Utopia : Detailed & Comprehensive Notes

  • The March 1518 Utopia title page features a thorn-crowned Christ at the top and Lucretia's suicide at the bottom. ##
  • Lucretia's story is detailed in Livy 1.58, Augustine's City of God, and Shakespeare's The Rape of Lucrece. ##
  • Brutus, after Lucretia's death, led Rome to exile the Tarquin tyrants and found the Roman Republic. ##
  • The book Utopia is titled: CONCERNING THE BEST STATE OF A COMMONWEALTH and the new island of Utopia, a truly golden handbook, no less beneficial than entertaining by Thomas More. ##
  • Erasmus, in a letter to John Froben, praises Thomas More's talents and expresses his desire for the Progymnasmata and Utopia to be printed. ##
  • Erasmus notes More's diverse activities (wife, household, public office, and court cases) alongside his writing. ##
  • William Budé, in a letter to Thomas Lupset, acknowledges reading More's Utopia alongside Thomas Linacre's On Preserving Health. ##
  • Budé expresses being moved by the character and institutions of the Utopians, considering household management and wealth accumulation as nonsense. ##
  • Budé critiques legal and civic trades for enabling the exploitation and manipulation of individuals through complex laws. ##
  • He points out that those skilled in legal exceptions are considered high priests of justice, which goes against gospel simplicity. ##
  • He argues that justice should assign to each one what is his own, opposing the prevailing view that might makes right. ##
  • Christ's law of sharing, exemplified by Ananias's condemnation, contrasts with civil and pontifical law. ##
  • Utopia is described as having equality of goods, love of peace, and disregard for gold and silver, challenging deceit and wickedness. ##
  • Budé hopes the gods will instill Utopian ideals in all mortals, leading to the collapse of greed and legal volumes. ##
  • Budé suggests Utopia is located outside the known world, a Fortunate Isle near the Elysian Fields. ##
  • He credits More for embellishing Utopia's state and institutions, borrowing the subject matter of the happy life from Hythloday. ##
  • A poem by Anemolius claims Utopia surpasses Plato's city by producing the best laws with men and resources. ##
  • Peter Giles, in a letter to Jerome Busleyden, praises More's depiction of Utopia and Hythloday's eloquence. ##
  • He describes Hythloday as superior to Ulysses in knowledge of regions and compares Vespucci's experiences as insignificant next to Hythloday's. ##
  • Giles mentions a four-line poem in the Utopian language provided by Hythloday. ##
  • He notes a rumor about Hythloday's fate. ##
  • Giles defends Utopia's name not being found among cosmographers, citing possibilities of changed names or overlooked lands. ##
  • Thomas More, in a letter to Peter Giles, apologizes for the book's delay and attributes the work to Raphael's account. ##
  • More explains that business and household matters left little time and study for the book's completion. ##
  • More seeks clarification on a bridge length discrepancy and the location of Utopia for a theologian desiring to become a bishop there. ##
  • More discusses the ungrateful judgments of humans, expressing hesitation about publishing. ##
  • Book 1 introduces the debate on whether an intellectual should serve as an advisor to a king. ##
  • Raphael argues the futility of service using examples from English politics, highlighting John Morton's experiences. ##
  • He offers a positive example: the Polylerites. ##
  • A digression discusses the "ridiculous" exchange between a friar and a fool. ##
  • More disagrees, referencing Plato to highlight the potential good service can accomplish. ##
  • Raphael's second and third examples of futile service involve a French king and then an unnamed king. ##
  • Positive examples are then provided: the Achorians and then the Macarians. ##
  • Raphael condemns private property, invoking Plato, Scripture, and justice; More defends it, citing the need for legal protection. ##
  • Raphael introduces the island of Utopia and rejects More's imagination concerning service. ##
  • There after lunch, Raphael begins to share information about Utopia. ##

Book 2

  • Book 2 details the founding of Utopia, its origin, its founder (Utopus), and its general features. ##
  • Utopia’s cities are numerous, large in size and operate under a house-and-garden rotation policy. ##
  • The Utopians have several magistrates; describe selection, the city-ruler selection, what role their senate has, and the tyranny safeguards that are present. ##
  • Craft work is a major trade alongside public lectures and games. Describe housing, and clothing. ##
  • Social dealings are discussed, including household structure, methods for colonization, how the sick are treated, and communal dining practices. ##
  • Utopian travel is regulated by a series of regulations that have attached punishments for those who contravene. ##
  • Utopian trade, policies on gold and jewels use and their Anemolian ambassadors are discussed. ##
  • A discussion of ethics and happiness is covered alongside a discussion of few laws, and what true and false pleasure is. ##
  • Education systems, books used; most useful part of philosophy is highlighted. ##
  • The use of slavery is discussed, views on suicide, euthanasia as well as marriage practices. There are no lawyers, and no treaties.##
  • The military system and war policies of Utopia is detailed alongside foreign relations, the use of Zapoletes as mercenaries. ##
  • Religions and Religious freedom is discussed, including worship, compulsory beliefs, sects, priests, architecture, and religious practices. ##
  • More makes a final comment and look forward to another extended conversation – but now dinner is served at the end of Book 2.