Do you accept the view that More was a cruel man with little compassion for others?

Judith Sargent Murray’s On the Equality of the Sexes reveals the struggles women had in the 17th-18th centuries when it came to equal education opportunities. Women were expected to become people of domestication while men had many opportunities to expand their minds and be ambitious, and be leaders. Women were expected to focus on taking care of their family, not to have minds of their own. They wanted change.

This shift from promoting an ideal 'Utopia ' in his work to openly and aggressively defending the Catholic Church is one of the first examples of the Reformations affect on changing political discourse from criticisms to open violent outbursts and pleas of aggression. Adding to this further is More 's response to Tyndale in 1531, where More states the Reformation is a genuine danger to all of Catholic society4. More was eventually executed but stated “I die the Kings faithful servant, but Gods First”5 revealing although More hated the Reformation, he had stood by his religious values, including his King, making his political writing still plausible in terms of how an authority, such as a monarch, could work hand in hand in a religious society. More 's response to Tyndale and final words shows how much his own way of political discourse had shifted through the years of the reformation, as he had called for violence in the early years 1517, aggressively insulted protestant philosophers such as Luther, but had now consorted to reason. Therefore it can be concluded that many of the philosophers actions during the early years of the Reformation were shock reactions to this shift in power and apparent attack on the perceived 'Catholic state ' rather than a true change in political discourse, as many of the underlying religious opinions in political writing has been retained.

“Nevertheless, faith in knowledge and reason and in the progress they were held certain to achieve remained the dominant characteristic of the Enlightenment.” With the change in political climate, women began to grasp the idea of reason in the new society. There was a fight for education, professionalism, and citizenship. The change that the Enlightenment brought to the world, gave women the lifeline they needed to pull away from their domesticated roles as housekeepers, wives, and mothers.

One famous influential philosopher was John Locke. Locke was born in England in the mid 17th century and lived through both the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution. He strongly believed in equality for all men. In his book Second Treatise on Civil Government, he says that “creatures of the same species and rank…should be equal amongst another without subordination or

King Henry VIII’s reign was an awakening for many living in England during the sixteenth century. Thomas More was no exception. As a writer, More had the ability to publish his views about the change in politics, society, and religion. As religious views began to shift, and King Henry VIII separated from the Catholic church, Thomas More held firm to his belief in the Catholicism. His views on humanism thrived off of his standing in the Catholic church. He continued to defend humanism and catholicism relying in the knowledge that “...language is directed out to the social community in the effort to stimulate moral or political response” (Baker-smith 1). More hoped to convince the public eye of King Henry VIII’s misuse of power and moral judgement. This was a common idea he continually used throughout the remainder of the renaissance period.

In the past women's right was nonexistent, and they did not have any educational or voting rights. Most of their education was toward music, dance, embroidery, and how to be a good wife. Woman did not have a voice in society, and their ideas was disregard and not valued. During the year 1700-1900, some feminist movement for women's rights arouse. In Europe, Mary Wollstonecraft advocated for women's right and education. As a liberal thinker, Wollstonecraft desired a society with equal rights for men and women. In the U.S., Jane Addams developed the philosophy of socialized education, and was the pioneer is social work and women's right.

“I had saved a human being from destruction, and as a recompense I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone. The feelings of kindness and gentleness which I had entertained but a few moments before gave place to hellish rage and gnashing of teeth. Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind.”

35. What did Sir Thomas More denounce as "as profitable as milking a he-goat into a sieve"?

Robert Burns, a Scottish poet, once stated, “Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn!” Which means one man’s wrong doing to another can cause others to suffer. This statement by Burns was proven during Nathaniel Bacon’s rebellion. Nathaniel Bacon’s power hunger in addition to the inadequate leadership of Governor William Berkeley in Virginia were the main contributing facts to Bacon’s rebellion, which led to the slaughter of innocent Native Americans in 1676.

It is obvious that More understands the nuance of every political move, as he mentions what would happen if Wolsey falls. He conveys his competence by his careful handling of events. Because of his intellectual prowess, More has managed to keep the people he cares around him safe by using the words of the law ‘in

Close inspection of these rules give insight into how More may have really viewed human nature. In the following excerpts we find evidence that More may have found man untrustworthy and in need of social control, or at the very least spiritual control.

However, she focuses on the importance and value of education, believing that “the most perfect education…is such an exercise of the understanding as is best calculated to strengthen the body and form the heart” (Wollstonecraft 134). Like her Enlightenment contemporaries, she believed that reason was a virtue since it empowered the mind to think freely and independently. Reason allowed one to truly express his or her ideas. The best way to cultivate such reasoning was to become educated. Thus, both men and women should be educated for the betterment of society as a whole since both sexes would then be able to contribute a broader range of ideas. However, the general consensus amongst her contemporaries in 18th century England was that women were “more artificial, weak characters…and, consequently, more useless members of society” (Wollstonecraft 134). Women were expected to lead domesticated lives and become dependent on men. They were considered as housewives, not expected to contribute to society or stand out in anyway. Therefore, women did not have the same amount of access to a proper education as men did since they were not expected to be involved with forming their own reasoning and opinions. As a result, women only learned what they perceived and experienced from the world, left to play “guess-work” rather than make observations and draw conclusions and speculations. Without critical thinking,

At a moment’s glance, Daniel’s Defoe’s 1719 publication “The Education of Women” looks to be quite progressive for the time period in which it was written. He makes a claim of policy, stating that women should be educated in order to better serve men as companions. It is his justification for his claim that falls flat when viewed under a modern lens – he cares little for the individual benefits a woman may receive from an education, instead focusing on how education will further their ability to please men. That said, Defoe does state that although they should be educated to better serve men, he does not believe they should “Stewards, Cooks, and Slaves.” He believes that “The great distinguishing difference… between men and women, is in their education”, and that women’s souls are “capable of the same accomplishments with men”. The mix of traditional and progressive views present in his essay, as well as the reasoning for such views, make the piece an interesting look into the social views of the Age of Enlightenment.

The definition of a martyr is a person who willingly suffers death rather than renounce his or her religion. When Sir Thomas More died in July of 1535, he became a martyr. In the play A Man for All Seasons, author Robert Bolt shows us his views on how More came to his death . In this play, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich, King Henry VIII, and Sir Thomas More himself are responsible for his death. Although it could be argued that many more people in Sir Thomas More’s life had a part in contributing to his death, these four characters had the greatest part in eventually bringing him to his death.

In his novel, Utopia, author Sir Thomas More uses the character of Raphael Hythloday, a learned traveller, as a voice of critique against the current society in favor of his ideals, focusing on the corruption caused by the current government to bring up the utopian solutions for the issues presented. In Book I of the novel, Raphael tells his companions Peter and More about a discussion he once had about the cruel punishment of death given to thieves who only rob out of poverty. He goes through great lengths and lists the various ways in which it is the fault of the law and the government that people are unable to support themselves, and in order to live, steal a few coins or some food, and for that offense are hung. He plays many angles to prove his point, eventually bringing up religion, since he is talking to reverend father John Cardinal Morton and his guests, “If mutual consent to human laws on manslaughter entitles men freely to exempt their agents from divine law and allows them to kill those condemned by human decrees where God has given no precedent, what is this but