People are still friendly and form trustworthy, life-long friendships. Bevington 501 analogy of the courtroom, it is as though plaintiff. Even though many of the problems of Europe he describes are horrendous, and even though Utopia offers a powerful model of a peaceful community, community is still a part of Europe. Peter Giles is the real dupe or stooge, not either of the chief contenders.
Miller does justice to the full range of More's rhetoric in this masterful translation. The friendship is also a subtle example of how Hythloday's doom-and-gloom portrait of modern Europe isn't totally fair. Saint Thomas More's Utopia is one of the most important works of European humanism and serves as a key text in survey courses on Western intellectual history, the Renaissance, political theory, and many other subjects. tear.īut, why do we care? Although it's true that Giles's and More's friendship is a pretty minor aspect of this book, it points to the importance of having these kinds of strong, interpersonal connections in a world where global travel and new world discovery is becoming more and more common. You can't get much higher praise than this: 'apart from being cultured, virtuous and courteous to all, with his intimates he is so open, trustworthy, loyal, and affectionate that it would be hard to find another friend like him anywhere' (1.9). He's Dutch, smart, and an all-around solid guy. In fact, if he's known at all, it's for being Thomas More's friend in Utopia.Īll we really get about this guy are the absolute basics. Unlike Thomas More, very few people have heard of him. Like Thomas More, Peter Giles is also a real, historical figure.
