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  • The King in "Utopia" by Thomas More: by Hatim El Farouki

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    The document provides context about Sir Thomas More's book "Utopia" from 1516. It discusses how More used the fictional society of Utopia to critique issues in his own time through contrast. As Lord Chancellor of England, More was critical of oppressive kings who ruled through fear rather than love. He believed a good king gained obedience through an oath to serve the country, while a bad king acted in their own self-interest. More's Utopia used its "strange" traditions to spark discussion about real problems and provide social commentary on laws and customs in 16th century England through an "inverted mirror of reality".

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    A presentation done on Thomas More's Utopia. It explores the social commentary and reality representations within the novel.

    Original Title

    Utopia

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    The document provides context about Sir Thomas More's book "Utopia" from 1516. It discusses how More used the fictional society of Utopia to critique issues in his own time through contrast. As Lord Chancellor of England, More was critical of oppressive kings who ruled through fear rather than love. He believed a good king gained obedience through an oath to serve the country, while a bad king acted in their own self-interest. More's Utopia used its "strange" traditions to spark discussion about real problems and provide social commentary on laws and customs in 16th century England through an "inverted mirror of reality".

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    26 views10 pages

    The King in "Utopia" by Thomas More: by Hatim El Farouki

    Uploaded by

    Hatim El farouki
    The document provides context about Sir Thomas More's book "Utopia" from 1516. It discusses how More used the fictional society of Utopia to critique issues in his own time through contrast. As Lord Chancellor of England, More was critical of oppressive kings who ruled through fear rather than love. He believed a good king gained obedience through an oath to serve the country, while a bad king acted in their own self-interest. More's Utopia used its "strange" traditions to spark discussion about real problems and provide social commentary on laws and customs in 16th century England through an "inverted mirror of reality".

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 10

    The King in "Utopia"

    By Thomas More

    By Hatim El Farouki
    Outline

    • Utopia
    • Sir Thomas More
    • The King
    • Social Commentary
    • Final Thought
    Utopia

     The Book:
     Utopia was written by Sir Thomas More in 1516
     First written in Latin, then translated into English

     The Word:
    - The word "Utopia" in Greek can either mean:
    - Good-place land
    - No-place land
    Sir Thomas More

    • Humanist scholar
    • Born in 1478 in London
    • Son of a judge Sir John More
    • Studied Latin and Greek at a Latin school in London
    • Became a successful lawyer after studying law at Oxford
    Politics

    • 1517- King’s personal servant


    • 1521- Became secretary for King Henry VIII
    • 1523- Speaker of House of Commons
    • 1529- Lord Chancellor (= Prime Minister)
    • 1534- Confronted The King Henry VIII
    - Arrested in The Tower of London
    • 1535- Charged with treason/ beheaded
    Successful King vs Bad King

    • "He is an unskillful physician that cannot cure one disease without


    casting his patient into another"

    • "If a king should fall under such contempt and envy that he could not
    keep his subjects in their duty but by oppression […] it were better for
    him to quit his kingdom […] while he keeps the name of authority,
    loses the majesty due to it."
    Successful King vs Bad King
    Successful King Bad King

    Subjects Happy loving subjects Poor and miserable

    Allegiance Tied by an oath to serve his country Tied by his own interests

    Money/ Economy Free circulation of money Heaping up treasures

    Resources Manages effectively the riches of the Monopoly and ill-usage of resources
    country
    Efficiency Obedience through love Obedience through fear
    Social Commentary
    • Probing Reality:
    • In Utopia, it is generally agreed that More does not want to describe a
    "perfect" society, but to use the "strange" traditions of Utopians to
    spark discussion and criticism of real contemporary problems.

    • From the Utopian perspective of Thomas More, the reader can


    discern More's attitudes towards his contemporary political situations
    as well as social laws and customs in England.
    Social Commentary

    • The point of the Utopia consisted in the contrast presented by its


    ideal commonwealth to the condition and habits of the European
    commonwealths of the period.

    • It is very safe to say that More's Utopia is a reversed mirror of reality.

    • Utopia reflects the "dystopian" nature of More's England.


    Final Thought

    • Sir Thomas More may not have meant to depict an ideal society, but
    to present an inverted mirror of reality

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