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.
......................
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......
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Approximate Word Count: 1745
Approximate Pages: 7 (260 words per double-spaced page) |