In Book 1 the two characters discuss the social and economic issue in early 16th century England, while in Book 2 it is thought that More directly answers these problems with solutions. He describes it to be a perfect place with, for example, wealth distributed evenly and a successful democratic system. Utopia is a conversation between the characters “Morus” and “Hythloday” as Hythloday retells his travels to Utopia. However, I never knew his political writing had such an impact. As I was studying A level History at the time, I had heard of More before, due to his opposition to Henry VIII’s reformation. The book laysout the political theory of English lawyer, Thomas More. I had not read any political theory before, so I decided to read Utopia. I had been interested in politics, but this was mainly watching the news and trying to understand what was happening with Brexit. It is quite normal for PPE students to not have studied all the subjects before especially as some sixth forms (like mine) do not offer these subjects, so do not worry if you are in the same boat. I study Philosophy, Politics and Economics but I had not studied any of those subjects before applying to Oxford, so I did feel nervous about the whole application process. It certainly motivated me to apply for History and Politics, which I am now studying.ĭefinitely read this book if you are thinking of applying for History, History and Politics or PPE – it is a relevant and short (!) text that is still being discussed almost 500 years after it was first published. Given the historical context of Sir Thomas More, and knowing he was martyred for opposing Henry VIII’s divorce and subsequent break with the Catholic Church, the text threw up some interesting questions and sparked my interest in both history and political theory. I was also surprised by More’s leniency on divorce – in Utopia, couples with what we would term “irreconcilable differences” would be allowed to separate. Marx and Engels only collaborated on their works on communism in the mid-19th century – about 300 years later. I was totally shocked by this book written in 1516, More’s ideal state seemed so far in advance of any other views of his time. There are also complicated electoral systems to ensure a fair democracy! Everyone does a specific amount of work, and everyone wears the same clothes and is given the same food. The chamber pots in Utopia are made of gold, simply to sully the image of gold as a luxury. The society described is almost communist in its traits and customs More condemns slavery, capital punishment aside from for adultery, and acquisition of luxury. It is narrated by a character named Hythlodaeus, meaning “speaker of nonsense”, and utopia translates from Greek as “no place”. Utopia is the presentation of More’s ideal society. It was in translation from the original, so if anything that made it easier to read – the translator made the concepts a lot more readable. I ordered it thinking it was going to be this major hefty work – turns out it was about 108 pages long, which only added to my excitement. I did love politics and in particular political theory, so when we started learning about the Tudors at AS, I thought I’d read Utopia by Sir Thomas More. I had originally wanted to apply for PPE, but I loved A Level History and knew that I wanted to continue with it to degree level.
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