![]() ![]() Hythloday, we learn, sailed the world alongside the great historical explorer Amerigo Vespucci, and he even traveled to the New World by way of Asia. More, Giles, and Hythloday walk together to More’s house, and in his garden the three men talk at length. More is returning home from church one day when he runs into Giles, who is speaking with an old man called Raphael Hythloday. More then travels to Antwerp, where he takes up residence and befriends an honest, learned citizen of that city named Peter Giles. The tone of this statement, plus the fact that he debates this point with Thomas More and Peter Giles for so long, shows how strongly he feel this way.When Utopia opens, the character Thomas More is in the Netherlands, serving as an ambassador sent by King Henry VIII of England to hold negotiations concerning the English wool trade. Influencing policy indeed! You wouldn't have a chance!" (1.38) "Either will seduce you, or, if you remain honest and innocent, you will be made a screen for the folly of others. Here's what he thinks the only two options are: He's particularly hung up on the idea that philosophy-which he thinks = morality-is totally, 100% irreconcilable with the political world. And Hythloday is no small reason for that, because philosophy, and leading a "philosophical-life" is very important to him. You've probably got the idea by this point that philosophy is a big part of Utopia. You had to be pretty on top of things to know about them both. It's also just a way of making Hythloday sound even more language-savvy and smart since Hebrew and Ancient Greek were two "dead" languages that had only been recently rediscovered in the Renaissance. Does Hythloday somehow reconcile these two irreconcilable, yet equally important, world-views? Maybe. His two names together also suggest an uncomfortable tension that More would have thought a lot about between the Christian world and the pagan (Greek) world. Raphael was one the most famous archangels (the closest advisors/messengers to God) so it is definitely playing with Hythloday's role as both a messenger and as someone worried about how he can best advise people in power. Okay, so what about his first name, why biblical? That's also not entirely clear. Are we supposed to take this guy seriously, or is this some kind of joke? It's hard to say, but More clearly wants us to be keeping in mind that what Hythloday is describing is completely made-up. One reason it's weird is that it's a kind of cultural mash-up: Raphael is biblical (Hebrew) while Hythloday is a Greek compound meaning "expert in nonsense." Huh? Yep, just to add to the confusion surrounding his character, he's given a last name that seems to undermine his authority as a speaker. ![]() And um, can we say, not even a little bit Portuguese. Our protagonist Raphael Hythloday is no exception, and if you've been thinking his name sounds kind of funny, you're not alone. Quite a lot actually, especially if you're in the world of Thomas More's Utopia where almost every invented name is some kind of pun/joke/reference. For more on Hythloday's appearance, check out " The Weary Traveler" in Symbols, Imagery, and Allegory. Sunburns, beards, and cloaks are all conventional ways of signaling that this is not someone from around here. If he's starting to remind you a bit of Robinson Crusoe, you're not wrong. The point is, there is something intentionally mysterious about our man Hythloday that's meant to lend him and the story he tells an aura of excitement.Įven his appearance has some of that mysteriousness going on: "The stranger had a sunburned face, a long beard and a cloak hanging loosely from his shoulders from his face and dress, I took him to be a ship's captain" (1.9). He doesn't appear to have a family, we're not really sure how old he is, and we don't even know his favorite color (okay, maybe the last one is asking too much). Other than that, we don't get to learn a whole lot about our friend Hythloday's personal life. Portugal was considered a country full of explorer-types. We know that he's Portuguese and has sailed with the famous (historical) Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. Unlike many people, he sees hoity-toity scholarship and down-and-dirty action as two equally important ways of learning about the world. ![]() He's a total bibliophile (book-lover), philosopher (wisdom-lover), and has mad ancient Greek skills, in addition to being completely down for adventure. Hythloday is not your average world-traveler. Okay, now that we have that under our belts, let's move on to our main man. At times, the characters seem to function more as tools for expressing certain ideas rather than fully, psychologically imagined people. We don't hear about anyone's childhood, their (non)relationship with their parents, anything about their love life. First, a caveat: Utopia is not a character-driven story the way, oh, Hamlet or even Harry Potter are. ![]()
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