A Man For All Seasons

More has been imprisoned in the Tower of London. Cromwell, Norfolk, and Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury, sit at a table; Rich stands behind them. The Common Man, dressed as a jailer, describes to the audience the future fates of all these men: Cromwell and Cranmer will eventually be executed for high treason. Norfolk will later be found guilty of treason as well but will be spared execution at the last minute by Henry’s death. Rich goes on to become “a Knight and Solicitor-General, a Baron and Lord Chancellor” (150). 

The jailer wakes More and tells him that Cromwell, Norfolk, and Cranmer have come to talk to him. Rich and the jailer stand by as witnesses. Cromwell shows More a copy of the Act of Succession, a new law requiring subjects to accept Henry and Anne’s marriage. He asks More to swear to it; More refuses. Cromwell and Cranmer try to get More to tell them exactly which part of the act he disputes. More will not tell them. Norfolk tells him that his reasons for refusal must be treasonous if he refuses to reveal them. More knows that by refusing to swear to the Act of Succession he is condemning himself to life in prison, but he is satisfied that by refusing to speak, legally they can go no further and he cannot be charged with treason.