NON-AFRICAN DRAMA ROBERT BOLT: A Man For All Seasons Discuss the theme of friendship and betrayal in the play.

Answer Details

In Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons, the intertwined themes of friendship and betrayal are worked out chiefly through Sir Thomas More's relationships with the men around him. The play shows how, in a climate of fear and ambition, friendship is repeatedly sacrificed to self-interest, and how betrayal becomes the means by which a good man is destroyed.

More and the King. Henry VIII begins as More's admiring friend, visiting him at Chelsea, valuing his learning and honesty, and seeking his approval for the divorce. But the King's friendship is conditional: when More will not endorse the divorce and the royal supremacy, affection turns to enmity. Henry's earlier warmth makes his later persecution of More a betrayal of a professed friend.

More and Norfolk. The Duke of Norfolk is More's genuine and loyal friend, and their relationship is one of the play's few warm bonds. Out of love, Norfolk begs More to sign the oath and save himself. More, to protect Norfolk from the danger of association, deliberately provokes a quarrel and drives his friend away. This painful scene shows friendship sacrificed nobly, More betrays the friendship in appearance in order to shield the friend in reality.

The betrayal by Richard Rich. The play's decisive act of betrayal is committed by Richard Rich. More once befriended and advised Rich, even warning him against the corrupting pull of power. Yet Rich, greedy for advancement, perjures himself at the trial, swearing to words More never spoke, and thereby sends his former patron to the scaffold. His reward, the post in Wales, prompts More's famous, withering rebuke about losing one's soul for the whole world, let alone for Wales.

Cromwell and expediency. Thomas Cromwell, the King's ruthless servant, manipulates and corrupts these relationships, turning Rich and bending the law to entrap More, so that private loyalties are everywhere subordinated to state power.

Conclusion. Bolt contrasts true friendship, More's selfless care for Norfolk and his early kindness to Rich, with the betrayals of a fearful, ambitious age. More keeps faith to the end, even with those who wrong him, while the King and Rich betray friendship for power. The theme underlines the play's central lesson: integrity means holding to conscience and loyalty even when friends turn traitor.