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Utopia

Thomas More's 'Utopia' is divided into two books, with Book 1 featuring a dialogue about European politics and the introduction of the ideal society of Utopia by Raphael Hythloday. Book 2 details Utopia's government, laws, and customs, contrasting it with European societies. The work explores themes of wealth, power, and injustice, suggesting that a society without money or private property leads to greater happiness and justice.

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21 views7 pages

Utopia

Thomas More's 'Utopia' is divided into two books, with Book 1 featuring a dialogue about European politics and the introduction of the ideal society of Utopia by Raphael Hythloday. Book 2 details Utopia's government, laws, and customs, contrasting it with European societies. The work explores themes of wealth, power, and injustice, suggesting that a society without money or private property leads to greater happiness and justice.

Uploaded by

zhasminserik2005
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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“Utopia”

Thomas More
Structure & Plot
“Utopia” is divided into two books:
Book 1: A dialogue between Thomas More (the character), Peter
Giles, and Raphael Hythloday (a traveler). They discuss European
politics, social issues, and injustices. Raphael introduces the idea of
Utopia, a perfect society.
Book 2: Raphael describes the island of Utopia in detail—its
government, laws, economy, religion, and customs. Utopia contrasts
with European societies and presents More’s vision of an ideal world.
Characters
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.

Raphael Hythloday: The traveler who claims to have


visited Utopia. His name, meaning “speaker of
nonsense,” hints at the ambiguity of his ideas.
Peter Giles: A real-life friend of Thomas More, who
appears as a character. He mediates the discussion and
introduces More to Raphael.
Language and Style
Written in Latin, which was common for scholarly
works at the time.

Dialogic style in Book 1, with philosophical


discussions, and descriptive style in Book 2, which
focuses on the details of Utopian society.

The tone is satirical and often ironic, suggesting that


More might not fully endorse the ideas presented in
Utopia. There’s a playfulness in the way Utopian
concepts challenge European norms.
Themes
Utopia presents many themes such as:
causes of
Wealth Power Slavery injustice
Themes
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 .
Thank you !

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