Utopia: Sir Thomas More

Sir Thomas More, who lived from 1477 to 1535, was the first person to write about a “utopia,” which is a word for a perfect world that doesn’t exist. In More’s book, he writes about a complicated, self-sufficient island community where everyone has the same culture and way of life. The word “utopia” comes from the Greek word “ou-topos,” which means “no place” or “nowhere.” It was a joke. The Greek word eu-topos, which is almost the same, means “a good place.” So, a very important question is at the heart of the word: Can a perfect world ever be made? It’s not clear if the book is a serious attempt to show a better way of life or a satire that gave More a chance to talk about how crazy European politics are.

Utopia by Thomas More Importance

More’s Utopia wasn’t the first book to play around with policy ideas. It’s human nature to dream of a better life. Plato wrote The Republic in 380 BC. In it, Socrates talks about a communist, equal-opportunity city-state ruled by philosopher-kings called guardians, who are both men and women. Instead of having children within a family, these leaders leave the city once a year for a wild sex orgy. The children who come from this, who are raised by the state and don’t know who their real parents are, become the new guardians.

Several works from the Middle Ages also tried to imagine what an ideal society would be like. Christine de Pizan, a great writer who worked for the French royal court, wrote The Book of the City of Ladies in 1405. The book is accompanied by a beautiful painting of mediaeval women building a city brick by brick. It defends women’s achievements over the centuries and sets up a symbolic city populated by “all women who have loved, love, and will love virtue and morality.” This city is meant to be a refuge from patriarchy. Even though it was written more than 500 years before Germaine Greer’s feminist landmark The Female Eunuch, it’s worth mentioning: for most of history, utopian ideas, at least those that were published, were usually written by men.

By the middle of the 14th century, a very different idea of utopia had also become popular. This was the Land of Cockaygne, a mediaeval utopia made up by peasants and kept alive in the Kildare Poems, which were written in Ireland around 1330.

Theme of Sir Thomas More’s Utopia 

Principles and Their Limitations

More had an ideal view of morality that contrasted with the reality of his society as a result of his Humanist study of ancient philosophy, and one of the key aims of the Humanist movement was to incorporate those ideals into practical life. More, on the other hand, understood that values alone don’t get you very far in politics. More’s father was a well-known judge who raised him in a world of politics and politicians, so he had firsthand experience with how corrupt politics can be. The duplicity and cruelty of rulers was a significant topic in one of his early works, The History of King Richard III. In English memory, the brutal War of the Roses, a violent power struggle for the English monarchy that had plunged the kingdom into disorder for most of the previous century, remained potent. More criticises Hythloday of being too “intellectual” in his approach to counselling monarchs in book one of Utopia. More appears to be arguing that one cannot just advocate for ideal ideas and then despair because corrupt politicians would never pay attention to them. Instead, a conscientious political counsel must learn to play the game and embrace the reality of a society ruled by power and greed in order to obtain influence.

Thomas More criticism in Utopia

More argues in Utopia that a close examination of institutions is beneficial, and that imagining ideal or hypothetical alternatives to reality may provide crucial insights into how institutions can improve. While some academics have attempted to view More’s Utopia as a series of suggestions for the conduct of real-world events, More, who was a recognised statesman and close counsellor to Henry VIII, would not have been able to make an explicit critique of contemporaneous rulers and laws. The author More skillfully distances himself from Hythloday’s controversial ideas, which include the eradication of private property, by criticising the Utopians’ unrealistic descriptions. However, it is unclear how much the author More advocates utopian methods. More contrasts real-world problems like poverty, crime, and political corruption with the harmony, equality, and prosperity of Utopian society in Utopia, implying that More believes at least some of the principles underlying Utopian practises are noble, even if the practises themselves are far-fetched. In any event, More provides new views on the flaws and strengths of his own culture by portraying and criticising Utopian society.

Conclusion

Utopia comes to a close with a rousing flourish by Hythloday, who declares that Utopia is the most ideal of communities, followed by More’s judgement that many Utopian goals are ludicrous, but some may be useful in Europe.