Identify the speaker of each of the quotations below. In the second chart, explain what three of
the quotations contribute to the play.
A friend of Sir Thomas and still no office…
And fix these quicksands on the Law’s plain chart!
Better a live rat than a dead lion.
But every man has his price!
Can I help my King by giving him lies when he asks for truth?
I can’t navigate currents and eddies of right and wrong
I’m a plain, simple man, and I just want to keep out of trouble.
I’m adrift. Help me.
If only you knew how much much more I would rather yours than his.
It isn’t difficult to keep alive, friends, just don’t make trouble – or if you must make trouble,
make the sort of trouble that’s expected. Well, I don’t need to tell you that.
But what matters to me is not whether it’s true or not, but whether I believe it to be true, or rather not
that I believe it, but that I believe it.
Oh, the road! There’s the road for me, Thomas, the river, MY river.
That’s a nice gown you have, Richard.
The great things not to get out of your depth…
Oh, when I can’t touch the bottom I’ll go blind, deaf and dumb.
The law is a causeway upon which so long as he keeps to it a citizen may walk safely.
There’s a man who raises the gale and won’t come out of the harbor.
This country’s planted thick with laws from coast to coast – and if you cut them down….
d’you really think you could stand upright in the winds that blow then?
Yes, I’d give the Devil the benefits of the law, for my own safety’s sake.
Can I help my king by giving him lies when he asks for truth? Will you help her by populating her
with liars?
It’s just a matter of finding the right law. Or making one.
Context and Significance in the play: Plot? Character?
Imagery? Theme?
Why do we care? What social comment is Bolt making?
Link one of the articles to A Man for All Seasons. How does the article relate to the play? How
does the article exemplify/represent Bolt’s social comment?