Category: Thomas More

Both George Danton and Thomas More were revolutionary and very controversial men for their time periods. Though, living in completely different eras these men share some similarities and differences. We can see how their ideals, status, accomplishments, and personal lives are all portrayed and developed throughout the movies and readings. As a result this better helps show how both men are different in some ways and very similar in others.

The first part of this essay will predominantly focus on George Danton. The first few paragraphs will examine his status, accomplishments, and ideologies, and they will serve to develop how an individual can differentiate between him and Thomas More. It will also lay the foundation for building connections between both of men.

For starters, Danton predominantly rose to fame due to his role in the french revolution during the Reign of Terror. The Reign of Terror was a time in which revolutionaries took over the French government and executed many people over suspicion of going against the ideologies set by the revolution. During the revolution, Danton was not only an orator for the war but he was also an important leader. He aided in the overthrow of the monarchy, was one of the founders of the First French Republic, and was a part of the storming of the Bastille. Overall, Danton in comparison to dozens of other leaders played an extensive role in the revolution.

Further examining Danton he was not only a leader of the French Revolution but also a leader in many organizations and boards. Danton was appointed as the first president of the Committee of Public Safety, he was also a member of the New National Committee where he had gained upper league status. During his time as a member of the New National Committee, he had high hopes of defeating and taking down the Girondist. Girondists where a group of businessmen, merchants, lawyers, and many more. The Girondists were a group of people who predominantly had strong republican views and opposing ideals in comparison to Danton’s. Ultimately Georges Danton was able to obliterate the Girondist, and as a result, the New National Committee was able to quickly rise to dominance.

Next, Georges Danton’s death played a large role in signifying the end of the Reign of Terror in France. Georges Danton was arrested and imprisoned in 1794 on the grounds of illegal financial misconduct. Sometime later he was executed at the guillotine for his wrongdoings. His death and Robespierre’s death marked the end of the Reign of Terror because their deaths caused large domino effects that impacted French society.

Looking at Georges Danton, an individual is able to grasp how he played a vital role in the French Revolution and the development of French society. Though being a leader, many of his ideologies and political views were not always looked upon happily by others. As a result, an individual can see how not only his ideals but also his, achievements, and death all played a significant role in the Reign of Terror but also in its collapse of it.

The last paragraphs of this essay will mostly examine Thomas More. The paragraphs will focus on his ideologies, his achievements, his personality, and his death. This in turn will help the reader to better see how both More and Danton are very different but also share some similarities.

Looking at the accomplishments of More, the reader can see some similarities to Danton. More’s primary ideologies were built upon in his book entitled Utopia. Furthermore, More refused to acknowledge King Henry VIII as the next to take the throne in Europe. He viewed the king as being unfit for the throne due to his insatiable need for power and his push away from Catholic ideals. There are some similarities that can be drawn to Georges Danton, in that Danton was viewed as being the main proprietor in overthrowing the French monarchy. Both men did not support their government’s rulers and believed that the people who were in charge were not fit for rule.

Further examining Thomas More, an individual could say that he was a courageous, outspoken, and very intellectual man. More spoke out against his opposition towards King Henry VIII as ruler and held fast to his ties with the Catholic church. Looking at Georges Danton, an individual can say that his personality was similar to More’s. Danton was also a well-spoken man who was courageous and intellectual. Danton similarly spoke out against the monarchy as well as groups of people such as the Girondists. In that manner, both of the men are arguably similar in their personalities.

Lastly, looking at More’s death the reader can see how it greatly impacted society and better helped to shape the community. There were two instances in which More has put on trial the first being when he was accused of taking bribes while he was Lord Chancellor. The charges eventually became dismissed but he was soon thereafter imprisoned and put on trial again. This time More was charged with treason and as a result faced the death penalty. He was later found guilty and was publicly executed and beheaded. His death can be viewed as a sign to the European people of King Henry VIII’s immense need for power, his inexplicable cruelty, and his unsuitable role as king of England.

In conclusion, the reader is able can easily see how both Thomas More and Georges Danton are not only different but also similar in some ways. Both men were not only prominent leaders during there time periods but they also greatly impacted their communities. Through both men’s achievements, ideals, status, and personal lives an individual is able to clearly see how both of them were very different yet similar at the same time.

Work Cited

1. Wajda, Andrzej, director. Danton. Gaumont, 1983.
2. Zinnemann, Fred, director. A Man For All Seasons. Columbia Pictures, 1966.
3. “Sir Thomas More and the Heretics.” History Today, www.historytoday.com/archive/sir-thomas-more-and-heretics.

