I. 2:10—2:40
quiz 3 and discussion of answers and passages
1. Your
sheepÉthat used to be so meek and eat so little. Now they are becoming so greedy and wild that they devour
human beings themselves, as I hear.
They devastate and pillage fields, houses and towns. 531
a.
More b. Hythloday c. the Cardinal d. the lawyer e. the Parson
HythlodayÕs
critique—high crime; brutal punishment; greed and social destructiveness
of the land owners, always responding to market conditions; need for
regulation; economic conditions producing crime
Lists all the reasons for
unemployment
1. Veterans wounded in unnecessary wars
2. Noblemen have great staff of retainers who are
unemployed and unemployable when they go bankrupt
Lawyer speaks of need for
aristocratic military, refuted by H.
Third reason for thieving:
sheep 531
Enclosures:
Industrial agriculture driving out subsistence farmers—commodity
product for export—wool—greedy landowners 531
Oligopoly fixes prices so that individuals cant buy wool to
make their own clothing [Economics—price fixing; monopoly; unrestrained,
unregulated capitalism] See Wife
of Bath—and her market values
Same with meat animals—prices being raised
Luxury and proliferation
eating houses, wine houses, bawdy and gambling houses also breed crime and
poverty 532
First making them thieves and then punishing them for it
2. It is
not easy to guess whether this scheme would work well or not, since nobody has
yet tried it out. But perhaps when the death sentence has been passed on a
thief, the king might reprieve himÉand thus see how the plan worked. 535
a.
More b. Hythloday c. the Cardinal d. the lawyer e. the foolish hanger-on
Is the cardinal really open
to reform; aware of what it would take; just humoring Hythloday?
What does it take to bring
about change and rational experiment?
Example of efforts in this
direction?
What about punishment and
prisons and the prison industry today?
Marijuana laws?
3. There is
another philosophy that is better suited for political action, that takes its
cue, adapts itself to the drama in hand, and acts its parts neatly and well.
ÉDonÕt give up the ship in a storm because you cannot direct the winds. 541-2
a.
More b. Hythloday c. the Cardinal Morton d. the lawyer e. King Utopus
Do you agree? What are the
alternatives? Present day examples
HythlodayÕs satire of what
goes on there 537-8
4. The
Utopians usually work about how many hours per day 551
a. ten b. eight c. six d. four
e. that depends on their jobs
argue
this—552—the lazy and useless; kinds of work
5. When
their population exceeds optimum numbers, the Utopians 554
a. practice
birth control b. practice
euthanasia
c. create
colonies in neighboring territory
d. reduce individual consumption
e. sell their children
argue this
6. Utopians
use gold for
a. chains
for slaves b. marking criminals c. chamber pots d. foreign currency e. all of the above 558
argue this
7. The
Utopians regard pleasure
a. as a
means to get money b. as a
temptation to be resisted c. as
diversion only for the lower classes
d. as the way to happiness
e. as reserved for the gods
561
argue this
8. Before
getting married Utopians
a. sign
prenuptial property agreements b.
are encouraged to experiment with many sexual partners c. examine one another in the nude d. are appointed spouses by the
tranibors e. go on
pilgrimages 570
argue this
9. Utopians
regard war as
a. the
province of the aristocracy
b. the arena for honor and glory
c. a great threat to their society
d. as work for mercenaries
e. godÕs punishment for greed
574
argue this
10. Utopian
religion
a. finds
Christianity congenial b. includes the contemplation of nature as an act of
worship c. is tolerant of many beliefs
d. excludes atheism e. all
of the above 581
argue this
II. Holbein
portrait--wearing the gold chain, like one of the Flatulentine ambassadors; the
velvet sleeves; the fur shawl; underneath is the hair shirt of Raphael
B. Morus and More
1.
theatricalization of public life in HVIII society--mummery,
staggering opulence
b)
vast
ego and desire for self display
2.
More [Greenblatt 55] loved the fame which U. brought him
and reports in a letter to Erasmus upon accepting the royal appointment he was
offered in 1516, while working on Book I,
a dream he has of being not a nameless Utopian citizen, but king Utopus
himself.
a)
"in
my daydreams I have been marked out by my Utopians to be their king forever; I
can see myself now marching along, crowned with a diadem of wheat, very striking
in my Franciscan frock, carrying a handful of wheat as my sacred sceptre,
thronged by a distinguished retinue of Amautotians, and with this huge
entourage giving audience to foreign ambassadors and sovereigns."
3.
Career rise
a)
More
loved to take part in playacting; his own self-reflexiveness,
self-estrangement; "protean adaptability"
b)
More's
ability to survive by playacting: Greenbl. "the survival rate for those
closest to Henry VIII rough resembles the actuarial record of the First
Politburo.
(1)
early 1490--page in household of Morton
(2)
four decades of of law diplomacy parliamentary politics, and
courthsip
(3)
Lord Chancellor--highest Office in the realm
(4)
Pressure of Henry's divorce-- tried to retire
4.
More's "realist stance"
a)
art
of the possible
b)
you
have to play the game; take part in the play; you cant be playing a different
game
c)
you
cant change people whole hog
C. Raphael and More
1.
More's personal monkishness--lived in a charterhouse four
years; wore the hair shirt under the robe; enjoyment of imprisonment
2.
Uncompromising; Refusal to sign the Oath of Supremacy
acknowledging King as head of Church; goes to the Tower and is beheaded for the
vision of the single body of the church;
despite his critiques; just as
Erasmus opposed Luther while agreeing with many of his critiques
sainted in 1935
3.
wont play the game of "The Man for All Seasons"--
a)
Wikipedia:
The title reflects 20th century agnostic
playwright Robert BoltÕs portrayal of More as the
ultimate man of conscience. As one who remains true to himself
and his beliefs under all circumstances and at all times, despite external
pressure or influence, More represents "a man for all seasons". Bolt
borrowed the title from Robert
Whittington, a contemporary of More, who in 1520 wrote of him:
(1) "More is a man of an
angel's wit and singular learning. I know not his fellow. For where is the man
of that gentleness, lowliness and affability? And, as time requireth, a man of
marvelous mirth and pastimes, and sometime of as sad gravity. A man for all
seasons."[2]
4.
His persecution and torture of protestants—Tyndale
