later is brought before
One more characteristic of a tragic hero is “The character's fate must be greater than deserved” (Bainbridge High School). There was no reason to put More on trial for refusing to acknowledge something he didn’t believe. “The sentence of the court is that you be taken to the Tower of London until the day hence to the appointment for your execution!” (Zinnemann). Executing More was his fate the he didn’t deserve; he might have deserved a fine, or something that didn’t involve ending his life in the name of the law. He, however, met his fate, which was his own destruction. “A character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction” (Bainbridge High School) is a tragic hero. Sir Thomas More is a tragic hero because he does face his own destruction due to the error in judgement he made when it came to the annulment and marriage of King Henry