Utopia

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Utopia was originally published in England in 1516, when the country was ruled by the Tudors. What do you know about Tudor England in the 16th century? Consider the politics, ideology, literature, and/or art of the period.

Teaching Suggestion: The Tudors rose to power in England in 1485, and a Tudor monarch would sit on the country’s throne until the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603. Thomas More was the Chancellor of King Henry VIII (reigned 1509-1547), who convicted More of treason and had him executed when he refused to endorse the new Anglican Church on religious grounds. Depending on the class’s level of familiarity with this time in history, it may be helpful to assign group-research tasks, such as creating a list of Tudor monarchs and relevant events during their reigns.

• This timeline highlights the key events of the life and reign of King Henry VIII.
• This book by the author and scholar C. S. Lewis discusses English literature in the 16th century; the introduction in particular is helpful in situating literature from this period in its historical, political, sociocultural, and ideological contexts.

2. What is a utopia? What are some examples of utopias in literature or film? Consider examples of ancient or early utopias (such as Plato’s Republic) that More would have known as well as more recent examples. How is a utopia different from a dystopia?

Teaching Suggestion: A utopia is a speculative community or society that possesses highly desirable qualities. Many early examples of utopian literature come from ancient Greece, especially from philosophical works such as Plato’s Republic and Laws (the word “utopia” itself comes from the ancient Greek for either “no place” or “good place”). Utopian literature experienced something of a revival in the 16th and 17th centuries, a period that saw the publication of More’s Utopia, Sir Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis, and Henry Neville’s The Isle of Pines, among other works. The idea of utopia (and its antithesis, namely, dystopia) remains popular in contemporary literature. Students may be aware of more modern examples, such as Lowis Lowry’s The Giver and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron.” Both of these stories appear to be utopian in nature at first and may serve as a helpful starting point when discussing the differences between utopian and dystopian societies.

• This article from MasterClass discusses examples of utopian literature.
• This edited volume contains a collection of academic essays on utopian literature.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

What are some of the most pressing problems facing our society today? Do you think they can be solved? Can you imagine a utopia without these problems, or would correcting them merely cause new problems to arise?

Teaching Suggestion: Consider directing students to think critically about contemporary social issues such as political polarization, institutionalized racism, poverty, and joblessness. You might ask whether such complex problems can have an “easy fix,” and/or what might be involved in addressing them. This Personal Connection Prompt gives students the opportunity to imagine a world in which these issues are no longer present, giving them a starting point for the post-reading activity in which they design their own utopian societies.