The booke of Sir Thomas Moore : an interpretation in the light of its sources and probable occasion

Discussions of The Booke of Sir Thomas Moore have centered primarily on three problems: whether Shakespeare actually wrote parts of it, when it was written, and whether it was ever produced. My paper attempts to discuss the play from three different viewpoints. One problem concerns the question of why people in Elizabethan England would be interested in Sir Thomas More. Several possible answers can be determined. During the late sixteenth century there was much dissatisfaction with the organization of the Anglican Church which lead to discussion of religious problems. In addition, the many Roman Catholics in England were being persecuted and looked to More as the outstanding example of the separation of a man's obligation to his state from his duty to his church. Sir Thomas More was also an early proponent of freedom of speech in Parliament, an issue which was becoming more important, during the last years of Elizabeth's reign. Also, even though she was old, the queen had named no successor