A Man for All Seasons Act Two, scenes nine–ten Summary & Analysis

Summary: Scene nine

The Common Man sets up the stage as a courtroom, placing hats on poles to stand for jurymen. As he gets ready to leave, Cromwell stops him, insisting that he has to play the foreman of the jury. Cranmer and Norfolk preside over the trial. Norfolk offers More one last opportunity to take the oath, but More refuses. Cromwell reads the charges, which claim that More conspired to undermine Henry’s authority as the supreme head of the Church of England. More is accused of high treason. Shocked, More replies that he never denied Henry’s title, but Cromwell points out that he refused to take the oath. More counters that, legally, his silence does not signify denial. But Cromwell argues that silence can indicate disapproval. He discusses the silence of a roomful of people who have just witnessed a murder. In such a case, the witnesses are complicit in the murder for failing to speak or try to stop it. Cromwell asserts that everyone knows what More’s silence suggests, but More tells the jury that under the law silence does not imply consent. More and Cromwell argue about conscience and the soul. Cromwell says that what More calls minding his conscience and his soul is in fact a conceited obsession with his own self and his personal opinions.

Cromwell calls Rich to the stand, and Rich testifies that he heard More say that Parliament had no power to declare Henry the head of the Church in England. More laments Rich’s perjury. He swears on oath that he never denied that Henry was the head of the Church and reminds everyone how highly he regards an oath. More remembers that two other people were there at the time of his conversation with Rich, but Cromwell presents a deposition from the two men, saying that they were out of earshot when More denied the king’s title. As Rich is excused from the stand, More asks to see the chain of office he is wearing. When he recognizes it as the chain of the attorney general for Wales, More chides Rich for having sold his soul.

When Norfolk tells the jury to consider the evidence, Cromwell decides they should not need to retire to decide such an open-and-shut case. The jury finds More guilty, but before Norfolk can pronounce the sentence, More interrupts. Finally deciding to speak his mind, More denounces the Act of Supremacy, and he points out that both the Magna Carta and the Coronation Oath guarantee the Catholic Church’s authority. He announces that he remains a loyal subject of King Henry, and he tells the court that he is not on trial for denying the Act of Supremacy but rather because he refused to recognize the marriage.

Norfolk condemns More to death, and the scene quickly changes.

Summary: Scene ten

A crowd has gathered at the Tower of London to watch More’s beheading. The Common Man, this time cast as the executioner, dons a black mask. As More approaches the block, he refuses Norfolk’s offer of wine and Cranmer’s offer to perform the last rites. Margaret runs up, distraught, but More comforts her. Just then, the woman who tried to bribe More appears in the crowd, accusing him of giving her an incorrect judgment in her case. More dismisses the malicious woman and walks up to the block. He tells the executioner not to feel bad about having to kill him. He is sure, he tells Cranmer, that he will go to God. After a blackout indicating the execution, the Common Man removes his executioner’s mask and says to the audience, “It isn’t difficult to keep alive, friends—just don’t make trouble. . . . If we should bump into one another, recognize me.”

Analysis: Scenes nine–ten

Ironically, Cromwell’s argument to the jury that silence can signify guilt ends up affirming the courtroom audience’s guilt for More’s murder. Cromwell suggests as an example that if he were to stab More and no one in the courtroom spoke out, everyone would be complicit in the murder. Even though they will not have to hold the ax to chop off More’s head, their role as silent witnesses to More’s condemnation makes them as guilty as the Cromwell.

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