Utopia book 1 summary

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Utopia book 1 summary

More tells how, when he was in the Low Countries on government business, he was introduced by his friend Peter Giles to Raphael Hythloday, a veteran traveler. The long day's conversation among the three men constitutes the substance of the book. When More and Giles discover how widely Hythloday has traveled and realize the depth of his understanding of the governments of many nations, they propose that his knowledge is too valuable to waste and that he ought to enter the service of some monarch as councilor in order to employ his knowledge in the service of mankind. Hythloday discourses at length on the reasons for his reluctance to undertake such employment. First, he does not believe that, as things stand, his advice would be accepted. The majority of those presently sitting in royal councils invariably practice a system of flattery toward their superiors and of personal aggrandizement and would surely override his idealistic and philosophical proposals. In support of these convictions, he relates experiences during an earlier visit to England and cites two instances of policy-making in recent international power struggles. This segment of Book I is conducted as a debate among the three men on the obligations of a man of experience and integrity to play an active role in the service of country and mankind. It is identified as "The Dialogue of Counsel. In pursuit of the argument, Hythloday proceeds to a critical analysis of the patterns of law, government, economics, and mores among European nations and, most particularly, in England.

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More was a major figure of the English Renaissance who cared deeply about the moral and political responsibilities of individuals. He eventually rose to one of the highest offices in the land, and, as chancellor of England in , came up against his own king with disastrous consequences. He was convicted of treason and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. They continued to urge him to sign the oath, but he refused. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, or quartered, the usual punishment for traitors, but the king commuted this to execution by decapitation.

More then travels to Antwerp, where he takes up residence and befriends an honest, learned citizen of that city named Peter Giles. More is returning home from church one day when he runs into Giles, who is speaking with an old man called Raphael Hythloday. Hythloday, we learn, sailed the world alongside the great historical explorer Amerigo Vespucci, and he even traveled to the New World by way of Asia. Moreover, it was in the New World that he came into contact with the Utopians, an island people who live in what Hythloday thinks to be the most perfectly organized commonwealth in the world. More and Giles are so impressed with Hythloday that they encourage him to go into the service of a prince as his counselor, but Hythloday has his doubts: princes are too interested chivalry and war to heed wisdom, and his fellow counselors would be proud and corrupt. There a lawyer praised England for severely punishing its thieves with the death penalty. Hythloday counters that the punishment is disproportionate to the crime in such a case; moreover, he argues that, instead of killing its thieves, England should change the social conditions that breed thieves in the first place. Specifically, he indicts the pride and greed of aristocrats and landowners as a great cause of idleness among the lower classes. Idleness, he says, causes poverty and misery. Hythloday instead proposes that thieves be forced to labor as punishment, which would spare them their lives and also serve the public good.

Utopia book 1 summary

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But as they are almost in everything equal to the ancient philosophers, so they far exceed our modern logicians for they have never yet fallen upon the barbarous niceties that our youth are forced to learn in those trifling logical schools that are among us. He accompanied the famed explorer Amerigo Vespucci on three of his four voyages. The government provides no avenue of opportunity for these veterans. Perhaps he values Utopian society so highly because it tolerates no pride or self-interest. The Cardinal smiles at this joke, but others at the table uncritically accept the proposal in earnest. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. On the last of these ventures, he decided to remain behind at a garrisoned fort with a few of Vespucci's men rather than return to Portugal. The head of the government, elected by the Philarchs, is the Prince. More, both in your opinion of me and in the judgment you make of things: for as I have not that capacity that you fancy I have, so if I had it, the public would not be one jot the better when I had sacrificed my quiet to it. Utopia Summary. They have persons whose dedication to a life of service and sacrifice corresponds to the religious orders in the Christian church. Raphael takes this as evidence that he would not fare well with the King's courtiers. Nor is there any hazard of their falling back to their old customs; and so little do travellers apprehend mischief from them that they generally make use of them for guides from one jurisdiction to another; for there is nothing left them by which they can rob or be the better for it, since, as they are disarmed, so the very having of money is a sufficient conviction: and as they are certainly punished if discovered, so they cannot hope to escape; for their habit being in all the parts of it different from what is commonly worn, they cannot fly away, unless they would go naked, and even then their cropped ear would betray them. Nor is it so becoming the dignity of a king to reign over beggars as over rich and happy subjects.

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So that it is plain they must prefer iron either to gold or silver, for men can no more live without iron than without fire or water; but Nature has marked out no use for the other metals so essential as not easily to be dispensed with. Utopia is based upon the idea that money corrupts the government and destroys justice and happiness in society. Yet, after the halls are served, no man is hindered to carry provisions home from the market-place, for they know that none does that but for some good reason; for though any that will may eat at home, yet none does it willingly, since it is both ridiculous and foolish for any to give themselves the trouble to make ready an ill dinner at home when there is a much more plentiful one made ready for him so near hand. Moreover, farmers dare not put them to work either, knowing that such men do not have the temperament or discipline to do hard work for small wages. Billing Address. Giles introduces More to Raphael Hythloday, and while it turns out that Hythloday is a world traveler, he is a philosopher rather than a captain. Here, Sir Thomas More gives a subtle clue that while More bears his name and perhaps some of his views, Hythloday the "he" who is also an "I" also embodies aspects of Sir Thomas More's beliefs and ideas. Theme Wheel Theme Viz. And yet these men, as if they had some real advantages beyond others, and did not owe them wholly to their mistakes, look big, seem to fancy themselves to be more valuable, and imagine that a respect is due to them for the sake of a rich garment, to which they would not have pretended if they had been more meanly clothed, and even resent it as an affront if that respect is not paid them. Our Teacher Edition on Utopia makes teaching easy. Shmoop University, Inc. Out of these they choose their ambassadors, their priests, their Tranibors, and the Prince himself, anciently called their Barzenes, but is called of late their Ademus.