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Utopia & Utopian Literature

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Book Summary for Utopia

Sir Thomas More Biography

Life of Sir Thomas More
Other Works of Thomas More

About Utopia and Utopian Literature

Historical Background
The Utopian Theme
Utopian Literature Before More
Utopian Literature After More
Anti-Utopias
Established Utopian Communities
Publication Data for More's Utopia

Summary and Analysis for Book I: The Dialogue of Counsel

Setting the Stage
Opening of the Discussion
The Meeting at Cardinal Morton's House
Hypothetical Meeting of the French Council
The Council for Financial Affairs
More Versus Hythloday on Public Service

Summary and Analysis for Book II: The Discourse on Utopia

Geographical Features of Utopia
Country Life
The Cities
Officials
Occupations
Population Control
Markets
Community Life
Travel
The Economy
Learning
Philosophy
Slavery
Euthanasia
Marriage and Divorce
Laws
Treaties and Alliances
War
Religion
Peroration
More's Concluding Observation

Read the Original Text for Utopia

Introduction
Section 1: Discourses of Raphael Hythloday, of the Best State of a Commonwealth
Section 2: Of Their Towns, Particularly of Amaurot
Section 3: Of Their Magistrates
Section 4: Of Their Trades, and Manner of Life
Section 5: Of Their Traffic
Section 6: Of the Travelling of the Utopians
Section 7: Of Their Slaves, and of Their Marriages
Section 8: Of Their Military Discipline
Section 9: Of the Religions of the Utopians

Critical Essays

The Composition of Utopia

Study and Homework Help

Quiz
Essay Questions

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Summary and Analysis for Book II: The Discourse on Utopia

Learning

This section gives little insight into the educational system but is rather devoted to the achievements of their learned men. In the remarks about abstract speculation and fantastical learning, More pretends to treat the absence of such learning among the Utopians as a weakness in their intellectual development, but his satirical intention is evident enough. It is not the Utopians being ridiculed, but the type of learning, a kind of logical acrobatics practiced by the scholastics, which Bacon later called the "cobwebs of learning." Likewise, in revealing the skeptical attitude of the Utopians toward astrology, he shows them turning their backs on Medieval beliefs and adopting a distinctly modern point of view.

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