Thomas More was an English lawyer, author, and humanist who had been active in English politics during the early 16th century before he resigned due to disagreeing with King Henry VIII’s choice to make the king hold authority in the making of church law. Afterward, he wrote the fictional book Utopia which tells about a country without the social and economic injustices in 16th century England (Neild & Bain 2020, p.4). In this essay, I will argue that Thomas More invented Utopia to criticize the problems of 16th century England by showing the flaws that England has, such as Oligarchy and individualism which worsen people’s greed. Even though Utopia suggests the absence of private property to overcome this, it can not be a real solution to fix the social injustices that exist because it is impossible to have all men to be good. People are always caught up in sins, like greed and pride. Furthermore, by being inspired from greek ideas and using rational thinking for the better of people, makes Utopia a humanist fiction that More uses as a device in the form of entertainment to help people reexamine themselves and to be better Christians.

Firstly, More shows the problems that England has during the 16th century by directly pointing them out and presenting Utopia as an ideal model of a country that is flawless. More relates England and Utopia by making them similar with the same number of city-states, dimensions and distance to the equator (Ackroyd, 1998). It was also mentioned that Utopia’s capital city had similar topography as London. This shows how More is imagining his ideal version of England. Furthermore, the book discusses the flaws of society happening at that moment numerous times, such as how “most princes devote themselves more willingly to the arts of war than to the good arts of peace.” and how the rich landowners would change their business for their own advantage and not caring for the laborers who lost their job because of it (More, Utopia ex. 42-47). With this, More criticizes how the English is blinded by their own greed that individualism becomes conventional, resulting in Oligarchy in the society where the rich becomes richer and the poor become poorer. Besides pointing out the problems, More analyses them as well by stating it through Hythloday’s argument that “Poverty is the principal reason for theft” (Wilde, 2017) and that the severe punishment for theft did not stop people from stealing (More, Utopia ex. 44). Moreover, More quips England by drawing attention to the good elements Utopia has which are opposites from England’s. “[N]obody sits around doing nothing”, “[t]hey don’t wear people out by keeping them hard at work from early morning till late at night like cart-horses” and they don’t “waste their time in idleness or self-indulgence” (More, Utopia ex. 76). In this part of Utopia, More is basically pinpointing how the English are lazy, but the ones with power are treating their inferiors like slaves. Therefore, Utopia is shown as a perfect version of London to criticize England.

Moreover, Utopia suggests suppressing private property to help justify the society, but it is actually impossible for it to be effective if put into practice. According to More (Utopia, ex. 66), “there can be no equitable or just distribution of good …. Unless private ownership is completely suppressed.” More is arguing through Hythloday that the only solution to the social injustice is banishing private property. However, he, later on, says through the character Morus that if individuals are not motivated by ownership, then they will become lazy and they will depend on others. When this happens, then there will not be enough production. To further prove this point, Wilde (2017) objects on the abolishment of private property by stating that it will cause social chaos because there are no authority respected and there will be endless bloodshed. This is because what individuals have gained cannot be protected by them, rather becomes public property. Therefore, we can understand Logan’s (2006) argument that “It is impossible to make everything good unless all men are good.” Unless people are not caught up in their own greed, then having all properties to be public will not be any challenge. People can respect each other, help each other without expecting benefits and work for the community. However, realistically, humans are always tangled up in sins and are always trying to satisfy their own pride, so Logan continues that theoretically, the perfect commonwealth can not be created, “let alone in practice.”

Furthermore, Utopia presents as a humanist fiction because we can see how More uses humanist ideas in the book and how it is heavily influenced by Greek theory. According to Brotton (2006), Utopia was written: “in direct imitation of Plato’s fashionable treatise on an ideal state, the Republic.” More wrote Utopia as a reordered society, diminishing the flaws in real life, which is the style of Greek theory. Furthermore, Utopia was also inspired from ideas in Greek theory such as when he reorders the society, he has focused on the absence of private property, an aspect taken from the Republic. (Ackroyd, 1998). More also apply “rational analysis to the design of a self-sufficient society-with no functionless parts, no layabouts” (Logan, 2006), another view from the Greeks. Besides that, there are humanist ideas where More emphasizes on rational thinking in certain aspects of Utopia. For instance, euthanasia and divorce are allowed in Utopia (Brotton, 2006). Both of these are examples that contradict with Christianity, the common religion then. However, humanists would allow them because it is for the people’s good and wellbeing. There are also ideas in Utopia that are obviously humanist, such as when Brotton (2006) mentions “all things are held in common” and “no men are beggars”, and ideas that are concealed, like when Priests are responsible of education in Utopia (More, Utopia ex. 123). This shows how education is highly valued because priests who are responsible in religion also become responsible for education.

