Literary Criticism (1400-1800)

Utopia | J. H. Hexter (essay date 1965)

J. H. Hexter (essay date 1965)

SOURCE: "Utopia and Its Historical Milieu," in The Complete Works of St. Thomas More, Vol. 4, edited by Edward Surtz and J. H. Hexter, Yale University Press, 1965, pp. xxiii-cxxiv.

[Hexter's essay, "Utopia and Its Historical Milieu" has been recognized since its publication as a groundbreaking contribution to More scholarship. The excerpt that follows presents Hexter's observations on Christian Humanism as the context for the Utopia; in the concluding section, "The Radicalism of Utopia," Hexter argues that More's vision transcended its time in its image of social equality.]

Avineri comments on the depiction of imperialism and military engagements in More's Utopia:

The quest for empire and colonisation is thus elevated into a law of nature, and fighting against the Utopians becomes tantamount to fighting against nature itself. If one adds...

[The entire page is 18887 words long]

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