During the century following Utopia, the utopian vogue flourished, set off by the interest which More’s book generated and given added impetus through the discoveries of new lands and the fascinating primitive and exotic races encountered in those regions.
An early evidence of the impact of Utopia in Europe appeared in Rabelais’s first book of Pantagruel (1532) in which a section is entitled “The Expedition to Utopia.” Actually the narrative in no way resembles Utopia, but there are incidental parallels. Details of the voyage from France to Utopia are in a general way reminiscent of More’s account of the travels of Hythloday. And it is noteworthy that Rabelais called the inhabitants of Utopia the Amaurotes, a word derived from More’s name for the capital city of Utopia.
There is another passage in Rabelais’s Gargantua that is cited among the celebrated Renaissance descriptions of an idealized society; namely, the section called the “Abbeye of Thélème.” The society portrayed is confined to a monastery that is regulated in an original and thoroughly unconventional manner. All of the members are happy because, being exempt from any kind of restrictions or regimentation, they are at liberty to pursue their inclinations and encouraged to develop their special talents to their full potential. Among the unconventional monastic features are: the absence of bells to regulate a schedule of activities, the wearing of attractive clothes of varied colors and styles, and—most unconventional—the integration of male and female initiates. Finally, the members of the community are free to leave it at will and also to marry. The whole idea, which at first strikes the reader as one of Rabelais’s absurd jests, is discovered to express a fundamental feature of Rabelais’s serious philosophy. What he is saying is that people are, by nature, good and, if given free scope and encouraged to live full lives, will develop into healthy and bright creatures, full of grace.
In an essay “Of Cannibals,” Montaigne gives an account of a primitive tribe of South American Indians; while treating their life style in toto, he pays special attention to their choice of leaders, their mode of warfare, and their treatment of captives. This work is a notable contribution to the vogue of fictionalized travel literature, which includes, in addition to More’s Utopia, such works as Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver’s Travels and a host of major and minor later documents. Montaigne’s philosophical approach to his subject is revealed in his repeated pointing of contrasts between those simple Indians and “civilized” Europeans with their mechanical progress, their gunpowder, and their Christianity. In almost every instance, civilization comes off second best in matters of rational behavior and especially where man’s humanity to man is concerned.
The early seventeenth century marks the appearance of several ambitious accounts of utopian societies, the most successful being: The City of the Sun (Civitas Solis, 1623) by Tommaso Campanella, Christianopolis (1619), by Johann V. Andreae, and The New Atlantis (1624) by Sir Francis Bacon.
Campanella’s City of the Sun was the earliest of the three works in point of composition if not of publication. He wrote the earliest version of the work in Italian in 1602. A revised and somewhat abbreviated version in Latin was published in 1623. Then the Italian work was published posthumously in 1637, but the Latin version is the better known.
The influence of More and of Plato, as well, are evident at many points. The tale is told by a sea captain who has visited an island called Taprobane (possibly Sumatra). In that land there is community property and no use of money. There is an equitable sharing of labor, with the result that all work is finished in a four-hour day. There is also a community of women, with a scientific control of breeding, a feature which reverts to Plato’s arrangement rather than More’s adherence to the plan of the Christian family. Like More, Campanella dwells at length on the subjects of justice, war, and religion.
In the treatment of education, Campanella reveals himself as a seventeenth-century thinker, placing great emphasis on the study of the sciences, all of the sciences. He has a plan for spreading information on all branches of knowledge through pictures displayed throughout the city on walls and in corridors of public buildings—visual aids to education for persons of all ages. Their leaders believe that the advancement of scientific knowledge is the principal key to the betterment of the race. The report claims that those people have developed not only the telescope but also such modern inventions as power-propelled ships and flying machines.
The rulers in the City of the Sun are men of superior intelligence and probity. The head of the government is called Hoh. His chief ministers are Pon, Sin, and Mor, which are translated Power, Wisdom, and Love. The requisites for the chief are a familiarity with the history of all kingdoms and their governments, a thorough knowledge of all sciences, and a mastery of metaphysics and theology. This concept of a head of state is clearly reminiscent of Plato’s philosopher-king. The word Hoh means metaphysics.
