f iction
society which all other nations and so-
cieties should aspire to imitate, and its
content remains the subject of much
discussion more than five-hundred
years after its publication.
Utopia is written as the trans-
cription of a conversation involving
Thomas More, his friend Peter Gilles,
and a fictional character, Raphael
Hythloday. It is this last character,
portrayed as a Portuguese explorer
and philosopher who sailed with
Amerigo Vespucci, who does most
of the talking in the book; Hythloday
is the one who tells More and his
friend about the sublime island of
Utopia, where he claims to have spent
five years in the gracious company
of its natives. He goes on to describe
Utopia with rigorous detail, from its
geography and economy to the inner
workings of its society and religion.
Throughout his tale, Hythloday offers
an extremely positive image of the
island nation, praising the Utopians’
emphasis on the common good and
public domain over personal property,
their commitment to learning and to
the virtues of Nature.
While confounded by some
aspects of Utopian culture and
policy, Hythloday realizes there is
much wisdom at work in these same
aspects. For example, Hythloday
did not understand at first why the
nation hired an excessive amount
of mercenaries, as that would seem
strange and ineffective in the Old
World’s wars. This decision made
perfect sense to him, however, once
the Utopians told him how they had
no need for gold and silver – the two
things mercenaries kill and die for –
though they had plenty of both, and
how they would rather pay foreign
free companies handsomely to fight
Quando quiser, onde quiser
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