Lastly, Thomas More wrote Utopia not with the main purpose of entertaining, but with entertainment as a device, he wants to help people reflect on themselves and see that Christianity is a good religion that teaches humanity ideas and how to be a good human being. Firstly, we are informed that Utopia is inspired from the Bible, alongside greek philosophy. Based on Ackroyd (1998), there is “a special reference to Acts of Apostles, where ‘they had all things common.” More is going against the stereotype that religion and humanism goes against each other. Instead, he is using religion as a foundation of his book that highlights humanistic values. Furthermore, “He wanted to make points about the degree of harmony between a purely rational polity and a truly Christian one” (Logan, 2006). Hence, we can see more trying to convince the reader that there are good and rational elements that Christianity teaches. Logan (2006) also states that according to More, “Utopia is not ideal because it’s not Christian.” More is also trying to tell people, especially the English, that they should have lived selflessly like the utopians or better than the utopians since they have been exposed to Christianity. As a matter of fact, More wants the readers to use Utopia as a handbook for learning (Boesky, 1996) and a device to reexamine themselves and society (Hansot, 1974) that teaches not to be too individualistic. Instead, they should contribute more to society and not be slaves of greediness. However, the best way to get people to read this ‘guide’ is to give it in the form of entertainment for “a fiction smeared with honey, might a little more pleasantly slide into men’s minds.”(Hansot, 1974). For this reason, Thomas More invented Utopia, so that people can improve themselves without being directly told to.

To conclude, Thomas More invented the ideal society which is Utopia is because he wants to point out the problems of 16th century England where the people are selfish and obsessed with their own richness and power by making Utopia physically similar, but a good version of England, so that More could show the flaws of England directly or by quipping. However, Utopia cannot be an ideal solution to the actual society because it practices the absence of public property, which can only be effective if everyone is purely good and selfless. Unlike utopians, it is inevitable for real people to sin because none of us is perfect. Being inspired by the greek philosophy, Utopia centers on the humanist idea that people should live for others to have the best outcome for themselves. Thus, Utopia is purposed to be a guide for the people to be better human beings and to give perspective to the humanistic side of Christianity.

Bibliography

Primary Source

1. More, T 2020, Utopia Extract, Trinity College Foundation Studies, Melbourne.

Secondary Sources

1. Ackroyd, P 1998, The life of Thomas More, Chatto & Windus, London.
2. Boesky, A 1996, Founding fictions: utopians in early modern England, The University of Georgia Press, Athens and London.
3. Brotton, J 2006, The Renaissance: a very short introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
4. Hansot, E 1974, Perfection and progress: two modes of utopian thought, MIT Press Cambridge.
5. Logan, G 2006, ‘Humanist More’ in Thomas More Studies, The Centre for Thomas More Studies, University of Dallas, Texas, p. 1-6.
6. Neild, J & Bain, S 2020, Introduction and notes to Utopia essay, Trinity College Foundation Studies, Melbourne.
7. Wilde, L 2017, Thomas More’s Utopia: arguing for social justice, Routledge, Abingdon.

Introduction

Thomas More’s Utopia is one of the important elements in Europe society, especially in England. Sir Thomas More was an English lawyer, writer, and statesman. He wrote the famous first formal Utopia. He imagined a complex, self-contained world set on an island, in which communities shared a common culture and way of life. Thomas More was a noted Renaissance humanist. In Thomas More’s Utopia, education and religion are consists in Utopian social life. The ideas of Thomas More have influenced many people through the ages, so I want to state remarkable elements of Thomas More’s Utopia. As to me, these remarkable elements are education and religion. Both education and religion are part of the social situation in Utopia. Education in Thomas More’s Utopia seems to be catered to a larger goal, which is to create virtuous persons and citizens, as they are responsible for attaining a flourishing human community.

On the other hand, “more advocated religious freedom in ‘Utopia’ to promote civic peace in Christendom and to help unify his fractious Catholic Church in the field of Utopia’s religion. Utopus’s most important argument for religious freedom is that it promotes civic peace.” (Kessler, 2002). If I need to open this description more, this can be one most distinctive features of Utopian society is its religious freedom. More generate the ideal thoughts for religious freedom and Utopian society. Besides all these, in this book; during his travels, Thomas More meets many philosophers and he makes long conversations with the philosophers. These talks about how an ideal country should be, refer to as a country called Utopia. This island consists of fifty-four cities, one language is spoken, there is no class distinction, no one interferes with his religion, and never wages war on other countries. That’s why Utopia describes imaginary ideal states. At that time, Britain’s social situation has an impact on Thomas More’s Utopia. Thomas More reflects the own imaginative some of the ideas in Utopia. “Certainly, Utopia is a work of ideas. But what gives it is rich complexity, its fascination for ages since More and for today, is its indirect, imaginative presentation of these ideas” (Sanderlin, 1950:12). In addition to these, the significance of education and religion is clear in Thomas More’s Utopia and it handled on great role these remarkable elements. According to More, an ideal society requires some of the aims like education and religion which are fundamental tools in Utopia.

