Max Rosenthal
LARCH 2367
Boswell; Oldham
22 January 2014
Utopia’s Perfections
In Thomas More’s Utopia, the narrator, More, discusses at great length of a far land called Utopia. Hythloday, a great philosopher, has been to the land of Utopia and can speak of its unique and desired social structure. More and Hythloday argue back and forth about the basis of the Utopian society, and whether or not its class-less socialist structure can truly exist and thrive in the world today. The argument between More and Hythloday is supposed to be representative of the internal battle Thomas More was dealing with in real life, in regards to advising and being on council with the King.
Hythloday, back now in Europe, speaks with More about the land of Utopia, located across the Atlantic in the newly settled land. The location of Utopia plays to More’s argument of the fantasy of Utopia. Much like many of Utopia’s characteristics, the America’s, to Europeans, was an entirely different and “new world.” Not much was known about the newly discovered landmass across the pond, which left an unwary feeling to most Europeans. The only knowledge many had was from stories passed on by travelers, where plenty could be lost in translation. This place to the common man was nearer to fantasy than it was reality. A place where peasants were granted land at pleasure, to work and provide for themselves and their loved ones was unfathomable to most. Stories so outrageous they had no choice but to pass them off as nothing more than tales, fairy tales at that. A life with that sort of freedom from social and economic restraints just did not seem plausible.
Although More’s Utopia does not seem possible to achieve, many have had similar thoughts about such a perfect society. Very similarly to the myth of Arcadia, spoken of about Sanzzaro and Virgil, Utopia has a quality of bountiful land. The citizens of Utopia work and farm the land they live on, and seek it for all of life’s necessities. In Arcadia much was the same. Guests of Arcadia were greeted with lush meadows and forests, a sublime water source, and exponential game. The land provided anything and everything they needed. Although both of these stories speak of perfection and fantasy, they too both had their equal share in humanistic pitfalls. In both Utopia and Arcadia, violence was present; and in both it was dealt with. Utopians had to deal with theft violation of laws, and as a result the guilty were forced in to slavery. Utopia recognized man’s imperfections, and to help encourage positive behavior the negative were punished by slavery. In Arcadia, however, these imperfections occurred on the personal scale, as opposed to a social one. Opposing men enjoying the luxuries of Arcadia often found themselves engaging in personal brawl. This did not please the natives of the land, and assistance was sought from the Gods. In order to help tame man’s inhibition, Venus is sought after to help tame Mars. In both cases the imperfection of man is not discarded, as it is part of every day life regardless of the type of society taken place in, and the different levels that these imperfections are dealt with in these two particular cases show that although man is not perfect, it can be pushed and directed in the right direction.
Although Utopia and Arcadia both teach of a perfect society, there are differences to these societies. A drastic difference in the two is the comparison in scale of Utopia to Arcadia. Utopia is a country. It is a group of people that live within set a social structure. In Utopia citizens are expected to play their role in order to ensure success not just for the nation, but also for their fellow citizens and countrymen who have like-minded goals. In Arcadia, however, this perfect society is more for the individual. It is here where farmers and solders and men of other sorts come to, to visit. Although these men enjoy the riches Arcadia has to offer, they cannot stay forever. Eventually these men return from their vacation and continue with their regular lives. An experience in Arcadia is solidarity from every day life, as opposed to a lifestyle. Arcadia is a temporary escape from the modern world, where as Utopia is a substitute.
Thomas More was inspired to write Utopia based on the current social circumstances he was facing in England at the time. It is obvious that the arguments made between More and Hythloday throughout their discussion reflect back to the issues being dealt with in England. What is interesting to notice is how those discussions become a prelude to the founding of the daughter of Mother England, The United States of America. Because Utopia is based on the imperfections of the English society, it is no surprise that these same issues helped influence the founding of the U.S. by former Englishmen themselves. The most substantial parallel between Utopia in 1516 and the U.S. when it was founded in 1776 is the form of government governing the land. Never before had their been a representative democracy where the citizens had a say in their government officials. More wrote of Utopia’s representative democracy in order to contrast the existing Kingdom of England; and similarly, it is the Kingdom of England that drove the revolution of America and influenced the form of government chosen by this nation’s founding fathers. These like-minded interests run in succession with the goals of the two societies. Just like in Utopia, the citizens of this newly founded country sought the land as their escape. These new Americans aimed to develop and live off of their new land, and strive for equality among men that was not granted back in England. Because England and its imperfections with society and government influenced both the writing of Utopia and the founding of The United States of America, it is plausible to argue that America did become the modern day Utopia; but has since lost its way.