Sacrifice Research Paper

wrong. At one stage when power goes to the head of the authority it sidetracks justice and fair play, reacts in cruel terms, uses the tool of suppression to establish and retain supremacy on a permanent basis.
Utopia, religious authority, individual liberty and freedom Keith Watson writes, “It was recognized that both the world and mankind has aspects of beauty and that there was enormous scope for creativity. It was into this pattern of thinking and perceiving the world that More and his friends fitted.” (p.191) As such, More gave more importance to individual liberty and he believed that the ruling authority should not work to the detriment to the interests of the common man. Christianity in its pure form, as preached by Jesus Christ

Firstly, there must be a cause for the sacrifice, secondly there must the heart for the sacrifice, thirdly there must be the will, the grit and determination to carry on with the stand for which the sacrifice is intended, and finally to receive the rewards or punishments for the sacrifice with a balanced mental attitude, if the individual committing sacrifice remains alive to see the fructification of his sacrifice. Thomas More refused to sacrifice his beliefs and convictions and challenged the dictates of the wicked authority. He was not inclined to take a favorable stand on King Henry VIII’s divorce to Catherine. He was asked to give his opinion, but he answered with profound silence. He withstood the pressures from friends, family members and faced ridicule from political foes. Yet, he chose not to speak and declined to give his opinion. The King wanted to have his way, planned to use him as the lever to push his cause and wished to have the Act of Supremacy passed, that states the King would be the supreme authority of the Church, not the Pope. More was unwilling to sign such an Act, and his firm stand on the issue landed him in serious trouble. King’s divorce was the inciting incident that set forth the chain reactions, caused turmoil in the state and created anguish with majority of the people. Thomas More was a God fearing and religious man. His firm conviction was, “If a King should fall

The conviction of Thomas More and the resultant execution is ultimate that can happen in a work of tragedy. The tragic effect arises logically from the plot. Utopia provides strong characters—the King, the aggrieved queen, the highly principled Thomas More, who is ready for the ultimate commitment—his life itself—for upholding the principles that are dear to his heart—these opposing forces are brought together through a powerful web, keeping the readers on tenterhooks about the final outcome. The moral qualities of each character are handled well by the author. King is the central character of political and religious authority, the driver of the small and big events. Lyman Tower Sargent writes, “Some observers equate utopia with totalitarianism and violence while others regard it as essential to human freedom and dignity.”(p.565) More’s line of thinking was clear and straightforward. He was on the side of the authority, whether religious or political, but the authority too need to function within limitations and no authority should work which would create conflicts within the society. Individual freedom was sacrosanct, and it must be protected at all times and at all costs. That was his utopia in its purest form. Sargent further argues, “Most utopias appearing in the twentieth century have been dystopias [the bad place] and most of them have focused