Building Opposition at the Early Tudor Tower of London: Thomas More’s Dialogue of Comfort

Thomas More's Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation (1534), written during his imprisonment at the Tower of London, fundamentally redefined the site’s cultural significance by challenging the royal ideology that had long symbolized monarchical power. Through four progressive transgressions against Henry VIII, More reframed the Tower as a symbol of resistance to royal tyranny, laying the foundation for an early modern tradition of oppositional literary and cultural representations. This study reveals how More’s work subverted the established narrative of the Tower, transforming it from a tool of royal propaganda into an emblem of defiance against authoritarian rule.

Deiter, K. (2015). Building Opposition at the Early Tudor Tower of London: Thomas More’s Dialogue of Comfort Renaissance and Reformation, 38(1), 27–56. https://doi.org/10.33137/rr.v38i1.22781