Utopia Vs. Machiavelli's The Prince

Utopia can easily be called Sir Thomas More’s most prominent and prestigious piece of writing. It tackled complex issues of religion, social status, and politics within the made up island of Utopia. To see why Sir Thomas More had such insight into these issues we must first know a bit about his background. Sir Thomas More lived from February 7, 1478 to July 6, 1535. He served as a counselor to Henry VIII and Lord High Chancellor of England during his life. He was notably opposed to reformation, especially the doctrine put forth by Martin Luther. He was also strongly against the separation of the king from the Catholic Church and refused to acknowledge King Henry VIII as “Supreme Head of the Church of England” and his annulment of his

Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 16th-century. His methods of acquiring and maintaining rule over people are not relevant in today’s modern American society. There are many principles that are still true in politics today, but the methods of ruling can no longer be used in American society today.

Thomas More’s Utopia is a work of ambiguous dualities that forces the reader to question More’s real view on the concept of a utopian society. However, evidence throughout the novel suggests that More did intend Utopia to be the “best state of the commonwealth.” The detailed description of Utopia acts as Mores mode of expressing his humanistic views, commenting on the fundamentals of human nature and the importance of reason and natural law while gracefully combining the two seemingly conflicting ideals of communism and liberalism.

A perfect society has always been the goal for many; unfortunately it has only existed in books. The Prince by Niccoló Machiavelli, written in 1513, provides necessary information to become a Prince who will obtain, keep, and please his empire. Thomas More's Utopia, written in 1516, creates an ideal civilization that will live happily, comfortably, and without any problems. Both books attempted to solve problems within a society by critiquing other institutions and creating their own solutions. With the rise in cities, trade, and the economy in the 15th century, people began to realize order and structure in a society is necessary to flourish. Machiavelli and

the people are empowered, but the ideals that truly run the society, are empowered. More’s true

The Prince and Utopia are honored as masterpieces that show two differing styles of government. Both books have many similarities and differences in the governments that are in the their respective stories. Many ideas from the governments they portray have profound impacts on our modern government such as various political principles like the military, economy, and religion. The Prince and Utopia are both interesting novels that show creative styles of government.

While the human race is incredibly diverse and expansive, many writers and philosophers work to find common characteristics that they can attribute to what is typically referred to as human nature. Nicolo Machiavelli provides his beliefs on human nature in his text, The Prince. While this work mostly surrounds the proper way to lead a princedom, there are many parts of the text that show how human nature affects the way a prince should rule his people. The examples of princes having to work around humanity provided over the course of Machiavelli’s work ultimately reflect what he considers to be flaws within human beings everywhere. An extensive examination of the devices and techniques used within Nicolo Machiavelli’s The Prince shows how he believes human beings are self-interested beings that can only be ruled through deception and force.

     To be just is to be fair and honorable. Kids are taught that if you are kind and just you will excel and be successful. But life’s not fair and being just doesn’t necessary mean that a society will stand the test of time and be able to grow. The two different societies introduced in More’s Utopia and Machiavelli’s The Prince are very different and although More’s Utopian society would be considered more just then Machiavelli’s society. Machiavelli’s society is more realistic and more likely to be viable.

Utopia is Sir Thomas More’s seminal work, depicting a fictitious island and its religious, social, and political customs. Working as an advisor to King Henry VIII, More was aware of the issues of his time such as ridiculous inflation, corruption, wars for little or no purpose, courtly ostentation, the abuse of power by the absolute monarchs, and the maltreatment of the poor. Consequently, More used Utopia to contrast some unique and refreshing political ideas with the chaotic politics of his own country. It is important to note that More did not intend to provide an exact blueprint for a perfect society, rather he merely presents his ideas in the form of a political satire, revealing the evils of his time.

Throughout Utopia, Thomas More is able to cause many distractions to the reader while trying to determine what exactly More was trying to convey. Thomas is able to divide a short complex novel into two distinct parts with very different narrative perspectives. The first of these perspectives is Raphael Hythloday, considered to be a radical, `with utopian' ideals. The second character is Thomas More himself. Sir Thomas More did travel to Flanders on behalf of King Henry VII; however, Raphael Hythloday is only a piece of More's imagination. Soon after meeting Hythloday, we find out that he is a world traveler and philosopher. We learn of his voyages with Amerigo Vespucci, his voyage to Ceylon, Calcutta, back to Portugal, only observing social practices. At this point we read of More's infatuation with Hythloday's recollection of the island of Utopia. We then see More's criticism of society arise. When More and Giles suggest to Hythloday that he "enter the service of some king or other," Raphael responds,

I have always found great interest in the infamous Niccolo Machiavelli and his ways of thinking; my eye was drawn to him long before I knew I would be studying at Colorado State and even before I had any interest in politics. It was from young man know as Tupac Shakur, and let me tell you it is great to finally understand who Machiavelli is and the things he has done for the outlook on politics after hearing about how much respect and praise he got from the iconic rapper of the 1990s. In this paper I will be analyzing and contrasting Thomas More’s “Utopia” and Machiavelli’s “The Prince” and their ideas on subjects that include good governance and social orders, key reforms, and who should be held responsible for providing good governance and an orderly society.

Thomas More writes Utopia, the comedic, fictional travel log about a “no place” society to discuss the various religious, political, and social ideals influenced by humanism. A medieval classically trained humanist, Thomas More is also influenced by the late medieval social, political, and religious movements developing from the Plague and the Hundred Years’ War. In Utopia, More illustrates a humanist society by discussing agriculture in the economy, religion and happiness, and the structure of the government which was ultimately influenced by the late medieval ideals.

Book I (Discourse of Raphael Hythloday, of the Best State of Commonwealth) of Utopia is written in first person point of view with More acting as narrator. In this first book, More and his friend Peter Giles strike up a conversation with a philosopher and traveler named Raphael Hythloday in which they talk about their opinions about the European society during that time. Thomas More protects himself from trouble by using his fictional character and Raphael Hythloday to mention his real viewpoints on the society. For instance, when More asks Raphael what are some of the issues with European society, Hythloday answers that he doesn’t agree with the fact about having a punishment for crime since he thinks that it creates an environment of more thieves. “There

Since the events are not real, events being exchanged dialogues, it can be accepted as a work of fiction. However, it was not simply written to please readers, but also to give a sneak peek of Thomas More’s actual ideas on the world order. The description of this place called “Utopia” carries a great amount of different concepts for the readers of the time. While the readers might be acquainted with Plato’s Republic as the probable inspiration of Utopia, much like the 2000s people being acquainted with later works such as 1984, the concept was still not common at the time. The idea that this isolated island country could really exist would be absurd, but it was still interesting and different. Furthermore, that’s exactly what More hides his satirical ideas

In Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, Thomas More is a man with earnest respect for his fluidity with his flaunts of the public, he lived in the Renaissance era and was a renowned humanist, lawyer and a personal friend of Henry VIII. In the beginning of the book, a letter is sent by More to his friend Peter Giles inquiring about editing and publication of his masterpiece “Utopia”. The first book “Utopia” summarizes a conversation between More and Giles conversing with Hythloday, the man who was enshrouded by the lands of Utopia.