Significant Improvement To Society In Thomas More's Utopia

Book I of Thomas More's Utopia is pessimistic about the possibility of significant improvement to society. It is pessimistic because the characters make excuses for the way things are and how they do not wish to change their ways. Although the storyteller, Rafael Hythloday is brilliant and optimistic about the ideas he has come up with from his travels, the people he is attempting to persuade are resistant to change just as he mentions with Kings being subject to change. Coming up with a grand idea is easy; it is trying to convince people that change is positive, that is the difficult part. Thomas More, Peter Giles, and Cardinal Morton have become so comfortable in their already set ways that even though there are better options that they are intrigued by, they are hesitant to change their

Hythloday does not wish to empower royalty anymore than they already have; he does not wish to flatter them, support their war efforts, or praise how being the best is so important. Hythloday believes that, “[the king] should love his people and be loved by them; he should live among them, [and] govern them kindly” (30). Power should not only be about being respected but a matter of earning respect and being deserving of it. This is another idealistic thought but almost impossible, again, to enforce. A good idea will not make people surrender what they are blessed with already. Hythloday suggests that if the king were only to live off of his own income he would be more cautious and appreciative of what he owns and therefore spending money more reasonably. Hythloday is trying to convince these people that they could still make improvement under the current political system by simply restricting the amount of property owned and prevent the prince from being too powerful to keep everyone