Thomas More’s sainthood has been under great controversy even after a century of his death. It was not until 1866 that he was declared a saint. This declaration came about after many debates and votes of acceptance both by the people and by the church. While the English Church was still bound by King Henry VIII’s Supremacy Act, Thomas More was rumored to have been a deceitful character of the court. He was declared unorthodox who went against the Church (Roper, 1935). He was also said to have gone against the doctrines of the church because he went against the King of England.In modern times the portrayal of, partially, Richard the III and Thomas More is seen to be compassionate and kind to their people. In many historical books, such as Shakespeare, Richard III was portrayed as evil and cruel. This paper hopes to show both Thomas More and Richard the III’s characters through the space of time, and why the people’s opinion changed towards them. THOMAS MORE IN MAN OF ALL SEASONS Thomas More in Robert Bolt’s book A man for All Seasons is shown as a devoted family man, a supporter of the Catholic Church, and scholar. He is also shown to be a strong man of conscience who cannot compromise his faith even to save his life. In Robert Bolt’s play Henry the VIII is the King who wanted to divorce his wife to marry someone else. At the time the Church did not allow divorces, Henry decided to assign himself as the Supreme order, overriding the Pope. To More what the king was doing was terrible and against Christian Doctrines. He declared that it was against the ethics of the church and will not swear the Supremacy Act:I'm not God. The currents and eddies of right and wrong, which youfind such plain sailing, I can't navigate. I'm no voyager. But in the thickets of the law, oh, there I'm a forester. I doubt if there's a man alive who could follow me there, thank God.... [Bolt, 45]To keep himself out of tr...
