In pursuit of the argument, Hythloday proceeds to a critical analysis of the patterns of law, government, economics, and mores among European nations and, most particularly, in England. His criticisms are directed specifically at the severity of the penal code, the gross inequities in the distribution of wealth, the unequal participation in productive labor, and the appropriation of farm lands for sheep grazing.
Book I represents the negative side of the picture which More intends to create, the statement of what is wrong with "civilization" in his time. A few incidental references comparing the state of affairs in contemporary Europe with the manners and government of a nation on a remote island called Utopia leads into the discussion in the second book.
