Sir Thomas More’s Utopia: A discussion of its reasons and reception

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, Bielefeld University, course: British Utopian Literature, 17 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In this term paper, More’s living circumstances, thus the origins of his Utopia, are outlined in the first chapter. The reception of Utopia in More’s times is discussed subsequently. It is concluded that More produced an intelligent indirect critique of England and Europe in his lifetime. More might have done this to stimulate the reader’s vision as well as to escape censorship. However, More’s life is a contradictory one, and I will infer that every reader has to make up his own thoughts on this book which contains a revolutionary body of thought.