It is actually, all these aims deal with how an ideal country about religion and education should be, this research handles imaginary societies that are closer to perfection.

The general point of view on Utopia

The word “utopia” derives from the Greek words “eutopia” meaning a good place or meaning no place. Thomas More is the creator of the work, Utopia. More’s Utopia is a complex, innovative and penetrating contribution to political thought, culminating in the famous ‘description’ of the Utopians, who live according to the principles of natural law but are receptive to Christian teachings, who hold all possessions in common and view gold as worthless. Furthermore, the work, Utopia is a reaction to the emerging individualism of the sixteenth century. The inequalities of private property threats to order caused by pride and greed seemed to be basic problems.

The book consists of two sections and More created a new generation in literature with a man-made Utopia. He described the ideal political system of an island nation. “The Utopia is the work of More’s imagination in the sense that he has constructed a ‘perfect society’ from Hythloday’s point of view: the point of view of someone animated by a sense of anger and resentment at the imperfect justice of current regimes, who follows a modern, theoretical approach to political justice.” (Engeman, 1982). As he said, the theoretical approach represents More’s imagination work.

If we mention about a few issues except for education and religion in Utopia. The administration of the state of Utopia is based on democratic order. Every year most of the family select a manager with a secret vote. A congress of the city presidents meets every day to review the country’s situation and make decisions. The senate of Utopia can bring a new decision every day to solve the country’s problems. There are very few laws in Utopia; because members of this community are both improperly trained and have no private property, so there is no need for lawsuits and laws that attempt to determine what is their property. Also, there is no lawyer in the courts because everyone’s self-defense is more accurate. Utopian justice is not just that. Although utopias are perfectly trained, they are all slaves if they committed a crime. In 16th century England, even the mischievous men who steal a morsel of bread are hanging, and capital punishment is rarely practiced in Utopia. When the Utopian community committed an offense, the misdemeanant be slave, but a slave is useful to society, and he sets an example for others so that he cannot commit the same crime. That’s why, if a slave regret about own commit, he gets out of slavery or on to the request of the people, the guilty person can be freed from slavery.

While the most woman, nobles, affluent classes, landholders, clergymen, and the upper class were gad about around in 16th century England, the utopians had to work unless they have health problems whether they are men or women. In this way, force is not essential in Utopia. Apart from working hours, the utopians are free to do what their souls want. Because the utopians are very important for education and like chess, they play games based on wisdom. The main occupations of utopians are to read books and improve their knowledge and their minds. In addition to these, the greatest innovations of the utopians in the field of education that they do not want to end their education at a certain age. That is, they want drives about knowledge lifetime. According to Karl Kautsky “One the most important goals of our time socialism was realized by saving Thomas More, science and art in the group, and making the whole people the common property.” (Eyüboğlu, 2016). That is, the aim of Thomas More is to be socialist about almost every subject. We can understand that the Utopians against the war so it can relate to religious in Utopia. When King Utopus stepped to island, he made some works about religion freedom.

Religion freedom for the human faiths and religion clears up the societies. All human is free in about subject. Religion completely supports humanism in Utopia but in England, this is not the same.

Of their education and religion in a Utopia

Firstly, if I need to make a few explanations about the education in Utopia, more’s education system attracts attention. Particularly important is that there is no title under the name of education in Utopia. One of the primary objectives of education in Utopia is both intellectual enlightenment as well as to give a deep understanding of virtue and in turn instill a virtuous character in individuals. Education in Utopia places enormous importance on virtue and moral values which they believe will control the behavior of its citizens within the social structure. This is an education remarked both through state institutions as well as through personal experiences of individuals during their lifetime. In this ideal state, teaching trade is an essential subject since it has paramount importance for the individual to strengthen character which in turn will help the individual avoid committing a sin and living a life of inactivity. More tries to improve moral maturity by motivating the individual to work. Thomas More’s Utopia give a great importance on education. Raphael Hythloday explains the reason why Utopians live in virtue and happily. The utopians society connect education and religion which they have.

