In Utopia, More paints a vision of the customs and practices of a distant island, but Utopia means 'no place' and his narrator's name, Hythlodaeus, translates as 'dispenser of nonsense'. This fantastical tale masks what is a serious and subversive analysis of the failings of More's society. Advocating instead a world in which there is religious tolerance, provision for the aged and state ownership of land, Utopia has been variously claimed as a Catholic tract or an argument for communism, and it still invites each generation to make its own interpretation.
This revised and updated edition of Paul Turner's vibrant translation from the original Latin features a new chronology and further reading list. The revised introduction explores the impact of Utopia on subsequent literary generations and highlights the contradiction between More's beliefs and the propositions put forward in his book.
Profile Studied at London and Oxford. Page for the Archbishop of Canterbury. Lawyer. Twice married, father of one son and three daughters, and a devoted family man. Writer. Friend of King Henry VIII. Lord Chancellor of England, a position of power second only to the king. Opposed the king on the matter of royal divorce, and refused to swear the Oath of Supremacy which declared the king the head of the Church in England. Resigned the Chancellorship, and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Martyred for his refusal to bend his religious beliefs to the king's political needs.
Born 1478 at London, England
Died beheaded in 1535; head kept in the Roper Vault, Saint Dunstan's church, Canterbury, England; body at Saint Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London, England
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