Utopia Summary
Thomas More

Utopia "Utopia" is a term that English statesman and author Thomas More coined in the early sixteenth century in his novel of the same name. It is derived from two Greek words:Eutopia (m... Read more

Utopianism Overview History Theory in Depth Theory in Action Analysis and Critical Response Topics for Further Study Bibliography See Also Overview From the writings of ancient Greece to the mos... Read more

Utopias and Utopianism The word utopia was invented by Thomas More, who published his famous Utopia (in Latin) in 1516. More coupled the Greek words ou (no, or not) and topos (place) to invent a name ... Read more

INTRODUCTION Sir Thomas More, son of Sir John More, a justice of the King’s Bench, was born in 1478, in Milk Street, in the city of London.  After his earlier education at St. Anthony&rsqu... Read more

The life of the English humanist and statesman Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) exemplifies the political and spiritual upheaval of the Reformation. The author of "Utopia," he was beheaded for opposing the... Read more

Sir Thomas More's place in the history of rhetoric and logic is secure for two reasons. First, he enacted the "new learning" of the studia humanitatis, translating and transforming ancient literature ... Read more

In the excerpt below, Kinney argues the importance of rhetoric to educated Englishmen in the sixteenth century and examines its application in Thomas More's Utopia and George Gascoigne's... Read more

In the following excerpt from his critical study, The Oxford Reformers, Seebohm places Utopia in its political and historical context, contrasting what he believes to be More's ideal commonweal... Read more

In the essay that follows, Astell focuses on the letters, or parerga, that introduce More's text, using them to study how the fiction constructs its audience and, specifically, how the dialogue... Read more

In the essay below, Skinner examines the values and conventions that characterized Renaissance discussions of political theory in order to determine the Utopia's place in that discussion and to... Read more

Freeman interprets the Utopia as an autobiographical text in the essay that follows, finding in it an expression of More's "desire to strike a proper balance between what is private and ... Read more

Kautsky, as the following chapter from his book demonstrates, is known among More scholars for presenting the first significant argument that More's Utopia described and advocated a socialist s... Read more

In the following essay, Bevington suggests that the dialogue form of the Utopia provides a clue to the author's opinions: More identified with neither Hythloday nor the character named More, bu... Read more

In the following essay, Khanna contends that More recommends open-mindedness in his text, exemplifying it both in the Utopians and in the dialogue between the characters of Hythloday, More, and Peter ... Read more

In the essay that follows, Rebhorn investigates the parallels between More's Utopia and Renaissance humanist ideals, exploring how the Utopia draws upon and extends humanist agricultural metaph... Read more

In the following essay, the critics discuss the revival of utopianism during the Renaissance, focusing on themes of communism, religion, and natural science in Utopian thought. With the rise of hum... Read more

In the following essay, Mumford discusses the origins of the concept of Utopia in ancient Greece, focusing on Plato's conception of the ideal city in the Republic. Before the great empires o... Read more

In the following essay, Elliott presents argues that "utopia is the secularization of the myth of the Golden Age, " and that "utopia and satire are ancestrally linked in the celeb... Read more

In the following essay, Thomas discusses the Utopian impulse in literature in relation to millenarianism during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. At the beginning of the seventeenth century ... Read more

In the following essay, Dentith studies the ways in which nineteenth-century utopian literature employs and transcends the trope of inversion. In Chapter 17 of Adam Bede, ‘In which the story... Read more

In the following essay, Ferguson critiques Mark Twain's utopian story “The Curious Republic of Gondour.” “The Curious Republic of Gondour” was published anonymous... Read more

In the following essay, Uba explores the allegorical nature of William Dean Howells's utopian romances, A Traveller from Altruria and Through the Eye of the Needle. The utopian novels A Trav... Read more

In the following essay, Jacobs investigates the utopian elements of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Blithedale Romance. “Upon my honor, I am not quite sure that I entirely comprehend my own... Read more

In the following essay, Suvin contends that utopian fiction is a subgenre of science fiction, using William Morris's News from Nowhere and Victorian science fiction of the 1880s as evidence to ... Read more

In the following essay, Pearson observes affinities in modern feminist utopian novels and suggests that such works “seek to transcend the limitations of female experience.” Feminist u... Read more

In the following essay, Peyser argues that Gilman's utopian novel Herland, rather than being a “playful deconstruction of patriarchal thought,” remains “ground[ed in the do... Read more

In the following essay, Gough analyzes the utopian vision and technique of Gilman's novel Moving the Mountain, and contrasts this work with her later Herland. Many recent theorists of utopia... Read more

In the following essay, Pearson observes affinities in modern feminist utopian novels and suggests that such works “seek to transcend the limitations of female experience.” Feminist u... Read more

In the following essay, Dentith studies the ways in which nineteenth-century utopian literature employs and transcends the trope of inversion. In Chapter 17 of Adam Bede, ‘In which the story... Read more

The Quest for Perfection Never Ceases A utopia is "an ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects", as stated by Dictionary.com. This is true for all utopias, yet al... Read more

Philosophers in all ages have asked this question. Theories were born, debates stretch through the centuries. The argument still goes on and it is very unlikely that the question will ever be solved. ... Read more

Growing up for Helen Keller was rather difficult due to her disability. She stayed strong and focused. Through experiences in her life, she knows that, "Although the world is very full of suffering,... Read more

Sir Thomas More in 1516 first conceived utopia while he served as an ambassador For England on a party expedition to Flanders. In England his vocation was law and he held the position of Under-Sheriff... Read more

Thomas More's Utopia is in many ways a very hopeful book; it implies that humans can be good if put in the right environment. Many people would argue that this could never happen; that the inequaliti... Read more

The history of mankind is punctuated with epochs of change and awakening. One such period is the European Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. It was during this era that industrial... Read more

The ideas of a perfect society in which all humans are blissfully happy, equal, prosperous and living simply and peacefully has always appealed to humans across many cultures in different historic per... Read more

In Thomas Moore's "Utopia", he discusses how society treats the lower class. The upper/middle classes leave these less fortunate people little money, food, or shelter, and expect them to lead happy, c... Read more

Utopia Book Notes is a free study guide on Utopia by Thomas More. Browse the summary below:   Author Biography / Context of the Work   One-Page Plot Summary   Character Descriptio... Read more