Irony. Irony is a difference between appearance and reality. Note how More uses irony in this selection.
Utopia. A utopia is an imaginary, idealized world. More was not the first to create such a world, but the name he chose is now used for any such site.
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More chose the name Utopia, which comes from the Greek term for Nowhere, for the imaginary perfect world he creates. Utopia was published in 1516 in two parts. The first part analyzes the problems More saw in the England of his day. The second part describes the world run based on his Humanist views. The selection you are about to read from Book 2 describes the physical set-up of Utopia and some of its guiding principles.
As you read, observe the idealized elements of Utopia and compare them to how they really are or how you think they were in More’s time.
What do you think a perfect world would be like? Describe such a place.
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