Thomas+Moore,+Utopia

=MORE'S //UTOPIA//=

//**Sir Thomas More’s Utopia as a Solution to England’s Problems**//

Under the rule of Henry VIII, England in the 16th century had medical, religious and economic problems which brought chaos to England. Because many people suffered, Sir Thomas More wrote Utopia to criticize England for such problems as disease, religious intolerance and a weak economy and to suggest an ideal society with solutions for the problems that England was facing.

Unlike England, More has created a Utopia where there are few health problems. He writes, “ But they take more care of their sick than of any others: these are lodged and provided for in public hospitals: they have belonging to every town four hospitals, that are built without their walls, and are so large that they may pass for little towns.” Readers learn that there are four hospitals in every town and they are capable of holding incredible numbers of people. In my view, Sir Thomas More might have written this passage not only to inform the readers about the healthcare in Utopia but also to criticize the England of that time. In 16th century England, there was a plague that killed many Londoners. The plague was called the English Sweat disease, and there was no cure for it. King Henry VIII, who was in fear of this disease, left London to avoid being contaminated by the disease.

A strong Catholic, Thomas More also wrote Utopia to criticize Henry VIII, for torturing monks and persecuting other Catholics. In Utopia, Hythloday informs Thomas More that in Utopia there is freedom of religion. Hythloday says, “There be divers kinds of religion not only in sundry part of the island, but also in divers places of every city.”

Furthermore, Sir Thomas More wrote Utopia to criticize the England’s economy. In the first book of Utopia, Sir Thomas More criticizes sheep husbandry since it has caused the ruin of farming in England. Because all the rich men were engaged in the sheep husbandry and taking all the lands due to this industry, normal farmers didn’t have any lands to work. Because of lack of land, (since rich men took most of the lands), there were numerous farmers out of work. In the second book of Utopia, More learns that all the Utopian are occupied in farming: “Agriculture is that which is so universally understood among them, that no person, either man or woman, is ignorant of it.”

It is clear that Sir Thomas More wrote the Utopia to criticize England for its problems and offer solutions. He not only wrote this book to create his ideal world, but also to criticize the England. By contrasting Utopia with the history of England, we can learn about life in England in the sixteenth century.

Posted by Bensalem