NON-AFRICAN DRAMA; Robert Bolt: A Man For All Seasons What aspects of the Duke of Norfolk's character are revealed by his relationship with More?

Answer Details

In Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons, the Duke of Norfolk is Sir Thomas More's old friend, a bluff, hearty nobleman whose relationship with More reveals a great deal about his character. Through their friendship Bolt exposes Norfolk's decency, his ordinariness, and finally his lack of the moral steel that distinguishes More.

• Warmth and good nature. Norfolk is genuinely fond of More. He enjoys his company, hunting and hawking with him, and his affection is sincere. His bluff friendliness shows him to be an amiable, likeable man rather than a schemer.
• Practical, unintellectual mind. Norfolk is a man of action, interested in horses and hawks rather than ideas. He cannot follow the fine points of conscience and law that matter so much to More. His character is that of the plain English aristocrat, brave and hearty but intellectually shallow.

• Willingness to conform. The crucial revelation comes when Norfolk urges More to sign the oath and go along with the King, not out of conviction but simply because everyone else is doing so. His famous plea, that More should yield "for fellowship," shows that he values social solidarity above principle.
• Inability to understand conscience. Norfolk cannot grasp why More will die for a matter of conscience. His bafflement highlights, by contrast, the extraordinary integrity of More, who insists that a man must follow his own conscience even against the whole world.
• The staged quarrel. In one of the play's most moving scenes, More deliberately provokes and insults Norfolk in order to break their friendship and protect the Duke from being endangered by association with him. Norfolk's hurt and confusion reveal his loyalty and warmth, but also his inability to rise to More's level of self-sacrifice. More even tells him bluntly that Norfolk's willingness to conform out of fear, while More will not, is precisely why one of them must go to Heaven and the other elsewhere.

Norfolk as a foil to More. The friendship functions chiefly to set off More's greatness. Norfolk represents the decent, ordinary man who bends before power to survive. He is not wicked like Cromwell or corrupt like Rich; he is simply weak, an average good-natured man without the heroic firmness of conscience. His compromises make More's steadfastness shine all the brighter.

Conclusion. Norfolk's relationship with More reveals a warm, loyal, brave but intellectually and morally limited man, one who values fellowship and survival above principle. As More's friend and foil, he embodies the ordinary human tendency to conform, throwing into sharp relief the uncommon integrity for which More is willing to die.