Nate McCready
LARCH
1/21/2014
Utopia Analysis
Utopia Myth
– Why would Thomas More position this fictionalized utopia in the New World (discovered just twenty-four years earlier)?
When describing the island called Utopia, More chooses to place this fictitious society in the New World because it symbolizes something that is inherently not of their human nature. More relates this to the character Hythloday who provides insight into why he would never become a counselor to the king. Hythloday believes that it is near impossible for a King to fully embody his philosophies because “that except kings themselves became philosophers, they who from their childhood are corrupted with false notions would never fall in entirely with the counsels of philosophers” (10). This helps the reader to relate to why More chose to place Utopia in the New World, as you almost have to be born in their society to be able to experience their ways of living because everyone born and enslaved into Europe’s class system and ways would be unable to fathom or partake in the Utopian society.
In the book Thomas More decides to make the main character not himself, but rather the philosopher Hythloday. This adds to the sense of mystery as even More and Giles seem to at times not believe Hythloday because the Utopian society seems too surreal. This in turn makes the reader question if the Utopia really did exist (in the sense of the novel) because it was part of a world that was at that time unknown or not fully understood and one would have to place their trust in a person who is not familiar.
-How is More’s Utopia different from the Arcadian myths as expressed by Sanzzaro and Virgil? How are they similar?
More’s Utopian society is very similar to the Arcadian myths told by Virgil and Sanzzaro in many different ways. First, they are both within lands far away, adding a sense of mystery or a natural side to their tale. Sanzzaro’s poem in Cosgrove’s article begins by the location of arcadia as “a distance of fifty leagues to another land that appeared much more beautiful and was full of great woods, green and of various kinds of trees. Grapevines climbed to the branches, and the place we called Arcadia” (Cosgrove, 69).
Later in Cosgrove’s writing he begins to talk about Virgil and his tale of Venus. This tale has many similarities to More’s Utopia, most notably, its iconic scene of serenity and nature that began as uncorrupted. In this land, Virgil explains the beauty and “before you the winds flee, and at your corning the clouds forsake the sky. For you the inventive earth flings up sweet flowers. For you the ocean levels laugh, the sky is calmed and glows with diffuse radiance” (Cosgrove, 79).
Even though there are many comparisons, the main points of differences between Utopia and the Arcadian myths give the grim aftermath of what will happen once these lands are forsaken with human greed. Sanzzaro’s poem, which began tranquilly, shows how easily the greed of man will harm Arcadia. In the poem, the shepherds tell of their hunt, which highlights the change in nature. The shepherds explain their kill as “they abounded in such plenty that many times grown weary of killing them and having no place where we could put up so many, we carried them along with us, all caught up in the ill-folded nets, to our accustomed abodes” (Cosgrove, 76). The humans in this tale became so corrupted with want, that they killed more than they needed, and therefore were not naturally living off the land, but taking from it. This is different than the Utopia because every citizen only took what they needed from the land, and didn’t see it as property, rather as a means of needs and not wants.
In Virgil’s tale Venus, who is the god of love, becomes corrupted once she falls madly in love with the god of war, Mars. She is unable to end the union, because she is blinded by love and it is this blindness that allows Mars to fully take advantage of Venus. Virgil shows this with the relationship of humans and nature “As time went by, men began to build huts and to use skins and fire. Male and female learned to live together in stable union and to watch over their joint progeny. Then it was that humanity began to mellow. Thanks to fire, their chilly bodies could no longer endure the cold under the canopy of heaven. Venus subdued brute strength” (Cosgrove, 81). This undoubtedly would show the future of Utopia if the men of Europe sought out to take the lands because Virgil tries to show that men with greed will never be able to live peacefully and naturally on the land.
– Are there parallels between the Utopian nation that More sets out in 1516 and the set of ideas that culminate in the American Revolutionary War two hundred and fifty years later?
When the founder of the United States came together and created the declaration of independence, one of the main focal points was tolerance. Many immigrants sought to this new world because of the religious tolerance that was allowed. In More’s Utopia, many religions existed. There were religions that “ranged from a sort of animism, to worship of an ancient hero, to worship of the sun or moon, to belief in a single omnipotent, ineffable god” (Sparknotes, 1). Although the society had many different gods there was no persecution. This is very similar to the first amendment of the Bill of Rights, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (United States Archives, 2).
The main fundamentals of the American Revolutionary war was to end the tyrannical rule of the Britain. In order to do this, the soon to be United States citizens became a whole in order to fulfill their endeavors. If the original 13 states didn’t cooperate together to reach their ultimate goal, they more than likely would have seen defeat. This parallels with More’s Utopia because the citizens do not see personal gains, rather the gains of the whole community. More shows this with communal farming as each citizen lived in both the city and also in the rural agricultural lands. The reason for this was to create a sense of equality and community where everyone strives for the same goal.
Works Cited:
Thomas More, Utopia (The Gutenburg Project), http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=3274769&pageno=1
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Utopia.” SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/utopia/section 13.rhtml (accessed January 14, 2014).
United States Archives, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html (accessed January 21, 2014)
Cosgrove Denis, “Geography and vision : seeing, imagining and representing the world “, “mapping Arcadia”(68-84) chapter 4. I.B. Tauris, 2008.