The goal of education in Utopia is to prevent undesirable behaviors while teaching desired behaviors. The way to achieve this goal is to eliminate the factors causing the unwanted behaviors. At the time More wrote Utopia, England was struggling with unemployment, hunger, theft and hangings do to theft. More, as an individual living among these problems, had the opinion that the laws issued and applied by the state were both unfair and useless. ‘On this matter you, along with much of the world, seem like bad teachers who prefer beating their students to really teaching them. They set up heavy, terrible punishments when they should work at providing ways of making a living so that nobody has to steal and then die for it.’ (More, 1989:20).

The aim of education is a process that starts with the birth of a person and continuous till the death and education should be in everywhere. In addition to these, in Utopia education is given importance and utopians are the people who are well-educated.

On the other side, if I need to touch on religion in Thomas More’s Utopia, one of the most distinctive features of a utopian society is its religious freedom. More’s account of religious freedom in Utopia is a deep and original contribution to Western political thought. He designed Utopian religious freedom to serve in some sense as a model for Europe. We can see Utopian religious freedom as an important precursor of later liberal efforts to manage church-state relations. “There be divers kinds of religion not only in sundry parts of the island but also in divers places of every city. Some worship for God the sun; some the moon; some other of the planets.” (More, 1997:114). In this way, there are various religions that are not despised in Utopia. But, most of utopian believe God that it is only created the world. God is called ‘Mithra’ in Utopia. This one God is identified with nature in the eyes of the Utopians and it became sovereign in the world. Besides this, the aim of the Utopians is to be happy and look for virtue and pleasure. The Utopians tend to think whether favor is something unique to the soul. They discourse virtue and the nature of pleasure which one of the subjects in their mind. But their main concern is the happiness of human being and the source of it, whether it is one thing or a lot of things. It is interesting that the Utopians think about blessing virtue which is connected to arguments of religion. According to them, the concepts of happiness should approach with the principles of both logic and religion. That is, the Utopians believe that the resource of happiness related with religion. “For Utopians, virtue is nothing more than nature with harmonious life. thus, they say that the only way to be virtuous is to live and to think according to nature. The mind does not blindly adhere to the doctrine of any previously established religion.” (Urgan, 1964:185).

At the same time, Thomas More procured the government to interdicted politically dangerous forms of religion and to all Utopians had to subscribe to certain religious doctrines that promoted virtue. It was therefore a limited type of religious freedom which made Utopia a theologically diverse, but morally unified society wholly free of religiously inspired violence. When the chips are down the Utopians think there is one Supreme Being that made and governs the world, whom they call, in the language of their country, Mithras. “They differ in this: that one thinks the god whom he worships is this Supreme Being, and another thinks that his idol is that god: but they all agree in one principle, that whoever is this Supreme Being, he is also that great essence to whose glory and majesty all honors are ascribed by the consent of all nations.” (More, 2018,101-102). The Utopians can design their Supreme Being freely so there is not pictures and sculpture about god in the temple. Contrary to all nation of world the Utopians fasten on their unifying sides, not on the divisive sides of religion. Since the common purpose of each religion is to glorify a divine being, the Utopia temples express the love for this divine being, so that people of different religions unite. At the end of the ceremony, a prayer in which everyone can participate, regardless of personal religion, is praised and thankful to God.

Conclusion

Although utopia has been a versatile and deep term, this term finds meaning in Thomas More’s lifestyle. As Thomas More is writing of immortal work Utopia, he believed in what an ideal state should be and how people should live within the frame of the ideal of thoughts. In addition to this, ore is one of the prominent utopian writers who attached great importance to especially education and religion. According to Öztürk (2006:161). More considers education in Utopia to serve a dual purpose. He does not only assume that education encourages and protects the moral character of people and society but also believes that education is an objective in itself for material fulfilment. As I said before education and religion base on the Utopian’s social life. More reflected that religion should be free and connective in immortal work Utopia. More also showed how religious freedom helped promote civic peace, scientific development, and economic prosperity. Especially religious freedom pointed out in the end of the book about Utopian religion. However, more claims that since education is the key to a moral and virtues society a system of reward and punishment helps maintain a crime-free society. As conclusion, it can be said that “Utopia is a story, the free play of a creative writer’s imagination. It is a drama of Thomas More’s mind.” (Sanderlin, 1950:76). Actually, people can read this immortal work and create their own imagination and find their own utopias. This is the purpose of book.

References

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Utopias are imagined in the mind of humans, seeking to fix the flaws that riddle their contemporary societies. During the Renaissance, a period of elevated thought and social progress, Thomas More wrote Utopia to provide social commentary on the flaws of 16th century England, protected under a veil of satire and verisimilitude. More utilizes Raphael Hytholodeus to voice his concerns of the economic disparity, self-indulgent society, and the negative impact of monarchs on the 16th century. He uses the structure of the book, presenting the flaws of 16th century England, then providing an inverted reality, with its core political, social, and economic state being a reaction to Tudor England.

