Utopia (Novel) by Sir Thomas More || Writer & Lesson Introduction, Characters, Summary and Key Information | Learning The Easy Way

 Short discussion about Utopia

Writer Introduction:

Thomas More was an English Humanist in the Renaissance Period. He was also known as Sir Thomas More. He was also an lawyer. He was born in 1478 in England. He was the chancellor of England from 1529 to 1532. He was recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He was beheaded for refusing to accept King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England in 1535 at the age of 57.

 

Lesson Introduction:

"Utopia" was a famous novel of the Elizabethan period written by Sir Thomas More. It was published in 1516. It was first written in Latin language. Utopia was later translated into other European languages. Such as German, Italian and French editions appeared in 1550. In 1551, an English edition was translated by Ralph Robinson. Utopia was an imaginary word. It referred a kingdom of no where. It is an imaginary island where there is no problem. Sir Thomas More's book was the first such exploration of a utopian world. It began a new genre of literature. Sometimes it called utopian fiction. It is still as fresh today as it was in the 16th century.

 

Characters:

• More
• Peter Giles
• Raphael Hytholday

 

Summary:

Utopia is a satire novel. In this novel, he satirizes the social image of England. There are two parts of the novel. The first part is Book-1 and the second part is Book-2. In the first part of the novel, we see that the main character More, his friend Peter Giles and new friend Raphael Hytholdy meet. They discuss about the society in England. Raphael Hytholday criticizes the negative aspects of society including the working system, penal code, unequal distribution of wealth, etc. in England at the time. 

In the second part of the novel, Raphael Hytholday talks about an island nation called utopia. In here, he explains the geographical, political conditions, community, family, marriage, education and social system of utopia. He also describes the ideal system of government, laws, resources etc. He says that the people of utopia are calm and honest.

Key Information:

• Writer: Sir Thomas More
• Language: Latin
• Published: 1516
• Genre: Novel
• Publisher: Sir Thomas More
• Published in English: 1551
• Pages: 369

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