A Man For All Seasons - Common Man

1 Pages 342 Words

In the story, A Man for All Seasons, the character the Common Man played many different roles. He switched between the roles of Matthew, the Boatman, the Jury foreman, the Jailer, and the executioner. All of his roles portray people of a lower class, in contrast to those like King Henry, or Sir Thomas More. Most of the characters the common man played, end up betraying their own personal moral values in the process. The character of the Common Man is used as ‘framework’ for the play. He plays small little roles, which regardless of their low status are very important. For instance the Jury foreman is the one that decided whether or not More would be convicted. So the common man, in essence decided the final outcome of the story. When the common man plays the presenter the beginning of the story he is humorous and motivates the other characters to do what they believe in. As Matthew, More’s steward he displays how loyalty and secrets can be bought. When he plays the boatman he focuses only on earning a living, and nothing else. He also reflects on the various opinions people have. As the publican he acts as though he is a philosopher or commentator, who avoids taking sides or offending others. But when he plays the Jailer he feels like the victim of circumstances who cannot take up any opinion or offer help; he just wants to do his duty as a jailer: "I feel my deafness coming on!" Robert Bolt, the author choose to use the common man as a touch of comic relief from all the seriousness built within the story. He also choose to use the common man, because the common man also connects the beliefs, feelings and opinions of other characters, so everyone could be able to relate to them. In conclusion, even though the Common Man continually played different roles, the roles he played had a very important impact on the story....