Thomas More questions the economic disparity between social classes due in the 16th century. He uses book 1 to place blame on the feudal system, believing its individualist nature, had allowed for “a few greedy people” to profit over the suffering of others. More utilizes satirical techniques to outline the bitter reality of the lower social economic residents, “In other words, you create thieves, and then punish them for stealing!”, highlighting the inequality found in England. This emphasis on the rich profiting off the suffering of the poor is a key criticism More has of 16th century England, further showing the dehumanization of the poor, as the rich preferred monopolizing land to use as sheep farms, over providing shelter to their other citizens. He links this to the classical example of plutocratic societies, through “Sheep… these placid creatures, which used to require so little food, have now apparently developed a raging appetite, and turned into man-eaters.”, outlining how the rich had changed sheep from “placid creatures” into “man-eaters” metaphorically showing the bitter reality of 16th century England. More imagines a world where social stratification is erased and uses Book 2 as an inversion to further highlight the flaws found in 16th century England. More’s Utopia was an inverted reality, an egalitarian society, allowing for a more just system, in the eyes of More. In his “Utopia”, the population is made to feel as if it were “like one big household”, which juxtaposes the Feudal Systems’ individualist nature. Furthermore, More devalues rare metals, items of greatly criticized in Book 1, using them as “domestic equipment, such as chamber pots” and “they do everything to bring the metals into contempt”. The essence of More’s Utopia outlines the consequences of the feudal system both economically and socially, providing a society that is beneficial collectively.

Thomas More utilizes Utopia to place criticism on the flaws of the 16th century, by providing his ideal world, juxtaposing the flaws of England’s self-indulgent and judgemental society. More, a devout Catholic criticizes society’s love of self-resultant impoverishment through gambling, “the demoralizing games people play – dice, cards, backgammon … what are they but quick methods of wasting a man’s money”. He links this societal trait with the superfluous and judgemental lifestyles people had, providing criticism through satire. Raphael enforces this belief through his hyperbolic realization that men “just proceed to marry after judging a woman from a few square inches of her face.”, however, places great “precaution” when buying a house. This judgment of looks over personality allows for More to imagine his Utopia as socially progressive with these sins wiped away. He elaborates on this by his belittling of precious metal, calling them “fruitless”, and shames those who belittle others, “anyone that believes people are to blame for things they can’t help which is seen as foolish.” This imagined world provides criticism of 16th century England, inverting the flaws that riddle society, creating a socially progressive society. These progressive ideas are seen to be contradictory to the Catholic lifestyle More lived by, which also had a major impact on the political environment of 16th century England, and shows the ability of Thomas More questioned and criticized his views, as well as providing a different perspective on the problems of human’s self-indulgent and prideful nature.

Thomas More utilizes verisimilitude and satire to protect himself, allowing him to freely critic the flaws of Monarchs through his imagined Utopia. More’s criticism of royal advisors, believing any royal degree can be justified due to fear or politeness, highlights them as the “indisputable royal prerogative”. This reveals More’s concerns of the King’s court, believing them to all upper-class members of society, agreeing with King’s actions as they benefit greatly. More’s criticisms continue, as he questions the frailty of egos found in Kings, and the effect it has on the people. More metaphorically describes kings as “a sort of fountain, from which a constant shower of benefits or injuries rains down upon the entire population”. More uses this to highlight the Monarch’s need for war, no matter the cost, alluding to the fate of Plato with the king Dionysius who dissatisfied with Plato`s philosophy sold him into slavery. This allusion supports More’s belief that Monarch’s ruled with their ego and links back to criticism of the royal court. This criticism of a King’s court is only filled with “indisputable royal prerogative” is a flaw that More inverts in Book 2, opting for a democratic form of governance. The removal of social stratification allowed for the Utopians to seem educated and socially aware, a luxury not found in 16th century England. This political freedom indicates Thomas More’s understanding of the flaws in his society as a critic and questions his monarch and its way of ruling, through his imagined utopia, presenting an inverted reality that reflected the flaws of 16th century England.

Utopia serves as a provocative text in which Thomas More provides a social commentary on 16th century England, criticizing its political, economic, and social state. More utilizes the structure of the book, allowing his inverted reality to reveal the flaws of 16th-century England. He opposes the traditional views and beliefs of 16th century England, by providing his ideal alternate society through Utopia. He justifies his beliefs by utilizing satirical techniques such as an ironic tone, allusion, and inversion to expose the prejudice and corruption of 16th-century England. The core beliefs of More’s Utopia, reveal that all utopias can be considered a reaction and a possible solution to the flaws that plague its inverted society.

