When Worlds Collide
Robert Bolt deliberately chose a subject that would prove to be difficult for other authors but Bolt managed to get round this and write about it in a very skilful way. The problems that this play may have posed for Bolt would've been how to compress several years of history into a few hours of theatre and the idea that it is highly unlikely that a play which was written in the late twentieth century about a political argument in the fifteenth century, five hundred years earlier, would be appealing to an audience. Bolt wanted the audience to go home thinking and in my opinion they would have. Bolt does this by the wide range of dramatic skills that he used. One of the key themes of the play that Robert Bolt is trying to get across to us is the idea that "No man can serve two masters", this is proven true since both the Common Man and Sir Thomas More are not able to serve two masters. In the play the Spanish Ambassador Chapuys says to the steward (Common Man) "No man can serve two masters" Within the play this statement is proven true for all the characters, especially for the Common Man and Sir Thomas More. The Common Man, shows himself time and again that he truly serves one master and that master is himself; whereas with More
Bolt prevents the play from becoming too gloomy and serious by using the wit and irony of Thomas More and the sadistic manner of Cromwell. He uses the Common Man as the main opposition against anything that happens in the play, and uses humour in his narrator bits to the audience. There is a huge contrast between Rich and More. Sir Thomas More is not ambitious but Rich is desperate for anything. Rich tries to flatter Norfolk for a job and Norfolk asks Sir Thomas More whether he recommends him but More just pints him out. This shows us that Sir Thomas More is very literal in his meaning of words. More always takes the meaning of words to their extremities and is a very highly educated man. More has humour and sarcasm with self-clarity and a generosity of spirit. More wants his children to be lik from essaybank.co.uk e him so he has given Meg the best possible education so that she has the best possible talent. The Common Man is an effective device to maintain interest, interpret the action and convey the themes. He is like the Chorus in ancient Greek drama: their role was to review the action, explore motivations and issues, prognose what might happen and explore any consequences. They related the action to everyday life and the audience's own frame of reference in today's time. The Common Man does this too. Like them, he is the continuing link with the audience. Henry is a very extravagant and splendid character but is really a big baby. This is shown in the scene where he steers his own ship "The Great Harry". Cromwell earlier explained to the audience "he will wear in every respect a common pilotīs uniform. Except for the material, which will be a cloth of gold." In this part of story Bolt may be referring to the "Cloth of Gold" as the historical meeting to emphasise the friendship theme. Henry only cares about himself and uses his power to his advantage. He gets what he wants and doesnīt understand much else about politics. He leaves everything up to his advisors and Thomas More. The only thing that Henry put his time and effort into was his music and this is shown in the pay and we also know it to be historically correct. However in the play when we do have his music it was on one of his "passing" visits and we donīt see it we only hear it. Bolt uses unusual stage techniques for a rather unusual play. At the beginning of the play a very unusual lighting techniques is used because it casts shadows all over the place and is not natural like it should be for a play. The audience see all the scene changes, and this seems unconventional and novel. At the beginning the Common Man has a basket in front of him, which he puts his costume on from and symbolises himself as one person or another person. The throwing of the Cardinals Hat and the red robe into a spotlight signifies the death of Wolsey, the common man then bundles them up and puts them into the basket and that is the end of that character. The costumes that are used are very simplistic and symbolic; when the jury convict Thomas More they are wearing grey caps which are meant to show the audience that they are the jury. Usually in theatre the stage lights stay down whilst the scene is set but Bolt wants the audience to see the change, maybe to keep their interest, so the lights come up and then the set is lowered down. This is also where the Common Man comes on and gives the audience a brief synopsis of what has happened between the scene changes so that the gap is filled and that the aud
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Approximate Word count = 2350
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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