Works

Utopia consists of two parts: book 1 and book 2. The first book tells how Thomas More is on a mission to Antwerp for King Henry VIII. There he meets Peter Gilles and a Portuguese traveller named Raphael Hythloday. More and Gilles tell Hythloday, after talking to him for a while, that he would be a suitable candidate to work in the king’s government in England. But Hythloday says that he would never want that because he thinks the English system of government has too many flaws. One of these flaws is the great role that money plays in society and the fact that things are not equally divided among the people: Though, to speak plainly my real sentiments, I must freely own that as long as there is any property, and while money is the standard of all other things, I cannot think that a nation can be governed either justly or happily: not justly, because the best things will fall to the share of the worst men; nor happily, because all things will be divided among a few (and even these are not in all respects happy), the rest being left to be absolutely miserable. (Utopia, book 1)¹

In the second book, Hythloday tells that, on one of his travels, he has come across an island named Utopia. He describes that the island of Utopia is the ideal human society. Hythloday describes the island and the people on it in great detail and tells about their way of life, a way of life that is completely based on reason. Utopian society is completely different from any other society that Hythloday knows. For example, the Utopians have a moneyless economy, but they do have a very large treasury that they use to pay soldiers to fight for them in time of war. Hythloday is very much surprised to see how differently the Utopians think about gold and silver: They have accumulated a vast treasure, but they do not keep it like a treasure. I’m really quite ashamed to tell you how they do keep it, because you probably won’t believe me; I would not have believed it myself if someone would have told me about it, but I was there, and saw it with my own eyes. Of course the gold and silver might be put into beautiful plate-ware and such rich handiwork, but then in case of necessity the people would not want to give up articles on which they had begun to fix their hearts –only to melt them down for soldiers pay. To avoid these problems they thought of a plan which conforms with their institutions as clearly as it contrasts with our own. Unless one has actually seen it working, their plan may seem incredible,because we prize gold so highly and are so careful about guarding it. With them it’s just the other way. While they eat from earthenware dishes, and drink from glass cups, finely made but inexpensive, their chamber pots and all their humblest vessels, for use in common halls and even in private homes, are made of gold and silver. The chains and heavy fetters of slaves are also made of these metals. Finally, criminals who are to bear the mark of some disgraceful act are forced to wear golden rings on their fingers, golden chains around their necks, even gold crowns on their heads. (Utopia book 2)²

Utopia is in the first place, entirely fictional. The author created the whole story and the characters in the story. However, some characters in the book bear a very close resemblance to real persons. So, sometimes, it can be difficult to make a difference between the fictional story and reality. For example, the main character is Thomas More. But this is the fictional character Thomas More and not the author himself.

It is worthwhile to look at the Greek meanings of some of the names in Utopia. For instance, utopia comes from the Greek words ‘ou’ (not, no) and ‘topos’ (place). So literally it means ‘no place’ or ‘nowhere’. Another interesting name is Hythloday, the name of the man who discovered the island Utopia. In Greek, Hythloday means “talker of nonsense”. These Greek meanings can be seen as little clues to look at the story of Utopia and the people in it, in a different light.

The word ‘utopia’ has become a synonym for a dreamland, an ideal place. It has even become the name of a literary tradition: the utopian novel. Modern examples of this kind of novel are: 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

From Utopia’s first appearance onward, there have been many different explanations of the text. Utopia has been used to serve as an example of ideologies such as communism. But, the text cannot be explained in one single way, there are still questions that remain unclear in some way. Utopia gives you, the reader, a model of a society, not necessarily perfect, which makes you look at the society you live in critically. Perhaps this is why the book has been so influential and widely read throughout the last four centuries.