British Literature Unit 2 Notes: Chapter 1

• Published Utopia in its complete form 

• Served as Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII

• Refused to take an oath supporting the Act of Succession when Henry broke from Rome and was beheaded as a result of this refusal 

• Canonized by the Catholic Church

Sir Thomas More

a genre of fictional writings about idea societies

Utopia

using irony to critique a society

Social Satire

the attitude an author has toward his subject that readers are meant to share

Tone

• Author is Sir Thomas More 

• More uses irony to critique the English society

• More criticizes materialism (gold and silver); he says that the British are obsessed with material things instead of useful things. 

• More emphasizes the fact that everything in English society is the same (equality) 

  • “If you know one of their cities you know them all, for they’re exactly alike, except where geography itself makes a difference.”

• Geographical Features of Utopia: 

  • Crescent-shaped island 

  • 54 cities with the same institutions, laws, customs, and language; everything is the same  

  • Each country's household has 40 men or women in it who have the same profession of farming.

• More is talking to a factional explorer, Raphael Hythloday. 

• The Book is set up as a dialogue between Sir Thomas More and Raphael Hythloday

Utopia Story