who's this character Richard Rich?
did this guy really exists and how does he get such a bad rep in the first place (before he accepts the position to collect taxes)?
shareYes he existed. You can read about him here.
http://knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Richard_Rich,_Lord_Rich/
The King's good servant but God's first
i Did a paper on Rich for Tudor studies when i was in college....so i did a lot of research on his whole life...he was a pretty nasty piece of work all the way around...kind of the Roy Cohn of his time....astoundly adept at knowing which direction the prevailing winds were blowing from....My professor told me he was on a tour of england once and saw a chapel that Rich endowed to have his soul prayed for and he wanted to get off the bus and throw up....If anything John Hurt makes a more sympathetic charecter of him than he deserved....
It is not our abilities that make us who we are...it is our choices
I agree. I read (on here I believe) that someone felt Thomas More was too hard on him and if he had given him a position he would not have gone to work for Cromwell and become the horrible little creep that he did. Basically it was Thomas's fault! I felt the way your professor did!
The King's Good Servant but God's first
If you read More's actual defense speech he has far worse things to say about Rich than "and to such a man as that" he basicly attests to his charecter from his youth onward. I really think part of the problem for folks that only know Rich from this movie is that John HUrt does tend to evoke sympathy in most of his charecterizations.....
It is not our abilities that make us who we are...it is our choices
..."John HUrt does tend to evoke sympathy in most of his charecterizations".....
When I see Rich discussing "positon" with More for some reason I'm always imposing myself onto the film wanting More to take him under his wing. You know..give him that "chance". When is see Hurt's portrayal, he sure sees More as a high, respectable figure. More proably thought he was just incorrigible but maybe just maybe he could have saved Rich from himself if he took him on??
I like the Roy Cohn analogy.
shareThanks, I'm kinda proud of it.....
It is not our abilities that show who we truly are...it is our choices
Just a little fact checking..so did More at his trial really say to Rich..."why Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world... but for Wales?
shareIt sounds very 'Thomas' doesn't it? Going to have to investigate that one! :)
The King's Good Servant but God's first
After extensive research (the 7 biographies I have) it looks as though the comment was an invention of Robert Bolt. Pity, it definately sounds like the sort of pithy remark Thomas was known for!
The King's Good Servant but God's first
Thanks for the hunt TL. Do you know if the actual trial of More himself is available to take a look at (like Joan of Arc's)?? Question and answer for example. I'd think that would be a riveting document to read through.
shareThere's a website called Alibris.com that has copies of The Trial of St Thomas More by E.E. Reynolds. I don't have it but I do have another book by this author called, The Life and Death of St Thomas More which is very good.
The King's Good Servant but God's first
Thanks for that...I need to check it out.
shareJust watched the movie for the first time and liked it very much. I really appreciate the info on this thread about Rich and the transcripts of the trial. Thanks so much.
shareI don't about the Roy Cohn comparison. Cohn seemed to genuinely believe in McCarthy's crusade, while Rich couldn't be said to have much principle at all.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down someone else's life for his own."