# Sir Thomas More — The Story of Utopias character guide > Sir Thomas More in The Story of Utopias by Lewis Mumford. **Role:** major **Also known as:** More, Sir Thomas **First appearance:** 0003-the-story-of-utopias ## Snapshot The English humanist whose Utopia gave the genre its name and its founding joke: a perfect commonwealth described by a sailor who may or may not be telling the truth. ## Who they are More's island, reported by the scholar-sailor Raphael Hythloday, is the book's original case that nowhere can still be real news. Mumford returns to him again and again to insist that ideas, fantasies, and projections act on the world as forcefully as any post Dr. Johnson kicked. More matters because he made the imaginary commonwealth a serious instrument of criticism, not a mere escape. ## In the story ### [The Story of Utopias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/the-story-of-utopias) Author of 'Utopia,' which coined the term and established the literary genre of ideal commonwealths. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i) More's Utopia is presented as a bridge between the medieval order and Renaissance institutions, written during a period of disorder and violence. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/v) Referenced as the recipient of Raphael Hythloday's description of Utopia. ### [How something happened to utopia between Plato and Sir Thomas More; and how utopia was discovered again, along with the New World.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iii) More's Utopia marks the rediscovery of utopia as a literary genre, blending classical ideas with New World discoveries. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i) His Utopia is identified as the first expression of the shift from a heavenly to a worldly utopia. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iii) Author and narrator who uses Raphael Hythloday to critique contemporary society. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iv) Author of the Utopia text, describing the fictional island's geography and political structure. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/v) Author of Utopia, describing the economic and agricultural practices of the commonwealth. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/vi) Author of Utopia, who explains and justifies the direct system of exchange and the contempt for precious metals. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/vii) More is the author of the Utopia text being discussed; the chapter examines his portrayal of communal life. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/viii) Author of Utopia; his conception of the ideal commonwealth is critiqued for its harsh policies on crime, war, and travel. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ix) Author of the quoted exposition on Utopian values, defining virtue, pleasure, and the role of reason. ### [The Utopian Way of Life](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/x) Author of Utopia; his ideas about the social order and the good life are discussed. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iii) Referenced for Utopia's foundation on the farmstead and family, and its communism of the family. ### [The Constitution of the Family in Christianopolis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/vi) More is mentioned in contrast to Andreae, as his Utopia features patriarchal households rather than isolated couples. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i) His Utopia influences Campanella's depiction of younger people waiting upon elders and other customs. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii) Mentioned alongside Plato and Andreae as an earlier utopian concerned with the ends of life. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii) Mentioned as a key figure in the Renaissance utopian tradition, whose work arose from the contrast between overseas possibilities and dismal conditions at home. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iv) Referenced as having wanted people to be scholars or scientists, whereas Morris's utopia allows the majority to find fulfillment in manual arts. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/vi) Mentioned in the context of class division, noting that More's classification of Philarchs, people, priests, and scholars is similar to Wells' four-class system. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/vii) Mentioned in reference to 'Utopia,' which is contrasted for its menialism. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i) Referenced as the author of 'Utopia,' whose work is contrasted with the collective myths that have more directly influenced society. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii) Mentioned as the author of 'Utopia,' used as a benchmark for the wildness of pre-fourteenth-century dreams. ### [How we reckon up accounts with the one-sided utopias of the partisans.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/xi) More's Utopia is discussed as a foundational text that, while comprehensive, still reflects a particular partisan view of social organization. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i) His Utopia is noted as a pun on Outopia and Eutopia; he looked to social reform and religious ethics to transform society. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ix) Referenced for his high valuation of radiant good health in Utopia, used as a parallel to the self-sustaining delight of pure aesthetic experience. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/xi) Stressed that community is built on shared possessions and a common life like Oxford colleges. ### [Utopias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/utopias) Author of Utopia (1516), the seminal work that gave the genre its name. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/thomas_more - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters