Thomas Moore Utopia

Thomas Moore Utopia

Sir Thomas More 

1478-1535

Sir Thomas More 

• Son of a famous lawyer
• He became a brilliant lawyer
• Was friends with Erasmus 
• human dignity and tolerance fused with Christian principles
• Imprisoned and eventually beheaded by Henry VIII for taking the side of the Pope 
• Best known work is Utopia 
• criticise contemporary society

Think about each question on page 13 and then look at the answers. 

1

Advantages: a sort of compulsory community service, of the kind that is often suggested nowadays.

Society based on reason. With ideas such as free education, all roles open to everyone, a classless

society and religious tolerance, More was way ahead of his time.

Disadvantages: very communist and strictly organised. There is no room for individuality. You have

no say in where you are sent. Also, you cannot leave the island; you have to stay there. There is no

recreation: no social drinking, no theatre or such like. It all reflects More’s way of life, which consists

only of eating, working and sleeping.

2

More suggested that slaves were needed to do the jobs that no one else could or otherwise would do, such as slaughtering livestock

3

More was a deeply religious man and a devout Catholic. He regarded non-believers or people with religious doubts as unreliable. When Marx later took the first steps towards a communist society, all religion was banned.

4

More was against private ownership, since he felt it was the root of all social evils. Ironically, he was himself very rich.

However, he had a lot of sympathy for people at the lower levels of society, who had to deal with the impact of Henry’s policies.

5

Iron is of practical value. It is a hard metal that you can use to make tools and many other useful objects. Gold and silver are soft metals; they are merely decorative because of their shiny

appearance. People value gold and silver because they are rare, but one can argue that they are only valuable because people choose to value them; they have no inherent value.

6

The availability of clean air and water is nowadays a topical issue, with all the environmental pollution and the attempts to clean up the world around us.

7

Gold and silver are used in Utopia for chamber pots (vessels into which people relieved themselves in the night) – i.e. for the ‘lowest’ imaginable purpose. By creating an image of slaves and criminals in gold and silver chains, and wearing crowns as a mark of shame, More is associating the wearers of

gold chains and crowns in his own society with crime and vilification.

Did we achieve our goal?
After today (this lesson and next lesson) you know about the history of the 16th century and you will be able to put the literary works that we're going to read in historical context.