The island of Utopia as recounted by ship captain Raphael Hythloday is to a great degree neither realistically obtainable nor desirable. Sir Thomas More, the author of Utopia, was a firsthand witness to the many changes made in England under the rule of King Henry VII during the sixteenth century. Horrified by all of the greed infecting all of Europe, More begins the literary construction of an ideal society where wealth is seen as a symbol of selfishness, not success. Sir Thomas More’s Utopia presents an argument of whether or not a radical commonwealth focused strictly upon common welfare is true, a Utopia.

By far the most predominant characteristic of the commonwealth of Utopia is the abolishment of private property. In the section titled “Of the Religions of the Utopians”, Hythloday provides More and Giles with some insight into the reasoning for the absence of private property and communalism in Utopia. Hythloday explains that “every man only seeks his own wealth; but there, where no man has any property, all men zealously pursue the good of the public” (More, 142). All of the citizens within the fifty-one states of Utopia share identical houses and wear the same handmade clothing that only mildly changes to distinguish married or unmarried men and women (More, 61). Lastly, the communal agricultural practices of the Utopians mentioned by Hythloday are vastly different than that of England during the time in which Sir Thomas More wrote the book. In Utopia, every person not on an academic pathway works the land with their fellow citizens on a daily basis for exactly six hours per day (More, 62). This method of farming ensures that everyone contributes to the overall success of the community and that no one is left hungry or in poverty. More might have chosen to emphasize the lack of private property and equality through uniformity to shed a light upon his own humanist beliefs.

As a counter to the ideas fabricated, one could simply argue that a society based on communalism, collective ownership, and authoritarian rule completely goes against human nature. Every human being born onto this earth has their own personality, interests, abilities, and lust for personal freedom. However, when there is inconsistency and inequality between individuals in a utopian society, disorder follows suit. This is what the leaders of More’s utopia must combat through uniformity in order to guarantee a peaceful life for all of its citizens. Yet, this complete control and lack of self-expression are not realistically obtainable. When imperfect people are forced to follow a regime that aims for complete perfection, the organization fails to succeed. The utopia would not survive, eventually turning into a repressive, dreadful dystopia.

Based on evidence from the text, it can be easily understood that More did not provide a feasible blueprint for an ideal society, nor did he intend to do so. It may be that the elements of More’s utopia are meant to come off as absurd and completely radical. Utopia is not realistic but it does provide some comparison and further insight into the real issues faced in the societies of the real world. An indication of the purpose behind More’s utopia lies within the word itself. According to the British Library, the word ‘utopia’ is derived “…from the Greek word ou-topos meaning ‘no place’ or ‘nowhere’…[and] the almost identical Greek word eu-topos means a good place (‘Utopia’ 2006). It is as if more is proposing a question for the reader to think about, is a perfect society or a utopia possible in real life? Fast forward a couple of hundred years to the rise of socialist ideologies in Europe during the 1900s. When the characteristics of a utopian society are listed alongside those of a socialist and fascist regime, they are eerily similar to one another. The most well-known manifestation of utopian/socialist ideologies is the Nazi regime in Germany during the years 1933 to 1945 (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica 2020). The result of this attempt to create a perfect society cost the lives of millions who either did not fit the Arian race or anyone who tried to fight against the regime. This is the war and brutality that was left out of the pages in Utopia. It was only mentioned that General Utopus had conquered the unruly island first named Abraxa. It was after the initial conquering by Utopus, that the island was referred to as Utopia, and Utopus “brought the rude and uncivilized inhabitants into such a good government… that they now far excel all the rest of mankind (More, 510).

In conclusion, the utopia illustrated in Sir Thomas More’s Utopia is not realistically feasible nor desirable for it is not really a utopia at all. Based on the elements and ideas written by More it can be concluded that it was not intended to be the “ideal” commonwealth. The radical ideas are presented to provide More’s perspective and insight into the real societal issues in 16th-century England. Despite the success and functionality of Utopia as accounted for by Hythloday, the subduing of an entire population of people under a utopian socialist regime would be nearly impossible, for there is too much variation in personal interest and how people ideally want to live.

Citations:

1. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Third Reich.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 9 Jan. 2020, www.britannica.com/place/Third-Reich.
2. “Utopia.” The British Library – The British Library, Http://Www.bl.uk/Copyrightstatement.html, 3 Apr. 2006, www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/utopia/utopia.html.
3. More, Thomas, et al. Thomas More: Utopia. Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Sir Thomas More was the first person to use the term “utopia,” describing an ideal, imaginary world in his most famous work of fiction. His book describes a complex community on an island, in which people share a common culture and way of life. The term he coined derives from the Greek word ou-topos meaning “nowhere,”. Ironically, it is the opposite of the similar-sounding Greek word eu-topos meaning “a good place,”. At its heart, the book poses the question of whether there could ever be such a thing as a “perfect” world and served as a platform to highlight the chaos of European politics at the time.

