A Man For All Seasons
ACT 1, SCENE 1
Conversation between Thomas More and Richard Rich.
RICH: Well there! 'A friend of Sir Thomas and still no office? There must be something wrong with him.'
MORE: I thought we said friendship...The Dean of St Paul's offers you a post; with a house, a servant and fifty pounds a year.
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RICH: It's hard.
MORE (grimly): Be a teacher.
This conversation, as well as the previous one, sets up the contrast between Sir Thomas More and Richard Rich which is prevalent throughout the entire play.
In this opening scene, Rich and More argue over whether or not anyone can be bought. While Rich believes "every man has his price", More refuses to agree
with the notion that everybody could succumb to the temptations of status, power, wealth and women, or the notion of suffering. Rich means to say that men
want to avoid suffering and are therefore attracted to the possibility of escape, and More instantly recognises this idea as one of Machaevelli's. As Machaevelli
is historically understood to have written on the government, and how putting political appropriateness above ethical issues and morality was the sensible
approach to be taken in aquiring status, Rich's corruptibility and the suppression of his conscience is foreshadowed in that Machaevelli's theories both interest
and attract him. More warns Rich of the temptation involved in aquiring a high-ranking job, and offers him an Italian silver cup. The silver cup symbolises More's
attempt to test and teach Rich, and is significant throughout the play as it represents the commencement of Rich's corruptibilty, which eventually escalates into
much more evil and immoral actions later on. The cup also represents the differences in principles and morailty between More and Rich. While More's principles
don't allow him to keep such a "contaminated" object, Rich jumps at...
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