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Metaphor Analysis

In: English and Literature

Submitted By dingballer1
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Metaphor Analysis
The Sea and Dry Land

In his Preface to the play, Bolt informs the reader his main metaphors are the sea and dry land, to suggest the supernatural order vs. the human order. The sea is formless, vast, and unpredictable. The land is security, home, order, what is known. Thomas More paradoxically clings to the safety of law and land but finds himself swept by his religious faith out to sea. Bolt did not want a purely naturalistic play, he says, and the metaphors are a way to add scope and philosophic depth, as in a poem.

Thomas More is a home-loving man with his house and family in Chelsea and their well-ordered ways. In addition, he is a lawyer who believes in the law as the safeguard of the citizens: “The law is a causeway upon which, so long as he keeps to it, a citizen may walk safely” (Act Two, p. 153). At his trial, More says to the Court which has condemned him through a perjury, “God help the people whose Statesmen walk your road” (Act Two, p. 157). The government should create and safeguard well-kept roads for the people. There should be landmarks, agreement about the best way to go and how to get there. This is what makes a civilization, and More fervently believes in and lives according to the letter of the law. He believes himself safe, because he knows the law so well that he is sure his silence cannot be interpreted as treason.

The Common Man, who provides narration and commentary, remarks in an early scene, “The great thing’s not to get out of your depth” (Act One, p. 43). He himself is the example of this advice, for he always has his feet on the ground. In this scene he is Matthew the Steward who takes bribes from Chapuys and Rich, giving them something they believe to be significant information about More, but he is just playing them, and says it will be a rare day when he “can’t touch the bottom” (Act One, p. 43). The

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