The Interaction and Conflict Between Personal and Social Identities in Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons

Year 2022, , 2145 - 2153, 19.10.2022

Şebnem Düzgün

https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.1104666

Abstract

A Man for All Seasons (1960) is a play about Sir Thomas More, who tries to remain faithful to his moral and religious principles and protect his personal identity against social and political authorities that attempt to form another identity for him according to their own ideologies. As a Catholic man, who prefers to remain true to his personal self, More refuses to accept the validity of Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon and the king’s appointment as the head of the Church of England. However, the king and his men, who appear as socio-political authorities, force More to ignore his personal principles and assume his social identity as a devoted, patriotic English political man, whose priority is to support the hegemony of the English monarchy. Accordingly, the play examines the role of socio-political ideologies on the formation of personal identity. It demonstrates that people’s gender, their socio-cultural background, and nationality all have an influence on the formation of their individuality. Hence, the play displays the futility of the protagonist’s attempts to resist the socio-political authorities that try to reshape his personal identity by embedding their ideologies in his mind and character. Considering the arguments about identity, this study aims to show that A Man for All Seasons handles the issue of identity in terms of the ideologies of social institutions, like gender, religion, and law, to reveal that identity does not only have a personal but also a socio-political and cultural aspect.

Keywords

Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons, Personal identity, Social identity, Ideology, Social institutions

Robert Bolt’un Her Devrin Adamı Adlı Eserinde Kişisel ve Toplumsal Kimlikler Arasındaki Etkileşim ve Çatışma

Abstract

Her Devrin Adamı (1960), ahlaki ve dini ilkelerine bağlı kalmaya ve ideolojileri doğrultusunda kendisine başka bir kimlik oluşturma teşebbüsünde bulunan sosyal ve politik otoritelere karşı kişisel kimliğini korumaya çalışan Sir Thomas More’un hikayesini anlatan bir oyundur. Kişisel benliğine sadık kalmayı tercih eden bir Katolik olarak More, VIII. Henry’nin Aragonlu Catherine’den boşanmasının ve kralın İngiltere Kilisesi’nin başı olarak atanmasının geçerliliğini kabul etmeyi reddeder. Ancak, sosyo-politik otoriteler olarak görünen kral ve maiyetindekileri, More’u kişisel ilkelerini görmezden gelmeye ve önceliği İngiliz monarşisinin hegemonyasını desteklemek olan sadık, vatansever bir İngiliz siyasi adamı rolünü içeren toplumsal kimliğini kabul etmeye zorlarlar. Bu doğrultuda oyun, sosyo-politik ideolojilerin bireysel kimliğin oluşumundaki rolünü inceler. İnsanların cinsiyetinin, sosyo-kültürel geçmişlerinin ve milliyetlerinin bireyselliklerinin oluşumunda etkili olduğunu gösterir. Dolayısıyla oyun, kahramanın kendi ideolojilerini zihnine ve karakterine işleyerek kişisel kimliğini yeniden şekillendirmeye çalışan sosyo-politik otoritelere karşı direnme girişimlerinin sonuçsuz kalmasını gözler önüne serer. Bu çalışma, kimlikle ilgili tartışmaları göz önünde bulundurarak Her Devrin Adamı adlı eserin kimliğin sadece kişisel değil, aynı zamanda sosyo-politik ve kültürel bir boyutu olduğunu ortaya koymak için kimlik konusunu cinsiyet, din, hukuk gibi toplumsal kurumların ideolojileri bağlamında ele aldığını göstermeyi amaçlar.

Keywords

Robert Bolt, Her Devrin Adamı, Kişisel kimlik, Toplumsal kimlik, İdeoloji, Toplumsal kurumlar

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