Common Man For All Seasons Essay
How does the Common Man enable the audience to understand the complexities of More’s character? Though A Man for All Seasons in itself is a complicated and sustained view into the lives of those surviving in England under a corrupt system, the Common Man is a vital element in the play that documents the inner struggles of a man torn between ‘political realities’ of the day and his faith and knowledge of his own character. By acting as a make shift chorus, the Common Man is able to persuade the audience to remain detached in order to consider the many layered, multi-dimensional More and to consider his motivation and reasoning for his action of remaining ‘silent’. The Common Man also allows and encourages a very dramatic contrast of character
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Just as More is described as ‘a man for all seasons’ in his ‘steadfast’ belief in himself and in the path he has chosen in not bending to the marriage, the Common Man also represents a form of complete understanding in himself – while he does not possess the integrity that greatly influences More’s character, he has an inherent will to survive, and in his own way, is steadfast in making sure he succeeds. Though cast as the disloyal ‘steward’, the unsympathetic ‘jailer’, the Common Man is looked upon as having mostly no hand in More’s final sentence – he is merely a man trying to make the best of his disadvantage. In this way, his sort of unbiased, rather objective character with only one will to survive, provides a necessary contrast against More’s seemingly ineffectual character that opposes ‘political realities’ that were ‘inflicted’ on him. His faith in the law, where he finds ‘safety’ is ultimately proved corrupt, and does nothing to keep the power of the state from effectively ‘[seeking his] blood’. The Common Man’s faith remains in his own abilities, labour and not in the ‘theories’ that More does. This contrast, and the ultimate success of the State, and the Common Man over Sir Thomas forces the audience to consider the faults and flaws of all characters, and the effect had changes been
Just as More is described as ‘a man for all seasons’ in his ‘steadfast’ belief in himself and in the path he has chosen in not bending to the marriage, the Common Man also represents a form of complete understanding in himself – while he does not possess the integrity that greatly influences More’s character, he has an inherent will to survive, and in his own way, is steadfast in making sure he succeeds. Though cast as the disloyal ‘steward’, the unsympathetic ‘jailer’, the Common Man is looked upon as having mostly no hand in More’s final sentence – he is merely a man trying to make the best of his disadvantage. In this way, his sort of unbiased, rather objective character with only one will to survive, provides a necessary contrast against More’s seemingly ineffectual character that opposes ‘political realities’ that were ‘inflicted’ on him. His faith in the law, where he finds ‘safety’ is ultimately proved corrupt, and does nothing to keep the power of the state from effectively ‘[seeking his] blood’. The Common Man’s faith remains in his own abilities, labour and not in the ‘theories’ that More does. This contrast, and the ultimate success of the State, and the Common Man over Sir Thomas forces the audience to consider the faults and flaws of all characters, and the effect had changes been