The book, written in 1516, is More’s attempt to suggest ways to improve European society, using “Utopia” as an example. More was a major figure of the English Renaissance who cared deeply about the moral and political responsibilities of individuals. He eventually rose to one of the highest offices in the land, and, as chancellor of England in 1529, came up against his own king with disastrous consequences. More strongly opposed Henry VIII’s separation from the Catholic Church and refused to sign the Oath of Supremacy, which would give King Henry more power than the Pope. He was convicted of treason and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. They continued to urge him to sign the oath, but he refused. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, or quartered, the usual punishment for traitors, but the king commuted this to execution by decapitation. While on the scaffold, he declared that he died, “The king’s good servant, and God’s first”.

The society depicted in Utopia differs from the European society that Thomas More was living in at the time, one rife with intrigue, corruption and mired by scandal. The author’s experience with politics in his time and the Utopia that he invented demonstrates this contrasting relationship: Utopia is communal, allowing its people to easily meet their needs, while European society is described as a place where, “Idle monarchs and nobles seek to increase their own wealth and power at the expense of the people, who are left in poverty and misery”. Clearly dissatisfied with the world he was living in, More sought to create a different place altogether on the page—a world free of the hierarchies that ultimately cost the author his life.

Sir Thomas More was born to a Roman Catholic family in Dublin, Ireland in 1478. Two years after attending Oxford, More moved to England where he studied Law at Lincoln’s Inn. In addition to practicing law, he would later gain fame as a poet, satirist, composer, political propagandist, and rhetorician. He was, at one time, one of Henry VIII’s most trusted civil servants, becoming Chancellor of England in 1529. In his work, he defined systems of punishment, social hierarchy, agriculture, and education, as well as customs for marriage and death. More wrote in the 16th century, the time of the Reformation, which set out to reform the Catholic Church in Europe and resulted in the development of Protestantism. Growing up in an Irish and Roman Catholic household, he was a passionate defender of Catholic orthodoxy, so much so that he argued against King Henry and was tried for treason, ultimately leading to his execution in 1535.

Thomas More, the author who has also written himself as the primary character, runs into his old friend, Peter Giles, on a trip as an ambassador for England to Antwerp. The main plot of the story develops when Giles introduces More to a character named Raphael Hythloday, a philosopher and world traveler. These characters begin debating the roles of philosophy, politics, and how the two fields intersect in Book One.

Impressed by Hythloday’s incredible knowledge and understanding of government and philosophy, More and Giles suggest that Hythloday be an advisor to the king. Hythloday refuses and shares an anecdote of a dinner with Cardinal Morton to illustrate that he believes advising or counseling a king to be pointless and that it would constrain his ability to philosophize and learn. He believes this to be so because a king is only looking to be affirmed, not counseled; any policy proposal would sound ridiculous to someone with a different view according to Hythloday. This brings politics to the forefront of the conversation, and Hythloday expresses that he believes Utopian politics to be far superior to European politics, especially the concept of common property. More and Giles disagree with Hythloday on this concept, but ask to learn more about Utopia. This ends the first book.

In the second book, the three return from lunch to continue their discussion. Hythloday explains the origins of the Utopian society as well as the formulation based on rational thought, communal property, productivity, no class distinctions or poverty, little crime or immoral behavior, religious freedom, and little violence. Hythloday continues to express his belief that Utopia is a superior society to any in Europe. More and Giles then react to this society claiming some of it to be strange, irrational, even absurd, while other parts could be greatly beneficial to European societies.

Utopia presents many themes such as wealth, power, slavery, and causes of injustice. The overarching theme throughout the book is the ideal nature of a Utopian society. In Utopia, there is no greed, corruption, or power struggles due to the fact that there is no money or private property. There is very little hierarchy and everything is held in common where everyone’s needs are supplied.

Utopia is based upon the idea that money corrupts the government and destroys justice and happiness in society. Hythloday points out that even the wealthiest of men still are not happy because they are too worried about securing and increasing what they have. They leave the rest of humanity without the means of meeting ends, leading to injustice, misery, and ultimately, crime.

The search for justice is highlighted throughout the novel. They shine a light on the fact that they injustly punished theives by using the death penalty, up until the 19th century in England. Hythloday argues that theft is not a crime that should result in such a cruel punishment as death; a punishment should be equivalent to its crime. Hythloday also shows us the tendency of the law to protect the interests of the upper classes and, in turn, oppress the poor.