Utopia

UTOPIA

More wrote “Utopia” as a criticism of English society, and even though it is difficult to tell whether he is serious or not, I believe he truly wanted to reform some aspects of English society that he wrote about in “Utopia,” even though he did not really think they would happen.

Thomas More portrayed himself as one of the characters in the book, along with his friend, Peter Gilles. While Gilles and More are traveling in Antwerp, Gilles introduces More to his friend Raphael. In the introduction by Paul Turner, Turner tells us that Raphael’s last name is Hythlodaeus, which means “talker of nonsense” in Greek. Raphael’s last name is an indication that More was not entirely serious while writing this book.

However, More also gave indications that he was serious about some aspects of Utopian society that he would like to see implemented in English society. At the beginning of the book, in a letter to Peter Gilles, More tells Peter that “I still haven’t made up my mind whether I shall publish it at all. Tastes differ so widely, and some people are so humourless, so uncharitable, and so absurdly wrong-headed, that one would probably do far better to relax and enjoy life than worry oneself to death trying to instruct or entertain a public which will only despise one’s efforts, or at least feel no gratitude for them…So much for the wisdom of preparing a feast of reason at one’s own expense for a public with such fastidious and unpredictable tastes.”

This quote indicates that More was trying to instruct the English society in what he considered to be an ideal society, even though he regarded some aspects of Utopian society to be absurd.

More wanted to improve several aspects of English society, but there were several issues that he talked about more, indicating their importance, such as; the punishment of thieves, workloads for people, and religious toleration.

In Book I, More, Raphael, and Peter Gilles are talking about Raphael’s visit to England, and what he thought about it. One of the first topics of their conversation is the punishment of thieves in England. More stated that he thought it was unfair that thieves had the same punishment as murderers. He also