Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors
used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
Water and Dry Land
In his preface, Bolt announces that his play is rife with
water and seafaring imagery, which symbolizes the uncertain moral
territory of the great beyond, the unknowable realm of God and the
devil. Characters who establish their actions on such an uncertain
base include King Henry, whose shaky moral ground is symbolized
by the way he sails down the Thames in order to visit More, and
Roper, who holds what More calls “seagoing” principles.
Unlike Henry and Roper, More recognizes God’s will as
impossible, and More therefore prefers to root his actions in his
own conscience and in the law. When speaking with Roper, More compares the
realm of human law to a forest filled with protective trees firmly rooted
in the earth. To emphasize his belief in law as a guide to action,
More tells Roper that removing all the laws in pursuit of the devil
would be like cutting down all the trees in the land, letting the devil
run amok like a fierce wind. In other words, More views society
as a bulwark against the moral mysteries of the cosmos.
The Gilded Cup
In the first scene in Act One, More offers Rich a cup
that More received as a bribe. Acknowledging that the cup is tainted,
More tells Rich that he wishes to be rid of it. More tries to set
an example by throwing away the cup, but Rich quickly shows that
he does not share More’s intentions. Rich takes the cup from More
and pawns it for money and a new set of fashionable clothes. The
cup symbolizes corruption, and it also symbolizes More’s attempt
to test Rich and teach him by example. More’s attempt to test Rich
with the cup actually sets in motion the events that lead to More’s
conviction at the end of the play—a conviction that Rich helps secure
by lying under oath in court.
