Corruption in A Man For All Seasons King Henry VIII of England, in 1509 attempted to marry his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, of the Spanish throne. Permission was granted from the Pope despite the bible condemning the action. The couple then attempted to produce an heir but were unable to have any male children. Henry blamed this curse to be the fault of his wife. He then requests the Pope nullify the marriage and grant them a divorce. Pope Clement VII, did not want to upset his powerful ally in Catholic Spain and refused to grant Henry his divorce. Henry is insulted by the Pope's decision and decrees England will no longer follow the Catholic Church and makes the new state religion Anglicanism. This protestant branch of christianity is catholic in all but name, where the head of the church who speaks with God’s authority is The …show more content…
Throughout Henry’s dilemma, he uses his influence and the corruption among his staff, to evade the church’s law and the Pope's authority. The play A Man For All Seasons, by Robert Bolt, is the telling of this story through the lense of many of the people involved in this monumental shift in English politics. In the play, corruption runs rampant and leads to the moral erosion of even the strongest of characters. In addition, it leads to Rich’s rise to power but lose of self and moral well being. Finally, it is the drive to be uncorrupted and stand for moral righteous which leads to More’s execution. In the Play A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt, the impact of corruption for characters in the play is destructive, where all gains made through corrupt means come at a much larger