A Man for All Seasons

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Summary: A Story Our Current Politicians Would Do Well To Study
Review: I read "A Man For All Seasons" some years ago and have always been taken by the story. Thomas More establishes a model of ethical and moral principle unmatched in modern experience. Our current politicians -- notably our president and Congress -- would do well to learn from Sir Thomas and those leaders of 16th Century England who conspired against him. Few today are willing to sacrifice their political careers for their beliefs, let along their life. In More we have a man who did both.

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Summary: A Play for All People
Review: I really enjoyed this play. It dealt with one of my favorite topics: history. However, despite this being a period play, Bolt wisely chose to abstain from obscure references and arcane language. It is not at all difficult to understand the play, despite its setting being 16th century England, under Henry VIII. Also, one only needs a cursory knowledge of English history to fully understand the play. If you don't know that, I'd recommend reading just a few paragraphs from an encyclopedia or text book dealing with Henry VIII's famous series of wives, divorces and beheadings and his withdrawing England from the Catholic church (known as the Act of Supremecy.)

The characters of the play, as with the actual people involved in the play, were interesting. However, I think that Bolt could have done a slightly better job in stirring the emotions of the audience at some of the key scenes, such as the last and second to last ones. Since he was dealing with such an emotionally charged topic, some of the characters could have been slightly more sympathetic.

But, overall, this is a great play, short and sweet. I'd recommend it for anyone and everyone who enjoys history.

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Summary: "The Common Man" is Pretty Scary
Review: I saw Fred Zinnemann's movie as a kid and it has always stayed with me. The concept of the inviolate conscience of the individual, which stands against all those that would corrupt it (even the state) took root in me then and has influenced pretty much all I've thought ever since. When I was older I read the play and was impressed by Bolt's character of "The Common Man." He is really the voice of the popular culture, the voice that says watch the trashiest TV programs and vote for the most charming political candidates, even if they are venal. It is the Common Man who leads More to the scaffold, all the while protesting that he really means well and good-naturedly has Sir Thomas' best interests at heart. This is a great, classic play that everyone should read.

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Summary: Auuughh!!! IF YOU CAN HELP IT, DON'T READ THIS PLAY!!!!!!!!!
Review: I was forced to read this book for school. I literally fell asleep twice. It has good historical value, but why the heck would somebody read this for entertainment? I have no clue. (Don't tell my L.A. teacher Pamela Reich this) My best guess for the reason that people are still being forced to read this stuff is that we are still trying to understand it! If you are a teacher, please don't make your students read this. You may like it, but I can sure as heck guarentee you that your students will carry a grudge.

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Summary: Best play I've ever read
Review: If you want something that will grab your attention and hold it, read A Man For All Seasons. It has taut courtroom dramas, heartbreaking tragedy, and even some dark humor. Sir Thomas Moore is a great character, but even more fascinating is the evil Thomas Cromwell, who, through manipulating evidence, managed to cause the deaths of both Moore and Anne Bolyenn, Henry VIII's second wife.

I highly recommend this title to anyone who loves historical drama, or exciting reading in general. My only complaint is that it only was two acts. Get it today!

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Summary: Worst Book Ever
Review: It is long and boring. I was uninterested in reading this so called play as soon as I read the first page. It is lame and slow. I highly recomend discarding this play before you realize what I have realized.......it is not worth your time and effort!

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Summary: I saw the play....
Review: It was great. Perhaps because it was in play form. The storyline was wonderful, the characters strong. (Kudos to the guy who played Cromwell. He developed a character that was vivid, intense, and yet intriguing.) The cast was wonderful. But enough about the performance. The play itself was good, and deep enough for me to see it five times, and still not fully delve it's depths. I would reccomend it highly for anyone with even the mildest interest in anything having to do with that era, or anyone in an even slightly contenplative mood.

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Summary: One of my all-time personal favorites
Review: It's been awhile since I've read this play, and that's both good and bad. Bad, because I can't cite specifics the way some of the other reviewers here have. Good, because the play has stuck with me for decades.

As one of the negative reviews notes, it's not always historically accurate--More's personality and behavior were not as near-perfect as the play suggests. However, the major facts are correct and plays (like other works of entertainment) are permitted a certain lattitude.

More important, however, is the battle of truth and "right" against falsehood and "wrong." And, from this standpoint, the play is near-perfect. More's speech comparing laws to trees--and warning against cutting them down--is an absolute classic.

The play works well both historically and as a parable for modern times. And I think it works better than Miller's "The Crucible"--another play I read in high school that, in some ways, is comparable to "A Man for All Seasons."

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Summary: A witty, engaging, morality play. Brilliantly written.
Review: Please don't make students read this book! Being part of an assignment is enough to ruin any literary work for the reader, no matter how great. I first read this play while in Grade 10 (two years ago), without being forced, and I relished every word from beginning to end. It was so engaging and enjoyable that I couldn't put it down, and I actually laughed aloud and cried several times while reading it after classes and on the bus. This play got me interested in Renaissance English history, and I have learned a lot since then which I can relate to characters and events in A Man for All Seasons.

There is the criticism that Bolt made Sir Thomas unrealistically good and considerably more tolerant than he actually was, but Bolt admits this himself in the introduction included with the edition I read. In this play, historic events and of Sir Thomas More's personality are taken and molded slightly to provide a demonstration of one's man dedication to his faith and his conscience. The dialogue is brilliant, the characters are well realized (within the heroic structure for which Bolt was aiming), and--despite what some may consider a boring premise, certainly not me--the plot and issues are fascinating. It really made me think, and I've come back and read it several times when I feel like I need an idea to ponder. A marvellous play to see performed as well, especially when there is a very capable actor in the title role.

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Summary: A Man For All Seasons: A Play For All Time
Review: Sir Robert Bolt's " A Man For All Seasons" is a familiar story, but Bolt's telling of it is always fresh. The motion picture version won 6 Academy Awards in 1966 including "Best Screenplay" (Bolt), "Best Actor" (Paul Scofield), Best Director (Fred Zinneman), and finally "Best Picture". The story is set against King Henry VIII's break with Rome, made necessary by his desire to divorce Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn. When Sir Thomas More refused to sign the Act of Supremacy, he was brought to trial on trumped-up charges and ultimately beheaded. More had sought refuge in the letter of the law, but he was required to state his approval of the Act in an oath --an oath which would have required him to state something that he did not believe. For More, an oath was an invitation to God to act as witness and judge. In existentialist terms, the oath would have shattered his integrity, his humanity, that "...something within himself without which life is meaningless." Contrast More with the character, Lilly, of "The Grifters", a modern character who finds fewer and fewer things that she is unwilling to do. She will make any compromise to survive, including the attempted sexual seduction of her own son. In the end she kills him, and escapes the bloody crime scene in an elevator going ominously down...down...down. Both plays: "A Man For All Seasons" and "The Grifters" are about the "self" and express the Jean Paul Sartre view that "man" alone among the animals is capable of inventing himself.